These beginning modules are to help the student be more successful in the chemistry course. We need to teach communication skills in writing and presenting and laboratory safety before they handle any chemicals. We wait for the first of the calculation units to discuss significant figures and scientific notation.

The safety module is made of a study sheet of common sense issues for the laboratory, a video on safety and a quiz. Students generally do well on these as they have had some exposure in previous laboratory classes.

The writing seminar is next. Writing is an important skill and the best way to improve on it is to practice it regularly with a demanding rubric so the skill improve to those levels demanded of the students after they move on to their 13th year. The writing seminar lasts for a week and we do not teach writing, but discuss a common language of writing and the expectation of that writing. We use modeling of writing, we discuss sample of past writing and in general create a common doctrinal understanding of what we feel is good writing both in content as well as structure.

Presentations are an alternate form of communication and the students present every laboratory, paper, and any major writing assignment as a presentation. The presentation takes the place the writing, but the time and the structure is the same as the paper.

Presenting

Safety

Writing