Articles


Filter by:

1 – 25 of 112 Articles

  • Resource Feature | September 2024 Enhancing Student Self-Awareness of Learning Progress in High School Chemistry

    A veteran high school chemistry teacher shares how implementing a year-long strategy using ongoing lab examples enhanced students’ self-awareness, allowing them to reflect on progress, correct misconceptions, and take ownership of their learning.

  • Editorial | September 2024 Extending Collaboration Beyond Chemistry

    AACT President Martin Palermo emphasizes the importance of collaboration outside chemistry educators. Interacting with teachers from other disciplines can enrich one’s teaching practices, reduce isolation, support professional growth, and enhance student learning experiences.

  • Editorial | May 2024 Reflecting on the Three Cs

    AACT President Michael Farabaugh reflects on the end of the school year, balancing emotions, and setting goals. He encourages his peers to continue embracing connection, collaboration, and contribution to enhance teaching and community engagement.

  • 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.

  • Classroom Commentary | March 2024 Experimenting with Standards-Based Grading in High School Chemistry

    Two chemistry teachers describe their experiment with standards-based grading, sharing their reasons, methods, and challenges faced over the last two years. They hope to encourage teachers to use this practice themselves, and share their experiences.

  • Editorial | March 2024 Teacher Leadership in Science and Chemistry

    AACT President-Elect Martin Palermo discusses the concerning trend of STEM educator retention, particularly in chemistry. He highlights the benefits of engaging in teacher leadership and the role of organizations like AACT in supporting chemistry educators.

  • Editorial | November 2023 Engaging Students Through Chemistry Research

    AACT Governing Board SOCED Representative Don Warner explains how his career began with scientific research that changed his life. He implores educators to introduce their students to research opportunities and incorporate course-based research experiences into their classes.

  • Classroom Commentary | November 2023 Student Mental Health Matters... and so Does Yours!

    Student mental health has gained greater focus over recent years, yet many teachers have not applied that knowledge to themselves. A discussion at ChemEd 2023, led by the author, introduced techniques for teachers to prioritize their own well-being.

  • Advice Column | September 2023 Dear Labby: Puzzled With Precipitates

    A teacher from Texas asks about precipitates and Labby answers. 

  • 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.

  • Editorial | September 2023 Connect, Collaborate, and Contribute

    As teachers embark on the new school year, the 2023-24 AACT Governing Board President, Michael Farabaugh, encourages educators to embrace what he calls the “three C’s.”

  • Resource Feature | May 2023 Exploring Social Justice Through a Chemistry Lens

    This article details a project that introduces students to the intersection of social justice and chemistry. Over the course of a semester, students study the Flint, Michigan water crisis and discuss the social aspects while exploring the solution chemistry underlying the events.

  • Editorial | May 2023 How Are You?

    AACT President Matt Perekupka reflects on the school year and revisits the topic of teacher burnout. He hopes that other teachers have shared his feeling of revitalization this school year and credits the importance of building connections for combatting his battle with burnout.

  • Resource Feature | March 2023 Restoring the Passion for Chemistry: How Collaborating on a Research Project can Inspire both Students and Teachers

    In this article, the author shares about her struggle to balance curriculum requirements and pacing with the opportunity to provide real lab experiences for students. Recently, she has experienced science classes dwindling in popularity, particularly since the pandemic. When she had the opportunity to end a particularly difficult school year with a student-led research project, she helped both herself and her students regain a love of learning.

  • Classroom Commentary | November 2022 Chemical Phenomena in Everyday Life: An Adventure in Writing Across the Curriculum

    This article describes a year-long writing project in an upper-level chemistry course that culminates in a Writing Marathon field trip to New York City. The goal of the project was to use student writing about chemical phenomena observed in daily life to make connections to the concepts discussed in class. The author shares that her students enjoyed exploring the city and examining it through their chemistry lens. She found it even more rewarding to watch them apply their knowledge to explain the phenomena around them.

  • Editorial | November 2022 Making Connections: The Value of a Professional Learning Network

    AACT President-Elect Michael Farabaugh reflects on his journey building a professional learning community throughout his career. He provides insight to both online and in-person opportunities, and shares about some of his most impactful experiences. He encourages teachers to get involved and make connections through a variety of resources.

  • Resource Feature | September 2022 Using the National Historic Chemical Landmarks Lessons in the Chemistry Classroom

    This article highlights the National Historic Chemical Landmarks program from the American Chemical Society, and aims to make teachers aware of the growing collection of lesson plans that are centered around select Landmarks for use in the high school chemistry classroom. The lesson plans provide a unique combination of science, history, and literacy while featuring significant scientific achievements and discoveries.

  • Editorial | September 2022 Battling and Overcoming Teacher Burnout

    AACT President Matt Perekupka addresses the difficult but timely topic of teacher burnout. He shares about the obstacles he has faced as a teacher in recent years, and outlines shared goals for overcoming burnout in the year ahead. Matt emphasizes the importance of having a positive professional network, while also encouraging teachers to be mindful of their personal well-being this year.

  • Editorial | May 2022 An Ongoing Effort: Culturally Responsive Teaching in Chemistry

    AACT President Greta Glugoski-Sharp shares about the work of the AACT Governing Board throughout the past year, and highlights their efforts focused on culturally responsive and inclusive teaching practices in the chemistry classroom. She hopes that their work will result in a toolkit (currently being developed) that can help support and guide chemistry teachers on the path to culturally responsive teaching.

  • Resource Feature | May 2022 Bringing Materials Chemistry into the Teaching of Bonding

    In this article, the author explains how she incorporates topics of materials science into a chemical bonding unit. She shares several teaching resources as examples, including easy-to-use, show-and-tell style demonstrations that have had been effective at introducing students to the exciting field of material science.

  • Editorial | March 2022 Rejuvenating Your Passion for Teaching in the Midst of the Pandemic

    AACT President-Elect Matt Perekupka reflects on the difficulties teachers have faced in presenting high-quality lessons during the last two years of COVID-interrupted education. With an optimistic outlook for the future, he encourages teachers to embrace the changing world and to incorporate new teaching methods, ideas, and technology moving forward. He also highlights some of the newest chemistry teaching resources offered by AACT.

  • Resource Feature | March 2022 The Online Summer Food Lab

    Two teachers at an independent high school share about their inaugural experience designing and teaching a two-week summer mini-course, Chemistry of Cooking. This course, among others, was designed to engage incoming students with academic material, offer an opportunity to explore a topic of interest, and help students get to know each other and their teachers before the start of the school year. The authors were excited that it was also their own opportunity to learn about food chemistry — a new chemistry topic to explore beyond the scope of the usual tenth-grade course curriculum. In this article, they share about planning and designing the course, as well as ideas for how teachers might incorporate aspects of it into a homeschool, virtual, hybrid, or in-person chemistry classroom.

  • 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.

  • Editorial | November 2021 Broadening Participation in Chemistry

    In this editorial, AACT Governing Board SOCED Representative Pamela Leggett-Robinson shares about her passion for broadening participation in chemistry so that all people, voices, and perspectives are given equal opportunity to contribute.

  • Classroom Commentary | November 2021 Arousing the Spirit of Inquiry

    Stories from the history of chemistry can serve as rich and stimulating complements to standard curricula in K-12 chemistry classrooms. Yet even when chemistry teachers have the curricular flexibility to build history lessons into their classes, students can often find this content dry or inaccessible. At the same time, fewer and fewer science centers and museums present content and artifacts on historical chemistry that educators can use to supplement classroom teaching. As ACS celebrates the 100th anniversary of the creation of its Division of the History of Chemistry, this essay reflects on the long-standing desire of chemistry teachers to weave history into chemistry classrooms, particularly by introducing students to the discipline’s material culture. This article highlights the work of the Science History Institute to share artifact- and image-driven stories from the history of chemistry on a digital platform.