Especially for High School Teachers

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Chemical Education Today

Especially for High School Teachers by J. Emory Howell A Wealth of Useful Information

The January issue is an excellent beginning for the 75th year of JCE service to high school teachers. It is especially rich in articles of interest to high school teachers. In addition to Chemical Education Today, 21 contributed articles have the secondary section logo. Annotations in “In This Issue” will help you to determine which articles to read first. Four Secondary School Chemistry Feature articles appear in this issue: two “Applications and Analogies”, a “View from My Classroom”, and our final “Filtrates and Residues”. Thank You, James Schreck

As Filtrates and Residues is phased out, I wish to acknowledge with gratitude the excellent work of James Schreck who has edited it for several years. Jim’s articles were always carefully edited and useful to readers. The good news is that Jim will provide continuing editorial support. Also, congratulations are in order as Jim begins editorship of the Division of Chemical Education Newsletter. If you are a member of the Division of Chemical Education, you are already aware of the importance of the Newsletter. For more information see the reader service card in this issue or look at JCE Online. High School Teacher Authors in 1997

A big thank you is in order to the 17 high school and middle school teachers who authored or co-authored articles appearing in JCE Volume 74 (1997): Michael Jansen (February), Carla Krieger (March), Stephen West (March), Damon Diamente (April), Eleanor Siegrist and Guy Anderson (May), Anthony Garofalo (June), Mark LaPorte (June), Joseph Baron, Shauna Brammer, Danine Ezell, and Roger Wynn (July), Thomas Bindel and John Fochi (August), Carl Stephen Rapp (September), Dave Olney (November), and Jack Randall (December). Their contributions provide an authentic glimpse of the quality of teaching, innovation, and extra effort that JCE readers bring to middle and high school teaching. All made time among myriad demands to share their expertise, experience, and good ideas. THANKS! January—A Time of New Beginnings

The beginning of a new year—the 75th anniversary year of JCE—is a good time to discuss our ongoing desire to have more middle and high school teachers write and publish articles. One stumbling block is the revision process that nearly always follows review of the original submission. After making time to write, usually at the expense of meeting other demands, authors often find it difficult to face the thought of spending more time in revision. As a result many good ideas are not refined to the point of being published. The ability to write about the successful, innovative things you do in your classroom or laboratory is not innate, but it is a skill that can be learned. The Journal of Chemical Education is ready and willing to help you learn that skill. I was reminded of this recently by an email message from Ron

Secondary School Feature Articles t Heat Capacity, Body Temperature, and Hypothermia, by Doris Kimbrough, p 48. t The Electromotive Series and Other Non-Absolute Scales, by Gavin Peckham, p 49. t Demonstrations on Paramagnetism with an Electronic Balance, by Adolf Cortel, p 61. t Toward More Performance Evaluation in Chemistry, by Sharon Rasp, p 64.

DeLorenzo, editor of the Applications and Analogies feature. Ron described his own experience in having manuscripts rejected and noted that reviewer comments may be very direct and very negative, but invariably they suggest changes that will improve a manuscript. No author, no matter how experienced, enjoys criticism of a paper that took many hours to prepare, just as no student enjoys criticism of classwork or homework. But such criticism is the basis on which improved published articles (or improved classroom performance) are built. We don’t usually fix things unless we know they need fixing, and the fix may not be as hard as the discovery that our work needs fixing. Rather than assuming you are alone as an author, think of yourself as part of a team that includes reviewers and editors, all of whom are striving to produce the most effective manuscript possible, At the Journal of Chemical Education we are willing to go one step further by reading a manuscript draft, or even an outline, before it is submitted for formal review. Over the past year I have read several manuscripts and made suggestions for changes or additions in advance of actual submission. Some of these have now been published or are in the process of revision. If you have an idea for a manuscript or have completed a draft, I would be happy to hear from you, by email, conventional mail, or fax (see contact information for Emory Howell in the masthead, p 4). Why should teachers submit their written ideas for review? To improve the relevance, quality, precision, and accuracy of communication. Not every manuscript submitted will be published—not even every one that receives preliminary suggestions from my office. But that should not be a reason for not trying. All chemistry teachers need access to articles written by their peers. The high school or middle school author writes from experience that is similar to the high school or middle school reader’s experience. There will continue to be a large number of very useful articles written by college or university faculty members and by chemists from industry and government laboratories, but only you can provide the balance to JCE that comes from articles written from the high school and middle school perspective.

JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu • Vol. 75 No. 1 January 1998 • Journal of Chemical Education

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