Abstract
The undergraduate student perception of inorganic chemistry as routine and unimaginative was transformed by adopting few innovative approaches in the pedagogy. This is primarily a reflection of my experiences in classroom teaching that is presented in this commentary. Fun-oriented, analogy based and pragmatic approach was used to explain simple concepts in inorganic chemistry. Laboratory demonstrations and exposure to understand research articles made the course more interesting. Selective examples of defining classroom moments are presented in this reflective commentary. Framing questions in an animated, imaginative and unconventional style made students feel quite challenged and also experience the joy in learning. The introduction of group discussion as an evaluative component enhanced the soft skills of the students. The creative instinct in learning changed students’ perception of inorganic chemistry from an insipid to a highly engaging and captivating subject.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Suggested Reading
J E Huheey, E A Keiter, R L Keiter, and O K Medhi, Inorganic Chemistry-Principles of structure and reactivity- 4th Ed, Pearson Education Inc, 1993.
V W W Yam, Inorganic chemistry-A prestigious history and a bright future, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Vol.54, pp.8304–8305, 2015.
R S Nylohm, The renaissance of inorganic chemistry, Journal of Chemical Education, Vol.34, No.4, pp.166–169, 1957.
P K Dorhout, Teaching chemistry in the new century: Inorganic chemistry, Journal of Chemical Education, Vol.78, No.9, pp.1171–1172, 2001.
J R Raker, B A Reisner, S R Smith, J L Stewart, J L Crane, L Pesterfield, and S G Sobel, Foundation course work in undergraduate inorganic chemistry: Results from a national survey of inorganic chemistry faculty, Journal of Chemical Education, Vol.92, No.6, pp.973–979, 2015.
N A Williams, W Bland, and G Christie, Improving student achievement and satisfaction by adopting a blended learning approach to inorganic chemistry, Chemistry Education Research and Practice, Vol.9, pp.43–50, 2008.
L L Pesterfield and C H Henrickson, Inorganic chemistry at the undergraduate level: Areweall on thesamepage? Journal of Chemical Education, Vol.78, No.5, pp.677–679, 2001.
H T Nennig, K L Idarraga, L D Salzer, A B Rechek, and R M Theisen, Comparison of student attitudes and performance in an online and a face-to-face inorganic chemistry course, Chemistry Education Research and Practice, Vol.21, pp.168–177, 2020.
K J Young, S Lashley and S Murray, Influence of exam blueprint distribution of student perceptions and performance in an inorganic chemistry course, Journal of Chemical Education, Vol.96, No.10, pp.2141–2148, 2019.
C Wu and J Foos, Making chemistry fun to learn, Literacy information and Computer Education Journal, Vol.1 No.1, pp.3–7, 2010.
F Wang, J Graetz, M S Moreno, C Ma, L Wu, V Volkov and Y Zhu, Chemical distribution and bonding of lithium in intercalated graphite: Identification with optimized electron energy loss spectroscopy, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, Vol.5 No.2, pp.1190–1197, 2011.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobe,_or_not_to_be (Accessed on 15th Nov’ 2019)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil_in_the_Dark (Accessed on 15th Nov 2019)
R S Pearson, Manganese color reactions, Journal of Chemical Education, Vol.65, No.5, pp.451–452, 1988.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erin_Brockovich_(film) (Accessed on 15th Nov 2019)
J K Pagano, L Jaworski, D Lopallo and R Waterman, An inorganic chemistry laboratory course as research, Journal of Chemical Education, Vol.95, No.9, pp.1520–1525, 2018.
M Wriedt, J P Sculley, D Aulakh and H C Zhou, Using modern solid state analytical tools for investigations of a carbon capture material: Experiments for the inorganic chemistry laboratory, Journal of Chemical Education, Vol.93, No.12, pp.2068–2073, 2016.
A K Bachhawat, Some experiments with a pre-PhD course at IISER Mohali, Current Science, Vol.104, No.12, pp.1606–1608, 2013.
M Barathi, A S K Kumar, and N Rajesh, Impact of fluoride in potable water–An outlook on the existing defluoridation strategies and the road ahead, Coordination Chemistry Reviews, Vol.387, pp.121–128, 2019.
T Kaiho, Iodine Chemistry and Applications, 1st Ed., John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2015.
H W Roesky, Spectacular Chemistry Experiments, 1st Ed., Wiley VCH, 2007.
A Burton, Titanium dioxide photocleans polluted air, Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol.120, No.6, p.A229, 2012.
Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge the patience and enthusiasm of second year M.Sc (Chem) undergraduate students for making this course a memorable experience. Special thanks to Prof. Vidya Rajesh, Department of Biological Sciences, BITS Pilani, Hyderabad campus, India for her valuable inputs in the preparation of this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Prof. N. Rajesh obtained his PhD from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, India. He has 25 years of teaching and research experience and is currently a Professor in the Department of Chemistry, Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani, Hyderabad campus, India. His research interests include: development of novel biopolymer and carbonaceous materials for the effective detoxification of heavy metals, fluoride and pesticides from water and industrial effluents.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rajesh, N. Making Inorganic Chemistry Interesting. Reson 25, 1241–1249 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-020-1042-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-020-1042-7