1. History and theory of visualizations
in teaching chemistry:
Examining the impact of Tom Greenbowe and
other chemical heroes
ACS Pimentel Award Symposium, March 2014
Liz Dorland - dorland@wustl.edu - slideshare.net/ldorland
Photosynthetic Antenna Research Center
Washington University in St. Louis

2. History and theory of visualizations in teaching chemistry:
Examining the impact of Tom Greenbowe and other chemical heroes
One hundred and fifty years of chemical education research provides critical insight to questions about what
chemistry students need to know and how they learn it best. But how much has our chemistry teaching
practice changed in light of that knowledge? In this talk we will travel from 1857 to 2013 to review chemical
education landmarks and the patterns they suggest. From Porter's “Principles of Chemistry” (1857), to Charles
W. Eliot and Frank H. Storer's “Manual of Inorganic Chemistry” (1871), to Mabery (Harvard & Case) (1893), to
Steele's “A Fourteen Weeks Course in Chemistry” (1876), to the 1960s ChemStudy project lead by Pimentel, to
the work of Tom Greenbowe and others over the last three decades, leading the way in the use of
visualizations to explain chemical concepts. Effective active learning methods for chemistry classroom and
lab have a deep and well-regarded history. In spite of this, “chalk and talk” presentations with few visuals and
little student interaction are still common in the chemistry classroom. Why? And how can we change the
dynamic?
http://abstracts.acs.org/chem/247nm/program/view.php?obj_id=243259

3. Tom Greenbowe – Google-y Images

4. BCCE
2004
Iowa
State
18BCCE Al D Hyde & the Ketones
1982

5. Chemistry Lecture USA
A history of the teaching of chemistry in the secondary schools of the United States previous to 1850
1767
1825
1920

6. Charles W. Eliot
Chemist & Harvard
President (1869-1909)
“Spontaneous diversity of choice”
(open-ended curriculum)
“The organization of the American
colleges and their connections is
extensive and inflexible. “
“A large number of professors
trained in the existing methods hold
firm possession, and transmit the
traditions they inherited.”
The New Education - The Atlantic – 1869
www.harvard.edu/history/presidents/eliot

7. Manual of Inorganic Chemistry
Charles W. Eliot & Frank H. Storer (MIT 1860s)
Read Online or Download

8. J. Dorman Steele
archive.org/details/coursefourteenwe00steerich
“In 1879, his Chemistry was used in 60 out of 122 public high schools in larger
cities. Seven of his texts were still in print in 1928, 42 years after his death. His
books made a significant contribution to the popularization of science in
America.” Bull. Hist. Chem. (1994) download

9. Arnold O. Beckman: 100 Years of Excellence
Chemical Heritage Foundation (2000)
At age 9, Beckman found
a copy of Joel Dorman
Steele’s Fourteen Weeks
in Chemistry in his attic.
ACS Profiles in Chemistry
Google Books Preview

10. Google Books Preview
Arnold O. Beckman:
One Hundred Years of
Excellence, Volume 1
ACS Profiles in Chemistry
J. Dorman Steele

11. Man in a Chemical World (ACS 1937)
Creating an Image of Science: Persuasion and Iconography in
A. Cressy Morrison's Man in a Chemical World

12. G.N. Lewis at UC Berkeley
- One of his first moves was to turn almost the
entire staff loose upon the problem of starting the
freshman in the way he should go, by fostering a
scientific habit of mind in every conceivable way.
- We met weekly to discuss the organization of the
freshman course and the methods of presenting
difficult topics.
- The complaint that a freshman in a large
university has no contact with professors has not
applied in freshman chemistry at the University of
California, for as many as eight full professors
have in a single term taught freshman sections.
-- Joel Hildebrand in an NAS bio of G.N. Lewis

13. Pimentel Discusses Hydrogen Atom
Link to
Video

14. ChemStudy on YouTube
49 Video Playlist

15. Vibration of Molecules
Pimentel, Pauling, Hildebrand
ChemStudy
Video Link

16. • Discussion among teachers and the CHEM
Study staff – panel session
George Pimentel
The CHEM Study Story
CHEM Study on Archive.org

17. Alex Johnstone: JCE 1983
• Miller number 7
• Working memory
• Chunking
• Perception filter
• Information
Processing Model
How many chunks?
Organic Chem Topics
After repeated attempts

18. Loretta Jones Click Look Inside

19. Greenbowe
Visualizations
~100 Simulation &
Animation Downloads

20. Electrochemical Cell Experiment
Greenbowe Flash
Animations & Simulations

21. Loretta Jones - NSF 2001

22. Representational Competence &
Multiple Representations
are these the
Same or
Different?
Tom Greenbowe
Roy Tasker

23. MacroscopicSymbolic
Sub-Microscopic
H2O
Levels of Representation
Peter Mahaffy
– Macroscopic (water)
– Symbolic (formula)
– Sub-microscopic (molecule)

24. “Dissolving NaCl” - add salt to water
Run web animation: NCSSM Chapter5-Animations/Dissolving_NaCl-Electrolyte
Screenshots from NCSSM C.O.R.E. - Chemistry Online Resource Essentials
North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics

25. “Dissolving NaCl”
H2O solvates Na+ & Cl- ions
Screenshots from NCSSM Animation (2007)

26. What do students see?
See the layers? Which is more dense?
Play Animation of Polar and Non-Polar in Solution

27. GRC: Visualization in Science and Education
Bates College: Aug. 2-7, 2015

28. Map of Learning Theories www.greatmathsteachingideas.com/2013/05/09/infographic-of-learning-theories/

29. Liz Dorland
dorland@wustl.edu
visualcv.com/ldorland – slideshare.net/ldorland