17th Philippine Chemistry Congress
May 23-25, 2001
Cagayan de Oro CityABSTRACTS: CHEMISTRY EDUCATION
CP1
TEACHING CHEMISTRY USING PICTORIAL ANALOGIES
Elmer-Rico E. Mojica
Institute of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences
University of the Philippines, Los Banos, Laguna
Chemistry teaching involves a great deal of abstract reasoning in order to explain principles and phenomena in terms of atomic or molecular structures and dynamics. Most of the students have a hard time understanding abstract concepts of chemistry because it requires them to imagine something that they cannot see and observe. The students can be helped to develop to develop these non-observable pictures if they can compare them to observables with which they are familiar.
An analogy of a non-observable, abstract, molecular structure or process to an observable, concrete, familiar object or change can help students learn chemistry concepts. Using a picture aids the students to recall their lessons later. This paper will present some pictorial analogies useful in developing an understanding of some concepts found in chemistry.
CP2
DEVELOPEMENT AND FABRICATION OF A LOCALLY-MADE LOW COST TWO-PLACE MAGNETIC STIRRER FOR TEACHING CHEMISTRY
Rodel T. Botio
Tarlac State University, Romulo Blvd. Tarlac City, 2300
Locally-made low cost two-place magnetic stirrer was developed and fabricated to ensure safety in stirring and facilitate laboratory activities in teaching chemistry. The fabricated stirrer was tested in terms of: stirring capacity, durability, power consumption and resistance to chemical spills. Production cost was only P2,500.00 compared to the commercial ones, which cost at a range of P12,000.00 – P25,000.00 per unit.
Validation and performance evaluation tests were also made as applied in various laboratory activities and experiments such as preparation of reagents, determination of solubility property and in simple analysis such as acid-base titration. Efficiency is parallel to commercial ones.
TS3C1
MICROSCALE CHEMISTRY IN GENERAL CHEMISTRY LABORATORY
Ma. Cecilia D. de Mesa
General Chemistry and Chemical Education Division
Institute of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences
University of the Philippines, Los Banos, Laguna
Microscale chemistry involves downsizing the amount of chemicals used in laboratory experiments without sacrificing the quality of education. It promotes reduced chemical purchasing, shortened laboratory times, improved laboratory air quality and a sharp reduction in the production of chemical waste at the source.
Several microscale laboratory experiments for general chemistry were tested. These experiments make use of the following microscale techniques: density determination using micropycnometers, boiling point using a microbell and acid-base and redox titration using microtitration.
TS3C2
THE ECONOMICS OF MICROSCALING
THE COPPER REACTIONS EXPERIMENT
Elmer-Rico E. Mojica and Mark Rickard N. Angelia
Institute of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences
University of the Philippines, Los Banos, Laguna
Microscaling is the act of reducing the quantities of chemicals and materials used in an experiment by doing the same experiment using smaller amounts of chemicals. It is a technique used in undergraduate chemistry laboratories that significantly reduces the amount of hazardous waste generated. It is, by definition, a source reduction program. This means that hazardous waste is reduced by avoiding and minimizing its generation.
The microscale approach was applied to the now classic general chemistry experiment on the copper reactions. This experiment deals with the various chemical transformations undergone by copper with the use of different chemical reagents. The least possible amount of reagent that would give similar results as that of the macroscale versions was used. Aside from obtaining the same results, the microscale version of the experiment offers other advantageous features. These include reduced consumption of chemicals, improved safety in the laboratory class, minimized waste generation, an atmosphere of excitement, and preliminary training on the manipulative skills of the students and a much shorter time for the completion of the experiment.
The expenses of both versions were calculated to determine the amount of money to be saved in using the microscale version.
TS3C3
CHEMISTRY BEYOND THE CLASSROOM: AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH THAT LINKS HIGH SCHOOL CHEMISTRY WITH THE LOCAL COMMUNITY
Chona Maderal and Ma. Assunta C. Cuyegkeng
Chemistry Department, Ateneo de Manila University
Loyola Heights Quezon City, 1108
A co-curricular program was designed for the Makati Science High School juniors to bring chemistry in action to the local community.
The program design began with a profile of the students and their grouping according to the location of their redisdences. Five sites were chosen in various districts of Makati. The student groups went for ocular inspection and ran a needs assessment survey of the community. Based on these, activities such as fish meal composting, plastics segregation and information awareness campaigns were planned and carried out by the student groups. As part of the planning and implementation, the students had to learn about their specific areas, including chemistry of composting, organic fertilizers from fish meal and horse manure, water quality and plastics.
The pilot program was carried out during SY 1998-99, and it has continued in partnership with the local government and community. It was presented to the environmental arm of the local government and was recognized as a fruitful effort in bringing together chemistry in the community.
TS5C4
USING MOVIES TO HELP TEACH CHEMISTRY
Elmer-Rico E. Mojica
Institute of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences
University of the Philippines, Los Banos, Laguna
Promoting chemistry or science as a whole is a weak point of the present educational system in our country. For us to become an industrial country, we need a strong backbone on science and technology. But how can we achieve this if students lack interest in learning scientific concepts.
Students, like most people, actually get most of their knowledge and understanding of science not from school but from mass media like television, movies and popular novels. People get excited about breakthroughs in genetic engineering and cloning, in the search of extraterrestrial life and in the improvement of life in movies that they have watched.
Several movies are found to be rich with examples of chemical concepts, many of which are surprisingly accurate while others are pure technobabble. Using movies as examples of concepts in chemistry heightens the students’ interests. They find it amusing.
This paper provides references to different chemical concepts that have been directly or indirectly discussed in several movies. This include some classic movies like "It’s a Wonderful Life" as well as contemporary movies like "GATTACA". Furthermore, the chemical concepts found in these movies can serve as a focal point for discussions for the feasibility of that particular method, process or phenomena to happen or occur in the real life.
TS5C5
CHEMOMETRIC EXPERIMENTS IN UNDERGRADUATE CHEMISTRY
Camero M. C., Medina, E. S., Millan C.G.O., Villanueva, M. E. and Alfonso, R. L.
Chemistry Department, College of Science
University of Santo Tomas, Espana, Manila
Many modern analytical instruments produce multivariate data. Handling such data requires the application of some chemometric methods. To illustrate how this is accomplished, several experiments were performed. The turbidimetric determination of sulfate was optimized using the simplex method. Spectrometric determination of iron(III) in the presence of interferences was improved by principal component regression, a multivariate regression method. Several physical and chemical parameters of commercial "lambanog" were determined. With the application of pattern recognition methods, cluster analysis and principal component analysis, on the data, the samples were classified according to their brands. The calculations involved in simplex optimization were performed manually. All the others were done using a statistical software.
TS5C6
PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT IN HIGH SCHOOL CHEMISTRY
Saranay M. Baguio
Philippine Science High School, Diliman Campus, Diliman Quezon City
For the last decade, we have witnessed significant changes in the assessment practices in education. With the shift to performance education in many schools and all the talk about multiple intelligences and learning styles, we as educators, must accept the fact that both the way we teach and the way we assess our students are changing.
Assessment and learning are closely and intimately tied. Most standardized tests (multiple-response, filling blanks, true/false/, matching) rarely ask students to apply information and seldom require students to exhibit proficiencies in the higher-order thinking skills that are desired in the learning process. So, current educational reform now shifts emphasis from a testing culture to a performance culture. It stresses authentic assessment as a way of determining what a student has learned and what he is able to do as a result of his learning. And true learning is performing a skill the way it has to be done in the real world outside of the classroom.
The need for more authentic assessment has led us to experiment on the use of the portfolio as a performance assessment tool in high school chemistry. The context of the paper is to share with the participants some ideas on how to implement portfolio as an alternative form of assessment using the Philippine Science High School experience.
