The implementation of a service-learning component in an organic chemistry laboratory course
- Authors: Glover, Sarah R , Sewry, Joyce D , Bromley, Candice L , Davies-Coleman, Michael T , Hlengwa, Amanda I
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70699 , vital:29690 , https://doi.org/10.1021/ed2008153
- Description: Education institutions globally are increasingly expected to explore avenues for the implementation of service-learning into their curricula. A second-year undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory experiment, in which the undergraduate students make azo dyes, can provide a vehicle for a service-learning module in which university undergraduate students then teach students from resource-limited secondary schools how to make azo dyes. Evidence is provided to show how the theory is reinforced for both sets of students through a shared practical experience. The practical application of chemistry is conveyed through the use of the synthetic azo dyes to dye tshirts. The results of this study show that the service-learning experience clearly assists undergraduate students to appreciate the role of chemists in the broader society while at the same time increasing awareness of the inequalities in school education systems.
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- Date Issued: 2013
Publicising chemistry in a multicultural society through chemistry outreach
- Authors: Harrison, T G , Shallcross, D E , Norman, N C , Sewry, Joyce D , Davies-Coleman, Michael T
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6573 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004136
- Description: Given the emphasis in Higher Education on community engagement in South Africa and the importance of international collaboration, we discuss a joint approach to chemistry outreach in two countries on two continents with widely differing target school audiences. We describe the history of the partnership between the chemistry departments at Rhodes University and the University of Bristol and provide an outline of the chemistry content of their outreach initiatives, the modes of delivery, the advantages to both departments and their students for involvement in various levels of outreach, the challenges they still face and additional opportunities that such work facilitated. The lecture demonstration 'A Pollutant's Tale' was presented to thousands of learners all over the world, including learners at resource-deprived schools in South Africa. Challenges to extend outreach activities in South Africa include long travelling distances, as well as a lack of facilities (such as school halls and electricity) at schools. Outreach activities not only impacted on the target audience of young learners, they also impacted upon the postgraduate and other chemistry students taking part in these initiatives. This collaboration strengthened both institutions and their outreach work and may also lead to chemistry research collaborations between the academics involved.
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- Date Issued: 2011
Introducing chemistry students to the “real world” of chemistry
- Authors: Brown, Michael E , Cosser, Ronald C , Davies-Coleman, Michael T , Kaye, Perry T , Klein, Rosalyn , Lamprecht, Emmanuel , Lobb, Kevin A , Nyokong, Tebello , Sewry, Joyce D , Tshentu, Zenixole R , van der Zeyde, Tino , Watkins, Gareth M
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/449360 , vital:74814 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1021/ed8001539"
- Description: A majority of chemistry graduates seek employment in a rapidly changing chemical industry. Our attempts to provide the graduates with skills in entrepreneurship and the ability to understand and communicate with their chemical engineering colleagues, in addition to their fundamental knowledge of chemistry, are described. This is done at second-year level with practical projects in which student teams formulate and prepare relatively simple chemical products for marketing, followed a year later by a more advanced study of the feasibility of producing and marketing a fine chemical on a commercial scale.
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- Date Issued: 2010