Teaching Chemical Information:
Tips and Techniques

— March 1998 —

Brigham Young University: Chemistry 391

Winter 1995
12:00–12:50 pm MWF
123 HRCB
241 ESC

Prerequisites: Chem 227 and 352 or equivalent and freshman English or equivalent

Audience: Chemistry majors in their junior year

General Objectives: This course is primarly a writing course with emphasis on how to do the kinds of writing done by professional chemists. Introduction on the structure of the literautre of chemistry is included to enable the student to find chemical information as a base for written assignments. The assignments are designed to be as close to “real world” experience as possible. Grades are based on the ability to find the required information, organize the material effectively, and present it in the appropriate style and format. This course fills the advanced writing GE requirement.

Grading:		% of Grade	Due Dates
0.	Reading	2%
1.	Article for “The Beaker”	6%	23 Jan., 15 Feb.
2.	Inorganic report, secondary sources	6%	3 Feb.
3.	Organic report, secondary sources	6%	6 Feb.
4.	Commercial product report	6%	13 Feb.
5.	Current literature journal	6%	10 Feb., 17 Mar., 17 Apr.
6.	Review article (4 parts)	20%	6-1 10 Mar. — CARS, etc. 6-2 15 Mar. — Outline 6-3 22 Mar., 12 Apr. — Paper
7.	Oral or poster presentation	6%	18 Mar.
8.	Resume	6%	13 Mar.
9.	Patents	6%	13 Mar.
10.	Proposal	6%	31 Mar.
11.	Critical Review	6%	3 Apr.
12.	Creative writing — groups	6%	10 Apr.
13.	Course evaluation	6%	17 Apr.
14.	Final — write a Journal article	6%	26 Apr.

Text: R.A. Day, How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, 3rd edition; Orynx Press: Phoenix, AZ, 1988 and the ACS Style Guide, J.S. Dodd, editor, American Chemical Society: Washington, D.C. 1986. Additional required materialss may be in the library or available from the secretary.

Grades are assigned on an absolute basis by comparison to acceptable professional writing in chemistry. Grades are given only on the final product independent of how many revisions the process takes. Late work will be penalized, however (10% per class period). You will have several projects simultaneously underway during most of the course, so pay attention to the schedule and plan your work carefully. Plagiarism (copying material or structure without giving proper credit) will result in automatic failing grades. Procedures and schedules are subject to change in the event of extenuating circumstances both on the part of the student and the instuctor. Always return the previous draft with a revised paper. All assignments must be completed to receive credit for the course.

Writing fellows will be working with us on assignments 1 and 6. You must turn in the first draft of these papers on or before the due dates, i.e. 23 Jan. and 22 Mar. The 15 Mar. due date for the outline of the review article is also very firm.

Lecture	Topic	Assignment
9 Jan.	* Course overview	Arrange for wrd processing, Day 1
11 Jan.	Proofreading	Begin reading assignment (0), Day 2, ACS-1
13 Jan.	Writing Process	Beaker article (1), Day 3, ACS-5
18 Jan.	Modes	ACS-App. III-VI, Day 4
20 Jan.	* Sec. Sources — Inorganic	Report (2)
23 Jan.	* Sec. Sources — organic	Report (3), Day 5
25 Jan.	* Sec. Sources &nmdash; commercial	Report (4), Day 5
27 Jan.	References and citations	ACS-2, Day 9
30 Jan.	* Primary sources	Day 7
1 Feb.	* Current topics	Current literature journal (5), Day 8
3 Feb.	* Reviews	Review article (6), Day 10
6 Feb.	* Chemical Abstracts	ACS-App. 1, Day 11
8 Feb.	* Science Citation Index	CA + SCI (6-1), Day 12, ACS-6
10 Feb.	Audience	Day 13
13 Feb.	Writing process — submission, referees, Authors Instructions, etc.	Day 14
15 Feb.	Organization	Outline (6-2), Day 15
17 Feb.	Lanham’s Paramedic Method	View Video, Day 16
21 Feb.	* CARS	CARS (6-3), Day 17
22 Feb.	Open	Day 18
24 Feb.	* Oral presentations	Prepare for college research symposium (7), Day 19
27 Feb.	* Fac. Tape
1 Mar.	Graphics	ACS-3, Day 20
3 Mar.	Tables	ACS-7, Day 21
6 Mar.	Resumes	Resume (8), Day 22
8 Mar.	* Patents	Patent (9), Day 23
10 Mar.	Open	Day 24
13 Mar.	Proposals	Proposal (10), Day 25
15 Mar.	Revising	Day 26
17 Mar.	Open	Day 27
18 Mar.	College Spring Research Conference
20 Mar.	Open
22 Mar.	Reviewing	Critical Review (11), Day 28
24 Mar.	Creativity	Creative Writing (12), Day 29
27 Mar.	Creativity	Day 30
29 Mar.	Open	Day App. 1
31 Mar.	Open	Day App. 2
3 Apr.	* Creativity	Day App. 3
5 Apr.	* Ethics	Day App. 4
7 Apr.	* Ethics	Day App. 5
10 Apr.	Evaluative Writing	Course evaluation (13), Day App. 6
12 Apr.	Open	Letter of Recommendation (13), Day Glossary
17 Apr.	Open
26 Apr.	Final — 11:00–2:00

* Both sections meet together in 241 ESC.

Assignments 2, 3: One purpose of these assignments is to give you some experience in writing informal reports. Such reports are required frequently from chemists in both industry and academia. Be sure to include a title page giving the subject of the report, the date, and your name.

The other purpose of these assignments is to acquaint you with literature resources, which contain information on specific compounds. Because the literature sources are different, your research assignment will include an inorganic and an organic compound.

You should consider the following list of topics for your report. However, not all of the topics may apply to a specific assignment and some peculiarities may need to be added for a specific assignment.

• Nomenclature
• CAS Registry Number
• Current retail price
• Methods of syntheses
• Suppliers
• Physical properties, e.g., solubility, m.p., b.p., vapor pressure, thermodynamic properties, spectrum, pKa, etc.
• Chemical properties, e.g., stability, toxicity, reactions
• Speciality, industrial, and commercial uses
• Analysis and characterization methods
• History
• Source, isolation

Your report for this assignment will consist of (a) a short document (1-2 pages) giving the information of the material, (b) references to the information, and (c) a list of references consulted that did not include any further information. The CRC Handbook has a section, “The Elements,” that has articles on each of the elements that will serve as a model for your paper.

Objectives and Evaluation: Use of secondary sources, content, clarity, organization, critical thinking.

Reading:

• Maizell—Chapters 3, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18
• Cain—Chapters 5–7, 13, 18
• ACS—Chapters 6, I

Grace Baysinger, Head Librarian and Bibliographer
Swain Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Library, Stanford University Libraries
graceb@stanford.edu