Chemistry International Blank Image
Chemistry International Text Image Link to Chemistry International Blank Image Chemistry International Blank Image Chemistry International Blank Image
Chemistry International Blank Image
Chemistry International Blank Image
Chemistry International Text Image Link to Current Issue
Chemistry International Text Image Link to Past Issues
Chemistry International Text Image Link to Officer's Columns
Chemistry International Text Image Link to Features
Chemistry International Blank Image
Chemistry International Text Image Link to Up for Discussion
Chemistry International Text Image Link to IUPAC Wire
Chemistry International Text Image Link to Project Place
Chemistry International Text Image Link to imPACt
Chemistry International Text Image Link to Bookworm
Chemistry International Text Image Link to Internet Connections
Chemistry International Text Image Link to Conference Call
Chemistry International Text Image Link to Where 2B and Y
Chemistry International Text Image Link to Symposia
Chemistry International Text Image Link to CI Indexes
Chemistry International Text Image Link to CI Editor
Chemistry International Text Image Link to Search Function
Chemistry International Text Image Link to Information

 

Chemistry International Text Image Link to Previous Issue Chemistry International Text Image Link to Previous Page Chemistry International Text Image Link to This TOC Chemistry International Text Image Link to Next Page Chemistry International Text Image Link to Next Issue

Vol. 25 No. 1
January - February 2003

The Project Place | Information about new, current, and completed IUPAC projects and related initiatives
See also www.iupac.org/projects

IUPAC Chemical Nomenclature for Chemistry Teachers at Secondary Schools

The Committee on Chemistry Education has initiated a new project to educate chemistry teachers at secondary schools and technical colleges in the Czech Republic about current IUPAC nomenclature of inorganic, organic, biochemical, and macromolecular compounds. The procedure could later be used as a model for replication in other countries.

Knowledge of current IUPAC chemical nomenclature among chemistry teachers at secondary schools and technical colleges in the Czech Republic is rather rudimentary. The faculties educating chemistry teachers do not seem to put sufficient stress on correct and modern chemical nomenclature. The situation is even worse with senior teachers as postgraduate studies in education are not available to them. There is no appropriate solution to the problem. The most important, current IUPAC-nomenclature documents are translated into Czech and published, but their treatment of the topics is difficult and too detailed for the teachers, explained Professor J. Kahovec, the task group chairman undertaking this project. Organizing postgraduate courses for secondary school chemistry teachers is a viable solution.

In the courses that the task group is planning, the fundamentals of current IUPAC nomenclature of inorganic, organic, and biochemical compounds, as well as that of polymers, would be outlined. The rules and the ideas behind them would be explained and illustrated in many examples. At the same time, the most frequent errors in naming would be demonstrated and corrected. A booklet containing a brief outline of nomenclature rules and, possibly, a final exam would form an important part of the course. Experienced nomenclaturists—preferably those taking part in translations of IUPAC documents—who are members of IUPAC or national nomenclature commissions, would give the lectures. The booklet and teaching materials initially prepared in Czech will subsequently be translated in English.

Preliminary inquiries among chemistry teachers showed great interest in such courses. As the number of chemistry teachers at secondary schools and technical colleges in the Czech Republic is quite high, several course offerings would have to be scheduled. A meeting is planned with the Department of Teaching and Didactics of Chemistry of the Faculty of Science of the Charles University in Prague to introduce this course on IUPAC chemical nomenclature into the curriculum for chemistry teachers.

For more information, contact the Task Group Chairman Jaroslav Kahovec <[email protected]>.

www.iupac.org/projects/2001/2001-016-1-050.html

 

 


Page last modified 30 December 2002.
Copyright © 2002 International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.

Questions regarding the website, please contact [email protected]
Link to CI Home Page Link to IUPAC E-News Link to IUPAC Home Page