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  • Tech Tips | March 2025 Access is an AACT member benefit. Using Online Simulations for Middle School Chemistry

    In this article, the author explores the benefits of online simulations in middle school science. She highlights their accessibility and versatility, shares implementation techniques that have worked well in her classroom, and provides recommendations for free chemistry simulations.

  • Tech Tips | March 2025 Using Conditional Formatting in Spreadsheets to Create Engaging, Interactive Lessons with Instant Feedback

    In this article, the author explores how he uses spreadsheets featuring interactive activities and instant feedback to enhance high school chemistry learning. He reports that his students became more engaged with the material, and at the same time gained essential spreadsheet skills.

  • Tech Tips | May 2024 Access is an AACT member benefit. Technology Tools that have Reshaped how I Teach Chemistry

    A high school chemistry teacher discusses how technology tools have transformed his teaching, enhancing effectiveness and student engagement. He shares how he uses Pear Assessment, Notability, Explain Everything, Google Sheets, ChemQuiz, and Gimkit in his classroom.

  • Nuts & Bolts | May 2024 Reflecting on ChatGPT in our Chemistry Classroom

    In a follow-up to their September 2023 article, two high school chemistry teachers explore the integration of ChatGPT (a tool for artificial intelligence, or AI) in their classroom. While AI has helped the authors with instructional planning, they have also found challenges with its accuracy and the ways students use it.

  • Tech Tips | March 2024 Access is an AACT member benefit. Tapping the Potential of Artificial Intelligence in the Classroom

    The author explores the advantages and disadvantages of AI in education. He highlights practical applications while encouraging a balanced perspective, thereby leveraging the potential while addressing risks.

  • Nuts & Bolts | November 2023 Access is an AACT member benefit. A Self-Paced, Mastery-Based Chemistry Classroom

    The author uses three elements in her classroom: blended instruction, self-paced learning, and mastery-based grading. These components foster students’ ownership of their own learning, helping them find joy in mastering challenging topics and gain confidence in their abilities.

  • Tech Tips | September 2023 Access is an AACT member benefit. Making the Instructional Videos I Wish I’d Had as a Teacher

    A former chemistry teacher shares about the challenges she faced in the past when incorporating videos into her teaching, and how she now uses that perspective in her work as a science video content creator.

  • Nuts & Bolts | September 2023 ChatGPT in the Chemistry Classroom

    Learn how two co-teachers plan to explore and integrate artificial intelligence (AI), specifically ChatGPT, in their science classroom. This article emphasizes that AI should not replace teachers, but rather be used to enhance the learning experience.

  • Nuts & Bolts | March 2023 Access is an AACT member benefit. Enhancing the Lab Experience with Alternative Approaches

    In this article, the author discusses the use of both at-home and virtual labs to supplement and support in-class labs. She includes examples of both, and discusses their unique benefits and approaches. She also describes how making and sharing videos of the teacher conducting labs can promote a more engaging make-up experience for absent students. Although many of these approaches were developed for hybrid and remote learning environments, the author has continued using them with in-person teaching to support in-class labs and extend the overall lab experience.

  • Nuts & Bolts | May 2022 Access is an AACT member benefit. Strategies for Equitable Student Collaboration using Jamboard

    In this article the author explains how she recently incorporated a Driving Questions Board and Activity Summary Board using Jamboard in her chemistry classroom. She shares about her purpose for shifting her teaching approach in order to integrate these strategies for equitable student collaboration.

  • Tech Tips | March 2022 Access is an AACT member benefit. Teaching Chemistry in a Blended Learning Classroom: When to Go Digital and What to Take Offline

    In this article, the author discusses the blended chemistry classroom and provides recommendations for three instances when it is best to use digital teaching strategies, and three instances where offline approaches are most effective. Technology is an integral part to modern teaching, as evidenced by the emphasis placed on blended learning in many schools and classrooms. In order to effectively teach chemistry in a blended environment, however, it is crucial to know when technology is a benefit and when to stick with non-digital tools and activities.

  • Tech Tips | November 2021 Get Jammin’ in Chemistry!

    In this article, the author reflects on her use of Jamboard in the high school chemistry classroom. She shares tips and tricks for integrating Jamboard as an instructional tool for teaching both in-person and remotely. She also includes videos of Jamboard in action, as well as examples of graphics and templates that can be used in your own classroom.

  • Nuts & Bolts | March 2021 Remote Teaching Strategies that Will Outlast the Pandemic

    In this article, the author reflects on four new teaching practices that he has successfully implemented in response to the current remote learning environment, and shares about how these strategies can continue to be valuable in the future.

  • Nuts & Bolts | March 2021 Access is an AACT member benefit. Beneficial Classroom Strategies for Teaching in a Pandemic and Beyond

    Teaching during the pandemic has challenged teachers to find new ways to help students learn chemistry. In this article, AACT Middle School Ambassador Jennifer Smith describes several teaching methods that have been successful in her classroom. These strategies include weekly student check-in surveys, providing students with audio feedback, and creating video instructions for labs. All are easy-to-implement practices that teachers can leverage both during and after the pandemic

  • Tech Tips | March 2021 Access is an AACT member benefit. How to Use Online Forms and Surveys to Enhance Remote Learning

    In this article, the author describes how the remote learning setting can be challenging for teachers. The inability to observe students’ body language and other types of real-time feedback can make it difficult to plan ahead and adjust lessons on the fly. With this in mind, the author shares some practical ways to use online forms and surveys to both engage students in remote learning and gain more real-time feedback on lesson comprehension.

  • Classroom Commentary | November 2020 Online Chemistry: My Top Five Ingredients for Success

    In this article, the author discusses the five main ingredients that led to success when she was forced by the COVID-19 pandemic to quickly redesign an in-person accelerated summer chemistry course to instead be delivered online. Twenty students participated in the seven-week accelerated class, which covered the same amount of content as an entire school year of chemistry. Their feedback, as well as that of their parents, is included in this article.

  • Tech Tips | November 2020 Access is an AACT member benefit. Remote Technology Resources in a COVID-19 World

    In this article, the author describes three specific technology resources — Flipgrid, Collisions, and Gizmos — that she relied on when the Covid-19 pandemic forced schools to switch to remote-teaching. She highlights the benefits of each platform, and shares examples of her successful experience using each. She concludes that Flipgrid was valuable as it allowed for asynchronous class connections, while Collisions and Gizmos allowed for inquiry-based learning experiences.

  • Tech Tips | September 2020 My Favorite Technology Tools for Teaching Chemistry — Remotely and In-Person

    In this article, the author highlights her five favorite technology tools for teaching chemistry, both in-person and remotely. She includes examples and tips for effective use — and encourages teachers to incorporate these tools into their own lessons!

  • Resource Feature | September 2020 Access is an AACT member benefit. Using an Online Meeting Scavenger Hunt to Offer Kinesthetic Learning

    In this article, the author describes her use of an online scavenger hunt activity during remote learning. This activity offers students an engaging opportunity for kinesthetic learning and class discussion, while learning about the chemistry in their everyday life.

  • Tech Tips | May 2019 Access is an AACT member benefit. Edpuzzle: A Video Formative Assessment Tool

    In this article, the author discusses the use of video media to enhance teaching and learning through the use of the Edpuzzle platform. He shares his thoughts about the many ways that using video media can increase student accountability and engagement, while providing more data about student achievement throughout the lesson. Edpuzzle can be a helpful tool to formatively assess student understanding, identify misconceptions, and drive instruction.

  • Tech Tips | March 2019 Access is an AACT member benefit. Creating YouTube Tutorial Channels for Student Success

    The authors share their success with creating chemistry tutorial videos and posting them on YouTube in order to support students outside of the classroom.

  • Classroom Commentary | March 2019 Access is an AACT member benefit. NGSS Storylines in a Flipped Classroom

    This article provides insight into how a teacher flipped her middle school science classroom and then integrated the NGSS storyline process of learning into the flipped classroom structure.

  • Tech Tips | May 2018 Access is an AACT member benefit. Use Moodle to Score Lab Calculations Instantly

    One of the greatest time demands for chemistry teachers is the assessment of lab work. With a little bit of preparation, you can program Moodle (a widely available and free learning management system used by many schools) to correct students’ lab calculations and provide immediate feedback. The author walks through an example using a simple stoichiometry exercise used with his 11th grade general chemistry students.

  • Tech Tips | March 2017 Access is an AACT member benefit. Using Virtual Labs to Enhance AP Curriculum

    This article uses several topics related to the AP chemistry curriculum, such as general equilibrium and thermodynamics, to illustrate how virtual lab assignments and activities can be designed to enhance the AP chemistry curriculum and meet specific learning objectives.

  • Tech Tips | March 2017 Access is an AACT member benefit. Using Google Forms for Remediation

    This article, written in lab report format, discusses the use of Google Forms for online quizzes in the chemistry classroom. The author summarizes her experiences and methodology for using these quizzes in her classroom, and includes a link to a step-by-step video guide for creating quizzes as well as tips for implementing them in your classroom.