Instructor presents better way at chemistry meet

Published or Revised September 30, 2010

Longtime Paris Junior College chemistry instructor Don Kosterman recently presented a new way to teach one of chemistry's most difficult concepts at the 21st Biennial Conference on Chemical Education – A New Decade for Opportunity. The conference was held at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas, and is considered the premiere conference on chemistry education in the world, as well as one of the largest gatherings of chemistry educators globally. "That was a super conference," said Kosterman. "I got to meet a lot of nice chemistry folks from all over the world. Our section had a cross-section representing a private Houston high school, North Carolina graduate student, Limerick, Ireland, native, and an instructor from Blinn Community College. So it was a nice cross-spectrum of chemistry interests." The conference is designed for chemistry educators of all levels: secondary school, two-year college and university. This conference emphasized the improvement of chemistry education and modern developments in chemistry and chemistry education, addressing complex and subtle relationships of teaching, learning and research. Kosterman presented "Pedagogical Strategies for the 21st Century" on the topic of "Molar equivalents (me's) and general stoichiometry." "Don Kosterman's participation in such a conference is a testimonial to the knowledge and experience available to our students at Paris Junior College," said Dwight Chaney, vice president of academic studies at PJC. "The insight expressed in such a presentation is a recognition of the caliber of professional, instructional staff at the college." This is one of the most difficult concepts in chemistry to teach. Kosterman simplified the process by figuring out a way to use a proportion ratio instead of using traditional dimensional analysis that requires complex formulae. Kosterman says in the classes where he used this method, some 90 percent of his students have understood the concept, a dramatic increase. Stoichiometry uses information about how one species reacts in a chemical reaction to determine information about a different species in the same reaction. A molar equivalent is a unit of the amount of a substance used in chemistry that will either react with or supply one mole of hydrogen ions in an acid-based reaction or, react with or supply one mole of electrons in a redox (reduction-oxidation) reaction. "All the session attendees will take this back and can use it to teach their students," Kosterman said.