From the Beginning: The Journal of Chemical Education and Secondary School Chemistry

Abstract

The people, events, and issues that were involved in the beginning and the evolution of the Journal of Chemical Education and the Division of Chemical Education (DivCHED) are traced and discussed. The constitution of the American Chemical Society incorporates the roots of chemical education as an area of interest to the Society. Both DivCHED and the Journal have developed from these roots. The precollege initiative was an early concept in the development of the Journal. It gained significant traction during the CHEM Study project, which was part of the response to the Sputnik event.

JJL

“…Aided by Tom Lippincott, Mickey Sarquis, and Jim DeRose, Joe Lagowski included a lot more high school chemistry in these pages. Joe’s article about the full history of the JCE and secondary school chemistry was printed earlier this year …”

“…Joe's article about the full history of the JCE and secondary school chemistry was printed earlier this year. 2 As JCE editor (Figure 1), Joe took another ball handed off by Tom Lippincott and ran with it: the Computer Series, on which Joe and I collaborated extensively. In the 1970s, the newly formed DivCHED Computer Committee had proposed to Tom Lippincott a series of seven articles in the Journal that would describe the state of the art in using computers for chemistry teaching.…”

Welcome Home

“…I am grateful to Joseph Lagowski for sharing his rendering of the remarkable history of the development of the field of chemistry that led to the creation of the ACS and eventually, the Journal of Chemical Education . Looking back, there have been many efforts to include and support high school chemistry teachers.…”

“…A national organization for high school teachers can be the realization of this goal, but it is up to the teachers to make it happen. “This goal will be achieved when local leadershigh school chemistry teachers working with chemists and college chemistry teacherstake the initiative to do so.” Joseph Lagowski’s history lesson makes it clear that we have reached this milestone in our history because of the vision and dedication of many before us. It is our generation’s responsibility to take on that torch.…”

“…I am grateful to Joseph Lagowski for sharing his rendering of the remarkable history of the development of the field of chemistry that led to the creation of the ACS and eventually, the Journal of Chemical Education. 5 Looking back, there have been many efforts to include and support high school chemistry teachers. Most recently, the precollege division of JCE has been working to encourage and facilitate more sharing and collaboration among high school teachers within the Journal and at the companion Web site Chemical Education Xchange.…”