Student-Centered Learning

To The Instructor:

One main goal of any course we teach is to develop student interest. For a liberal arts chemistry course, this goal stands particularly high. Not only is the course often offered as an elective, but most of these students have never had a significant interest in science and many are even intimidated by it.

How do we capture and maintain the interest of our liberal arts chemistry students? How do we also provide our students with the essentials of a field that has had a revolutionary impact on the way we live? There are a variety of student-centered teaching techniques that assist us toward these goals. Many of these techniques are discussed within the following pdf file adapted from the instructor's manual. I believe, however, that it is typically the enthusiasm and energy of the instructor that has the greatest bearing on the students' willingness and desire to learn. Accordingly, it makes sense to focus on what it takes to capture and maintain our own interests in teaching as well as the interests of the students we teach. One of the main goals for this section of ConceptChem.com, therefore, is to show how you might use Conceptual Chemistry and its supplements to make your presentation of chemistry to the liberal arts student an enjoyable and rewarding experience.

Thank you for your interest in Conceptual Chemistry. I look forward to hearing from you, especially regarding any corrections needed in the textbook or its many supplements. Good Chemistry to you!

The Student Centered Class (88k pdf)