MatLab

To bridge the gap between equation and concept when dealing with questions of pH, I created a MatLab program that would show pH titrations in simultaneous multiple graphical and pictorial formats. Through color coding, the connections between the amounts of various chemical species with their mathematical counterparts becomes apparrent. Base concentration, pH and pK can then be changed through the use of slide bars and menu choices to make the program interactive. By varying parameters and seeing their effects the student can get a feel for how they each relate. Flick has created a similar program using .Excel.

Faculty members interested in obtaining MatLab or the pH equilibrium program should contact me

Stella

Simple chemical simulations can be done using the Stella programing language. Which can be done easier than comparable

Excel simulationsr

Those that wish to explore either way should contact me.

Media Molecules

A series of film clips to illustrate chemical principles. Also available on DVD, Restricted to campus use for copyright reasons.

Send me an Email if you wish to use the DVD, if you're interested in having me capture a clip for you, or show you how to do it yourself.

ChemArt Lab

A day in the lab of Prof. Peggy Merritt's Chem 103 Chemistry and Art class was preserved in a series of photos and videos. These capture the feel and the exitement that can occur while doing labs. Useful for describing a course, these images can be used to advertise and otherwise generate interest in a course.

Chem 211 Lab Manual

The Organic Chemistry Lab Manual is being put on the web, complete with photo and video illustrations. Besides making the manual more attractive, more accessible and cheaper (i.e. free), the lab manual is immediately accessible to all participants and does not have to be printed and bound, thus smoothing the editing and publishing processes. The use of photos, animations and videos for illustration makes the manual far more useful at explaining the lab and the specific techniques that students will use. Much of the anxiety they experience will be lessened and perhaps be replaced with anticipation and excitement as they can better visualize what is expected of them.

Nick and I will be expanding on this durring the summer.

Interviews

A chemical view of ourselves is that we are assemblies of molecules constantly interacting with other molecules (the world). The subject of drugs goes to the heart of understanding these molecular interactions. Psychoactive drugs, in particular, touch on who we are. I have been doing a series of interviews of faculty, staff and students discussing their experiences with various substances. These are being edited to reveal various themes such as tolerance, withdrawal, intoxication, hallucination, addiction and the variability between users. They will be used in my Chem101 course Understanding Drugs.

Videoconference

The promise of videoconferencing to bring expert speakers from around the globe into the classroom has rarely been realized on campuses. To take the plunge, I asked Flick Coleman (on sabatical in Wisconsin) if he would guest lecture via videoconferencing the class he normally teaches when on campus, Chem 341. Based on the experience, I have decided to add a videoconference to my own class, Chem 101, next year. Gary Johnson, the governor of New Mexico has agreed to talk on the subject of drug reform. I suspect as other faculty become aware of the usefulness and ease of videoconferencing it will be used with increasing frequency.

Lobster Porn

Advisor to an independent Ruhlman Project that included a film that explores telling a story via different film genre. Excerpts from the film showing a student answering a phone call are shown at left.

China

ITS folk