Funding, chemical education research

There are many audiences with a vested interest in the answers to these questions including teachers, researchers, administrators, funding agencies, and students. Each of these stakeholders brings to these questions a different perspective and a somewhat different expectation of the answers. Chemical education research is the field of study that is able to address these questions with a systematic, logical, verifiable and convincing approach. Our goal in this book is to provide an overview of the components of chemical education research and to discuss the process of how questions in ftiis field are addressed. 

How do I come up with questions to investigate Chapter 3 Funding Chemical Education Research Chapter 4 Constructing Good and Researchable Questions Loretta L. Jones, Maureen A. Scharberg, Jessica R. VandenPlas Diane M. Bunce... 

Collaborative projects are a good way for a chemical educator to get started in the education research arena, and a way for the experienced chemical education researcher to lend expertise to projects that are enhanced by an education research component. The nature of the collaboration can take many forms, depending on the other members of the team, the possible funding source, and the research proposed. The chemical education researcher s role can vary widely, though no one can be an expert in every area. Some common opportunities are detailed in the rest of this chapter. 

Many of the benefits to a chemical education researcher of being involved in a collaborative project are apparent. It is an opportunity to work with colleagues, to learn about the topic from their perspective, and share some of the questions that chemical education research can answer. Collaboration can provide intellectual and monetary support for projects, and help broaden the audience for outcomes. Being proactive in generating collaborations can lead to fruitful synergies, even without funding. Look for opportunities to foster joint projects or to either advise others or ask for their advice. Be broad in casting your net for possible connections. 

The American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund, the US National Science Foundation, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board—Advanced Technology Program, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation are acknowledged for partial support of this... 

The chemical community responded, as a rule, rather promptly - over less than two decades - and responsibly. The chemical industry cleaned up its operation, as a rule allowing only innocuous effluents from its plants. Environmental research was funded handsomely, and drew significant numbers of chemists. Chemical education also followed suit, for instance the American Chemical Society sponsored textbooks of general chemistry for non-chemistry undergraduate majors, focused on environmental issues.24... 

Acknowledgment is made to the Donors of the Petroleum Research Fund, administered by the American Chemical Society, for the award of a Special Educational Opportunities Grant to the author. 

Finally I would like to thank my wife Pamela, and my daughters Lesley, Jane, and Pamela for their many kindnesses during the preparation of this work. I also would like to thank the Petroleum Research Fund of the American Chemical Society for honoring me with the award of a Special Educational Opportunities Grant to organize and conduct the ACS international symposium on which this book is based. 

Gordon Research Conferences have hosted a conference on Visualization and Science Education since 2001. These visualization conferences have focused on visualization techniques to be used in the classroom to help students form more expert-like mental models. In chemistry, this means the models of particle behavior in chemical processes and reactions. The National Science Foundation has promoted visualization in the classroom by funding a number of workshops on the topic. Jos6 Williamson (44) report one such workshop involving chemists, chemical educators, and software developers who worked through complex ideas such as what is the role of particulate animations in the classroom and what are the characteristics of a good animation. 

This research was supported by the National Research University Project of Thailand, Office of Higher Education Commission, and the Thailand Research Fund (RSA5580059). We thank the Center of Excellence on Environmental Health, Toxicology and Management of Chemicals (ETM) for the scholarship for CW. 

The authors would like to acknowledge the donors of the Petroleum Research Fund, administered by the American Chemical Society, for partial support of this research and PAC Polymers, Inc., Greenville, DE, for Idndly donating the poly(ethylene carbonate). N. S. M. Stevens acknowledges the Texaco Foundation for flnancial support through an educational fellowship. 

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