Join AACT at the 25th Biennial Conference on Chemical Education (BCCE 2018)

By Kim Duncan on June 13, 2018


Are you planning to attend BCCE 2018 hosted by the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana this summer? AACT will be there, along with many AACT members! You will find us in the exhibit hall at our booth and at the workshops we are planning for K-12 teachers of chemistry.

SUNDAY, JULY 29, 2018

  • 2:00 – 5:00 PM: Workshop - Rethinking Common Practices in High School Chemistry Education (302 and 326 Jordan Hall) - Join Kaleb Underwood and explore several common practices in high school chemistry classrooms and discuss alternatives for teachers seeking to build more robust student understanding of core ideas. If you have ever wondered, “is there another way?” this workshop is for you. Join a group of educators dedicated to thinking differently about the way their courses are arranged and to share ideas. Topics addressed will include stoichiometry, reaction classification, physical and chemical changes, mathematics in chemistry, and in-class discussions.
  • 7:00 – 10:00 PM: AACT Booth #24 - Join us in the exhibition hall at the AACT booth to learn more about membership benefits and get some AACT bling!

MONDAY, JULY 30, 2018

  • 8:00 – 11:00 AM: Workshop - Demonstrations and Activities on a Dime for K-8 Chemistry and Physical Science (327 Jordan Hall) A former chemistry and physical science teacher will talk about the many classroom resources available for K-8 teachers of science from the American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT). This workshop will feature several demonstrations and student activities using common household and inexpensive materials that you can use to teach the principles of physical science and chemistry to your K-8 students.
  • 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM and 4:00 – 9:00 PM: AACT Booth #24 – We will again be in the exhibition hall at the AACT booth. Stop by to learn about our new resources and member benefits!

TUESDAY, JULY 31, 2018

  • 8:00 – 11:00 AM: Workshop - Demonstrations and Activities on a Dime for K-12 Chemistry (327 Jordan Hall) - Join AACT 2018-2019 President, Sherri Rukes, and AACT 2017-2018 High School Ambassador, Bonnie Bloom, to learn about the many classroom resources available from the American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT). This workshop will feature several demonstrations and student activities using common household and inexpensive materials that you can use to teach the principles of physical science and chemistry to high school students.
  • 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM: AACT Booth #24 – Last chance to join us in the exhibition hall at the booth to pick up AACT materials.
  • 2:00 – 5:00 PM: Workshop - Building a Periodic Table Unit Plan Using American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT) Resources (402 Jordan Hall) - Building a new unit plan for chemistry can be a difficult undertaking and must include lectures, practice problems, classroom demonstrations, student activities, and experiments. The classroom resources available on the American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT) website can help you find all the materials you need to create unit plans. Join a former high school chemistry teacher who is now part of the AACT staff and learn how to put together a successful unit plan using the lessons, activities, labs, demonstrations, projects, videos, and animations that are available on the AACT website.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2018

  • 8:00 – 11:00 AM: Workshop - Take Home Labs (322 Jordan Hall ) - It seems that the scope and size of our curriculum in chemistry is continuously expanding, but the time we are given to teach the material does not expand; rather, the time we’re allotted to teach has actually decreased because of an increasing load of non-instructional intrusions into our time. So the problem becomes: “How do we get our students doing more labs when we have less time available for teaching?” One solution: implement Take Home labs as a part of your curriculum. Join us and hear Amiee Modic talk about the take home labs that she uses with her chemistry students.
  • 2:00 – 5:00 PM: Workshop - BIG K, Small k, and Buffers: Merging Equilibrium with Limiting Reactant (322 Jordan Hall ) - As we plan our curriculum to get our students ready for the AP exam, buffers are always a topic that make students (and teachers) cringe. It is in many ways the “capstone” of equilibrium, yet having students develop a strong conceptual understanding (which makes quantitative problem solving that much easier) is always difficult. Join Paul Price as he examines demos, sample labs, and pedagogical techniques as we delve into this important AP exam topic.