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2001 Fall Newsletter

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To view much of the material presented in the Newsletter you need the free players,QuickTime, Macromedia Shockwave Player (includes Macromedia  Flash Player), or for all Macromedia downloads.

Our leadoff article by Michael J. Sanger shows us some of the animaions he has created and shares with us the problems and successes using them with students.

'I will review the research on the use of computer animations in chemistry instruction and summarize what we have learned so far. Before I do that, however, I will explain why computer animations were incorporated into the chemistry classroom and why they were expected to be an useful instructional tool.

 

Papers in this Newsletter

 

1. ComputerAnimations in Chemistry: What We Have Learned
Michael J. Sanger
Department of Chemistry, University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0423

 

2. First Impressions of Flash 5:
Review by Editor Brian Pankuch
Chemistry Department, Union County College
Cranford, NJ 07016
 
Abstract: Flash 5, available for a free demo from Macromedia, is the latest version for creating animated Web material. Having some experience with other Macromedia products, Dreamweaver, Director, etc., I was hoping to be able to use the program with a minimum of fuss. The interface is similar to the other Macromedia products and I enthusiastically jumped into creating an animation I had planned to do in Director.
 
 
3. More Adventures as a Web Adviser:
Brian Pankuch
Chemistry Department, Union County College
Cranford, NJ 07016

Abstract: I was the web advisor for Tom Spiro’s course on the Chemistry of the Environment during Spring 2001.  Tom decided to use a lot of expertise available at Princeton, so many of the lectures were given by top environmental researchers. Some on work that hasn’t been published yet.  Unfortunately I was teaching my own courses when most of the talks were given but the ones I was able to attend were very informative. In particular Mario Molina, Nobel Prize in chemistry 1995 for work on stratospheric ozone, painted a historical picture of what life was like in the early 1900’s without refrigeration.

 

4. INTERIM UPDATE ON SEARCH ENGINES
Harry E.Pence
SUNY Oneonta
Oneonta, NY

Abstract: Almost every one is aware that there has been a high shake-up in the dot.com world. Many technology and Internet companies have cut staff or even gone into bankruptcy. According to a story being passed around on the Internet, "If you bought $1,000 worth of Nortel stock one year ago, it would now be worth $49. If you bought $1,000 worth of Budweiser (the beer, not the stock) one year ago, drank all the beer, and traded in the cans for the nickel deposit, you would have $79. My advice to you is to start drinking heavily." For those of us who did not invest heavily in the tech bubble, it is important to know what effect these changes have had on the WWW search engines.

 

 

5. Animations in an Instrumental Methods Chemistry Class?
Thomas G. Chasteen
Department of Chemistry, Sam Houston State University

Abstract: Tom has an amazing collection of animations he has created and considerable experience in using them with students. He also makes them available to us, just ask.....'So once we get over the fear of requiring our students to get as involved as possible with modern computers in their chemistry courses, using computers to help teach specific topics is a natural extension. In my senior-level instrumental analysis course I use animations inside and outside of the course to teach instrumental techniques or particularly important or conceptually difficult points.

 

Editor: 

Brian Pankuch
Chemistry Department, Union County College
Cranford, NJ 07016

Newsletter Articles

Abstracts of Papers

ComputerAnimations in Chemistry: What We Have Learned

Michael J. Sanger
Department of Chemistry, University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0423

We are currently trying to track down the content of this paper.

Multimedia Tutorial #6 Using Color - Part II

Harry E.Pence
SUNY Oneonta
Oneonta, NY

Harry continues his series on how to make our lecture presentations more interesting and effective. 'The use of color in chemistry lectures has become so common and convenient that it is easy to forget that about 12 million Americans, most of whom are male, suffer from some form of color blindness. Red or green color blindness is most common and since it involves the X chromosome, it is much more common in men than in women.

First Impressions of Flash 5:

Review by Editor Brian Pankuch
Chemistry Department, Union County College
Cranford, NJ 07016

Flash 5, available for a free demo from Macromedia, is the latest version for creating animated Web material. Having some experience with other Macromedia products, Dreamweaver, Director, etc., I was hoping to be able to use the program with a minimum of fuss. The interface is similar to the other Macromedia products and I enthusiastically jumped into creating an animation I had planned to do in Director.

More Adventures as a Web Adviser:

Brian Pankuch
Chemistry Department, Union County College
Cranford, NJ 07016

I was the web advisor for Tom Spiro’s course on the Chemistry of the Environment during Spring 2001. Tom decided to use a lot of expertise available at Princeton, so many of the lectures were given by top environmental researchers. Some on work that hasn’t been published yet. Unfortunately I was teaching my own courses when most of the talks were given but the ones I was able to attend were very informative. In particular Mario Molina, Nobel Prize in chemistry 1995 for work on stratospheric ozone, painted a historical picture of what life was like in the early 1900’s without refrigeration.

INTERIM UPDATE ON SEARCH ENGINES

Harry E.Pence
SUNY Oneonta
Oneonta, NY

Almost every one is aware that there has been a high shake-up in the dot.com world. Many technology and Internet companies have cut staff or even gone into bankruptcy. According to a story being passed around on the Internet, "If you bought $1,000 worth of Nortel stock one year ago, it would now be worth $49. If you bought $1,000 worth of Budweiser (the beer, not the stock) one year ago, drank all the beer, and traded in the cans for the nickel deposit, you would have $79. My advice to you is to start drinking heavily." For those of us who did not invest heavily in the tech bubble, it is important to know what effect these changes have had on the WWW search engines.

Animations in an Instrumental Methods Chemistry Class?

Thomas G. Chasteen
Department of Chemistry, Sam Houston State University

Tom has an amazing collection of animations he has created and considerable experience in using them with students. He also makes them available to us, just ask.....'So once we get over the fear of requiring our students to get as involved as possible with modern computers in their chemistry courses, using computers to help teach specific topics is a natural extension. In my senior-level instrumental analysis course I use animations inside and outside of the course to teach instrumental techniques or particularly important or conceptually difficult points.