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Long Distance Learning Brings Chem Labs into the Comfort of Homes
You may not be able to get your kicks from a chemistry set anymore, but that doesn't mean you can't learn chemistry at home. More than half of all U.S. colleges and degree-granting institutions offer distance-learning courses, classes that students complete without having to set foot in a classroom. And thanks to the work of a few dedicated teachers, a growing number of them are offering chemistry labs.
After all, every home contains a makeshift lab anyway—the kitchen.
"You do chemistry in your kitchen all the time," says Jimmy Reeves, a chemistry professor at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. "When you bake a potato, you're doing chemistry."
Reeves and his colleagues have developed chemistry lab courses that students at his university and a nearby community college do in the kitchen. His lab experiments are designed to address the same types of questions asked of students in normal college chemistry lab courses. To investigate acid-base properties, for example, students in Reeves' labs are asked to boil a red cabbage—its juice serves as an excellent acid-base indicator. To measure heat capacity—the amount of heat it takes to raise an object's temperature by one degree—Reeves has students boil a penny, transfer it into a cup of water, and then measure how much the water temperature rises.
Although "kitchen chemistry" might sound like a disaster waiting to happen, Reeves says that safety really isn't much of an issue. None of his experiments rely on dangerous techniques or strong chemicals—vinegar and baking soda are about as strong as they get. "The procedures that we ask people to do are no more dangerous than normal cooking procedures," he explains.
And although his experiments may not be as "exact" as those that would be done in a real lab, results from lab practicals show that his students learn at least as well as, if not better, than, students in normal college laboratory courses. Reeves hopes that this data will convince other distance-learning universities to offer his courses, too.
"If you're not actually pouring liquids and weighing solids, most chemists would say you're not doing chemistry," Reeves says. "That's what we want to train people to be able to do."
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10.4.07 11:38 AM PDT
allan
I used to tutor people in organic chemistry years ago, and when it came to explaining the experiments I would always use cooking as the analogy. The way I see it: if you can make a cup of coffee you can do most freshman organic labs. Its cool to see someone take that analogy to the next level.
3.7.08 11:29 PM PST
Chris Fredell
I work in a middle school and am disappointed to see physical and earth science "lessons" presented to students from a book or a whiteboard, often without so much as a demonstration using real stuff. Little equipment on hand for the teacher or class to actually use, certainly none of the "pouring liquids and weighing solids" that used to be a large part of the science activities I recall from my long-ago junior high experience. It's sad to see the glassware, chemical jars and bunsen burners replaced with virtual, computer-based "units of instruction." I don't see it as progress when learning experiences at this level are moved so far away from the real materials and stuff of the world--the world that science is trying to explain.
1.29.09 3:13 PM PST
olukins
hello, pls i am having a lttle problem on some courses.. pls i will want you to tell or give me some courses without chemistry,any course or science course..pls i just want you to put me through..
Thanks
kate.
11.21.09 8:02 PM PST
Brooke Spitler
I am a freshman in college and one of the few chemistry majors today. I always knew that I loved experiments since I was little and it solidified when I reached high school. That's how I knew that I wanted to be a chemist. I had the idea when I started college to maybe get a job in the chemistry department. I'm kind of shy, but I overcame my fears and made the best decision of my life. Now I work three days a week in the "chemical distribution center" or the stock room making solutions, experimenting, lab prep, and generally learning the chemistry my fellow chemistry majors aren't. I love it!! It's way better than any chemistry class that I will ever take. My boss and all the professors that are in and out of the stock room keep telling me that all the experience that I'll earning now will put me far ahead of all my peers. I keep nudging my boss to do experiments that I would never have the chance to do at home, like making a glow stick. This idea of chemistry at home sounds exciting and a great way to get more people into it. Keep up the good work!! (I did that red cabbage indicatior when I was in elementary school for the science fair it was one of my favorites.)
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