5 ms·

I get the impression that most people's chemistry experience was much different than mine. Ours was about rote memorization, period. I kind of feel like I misse

by willjp 4y ago

I get the impression that most people's chemistry experience was much different than mine. Ours was about rote memorization, period. I kind of feel like I missed out.

bloudermilk 4y ago
I'm guessing this is primarily a generational thing. Boomers got a very different education in practice than Millennials.
- thedailymail 4y ago
  I'm an older GenX and can state that my high school chem teacher was more about checking how we kept our lab notebooks (neat handwriting, correct spelling and notation, no doodles) than about doing any cool practicums. I got a C minus. I did try making the tear gas recipe from Anarchists Cookbook in the crawlspace under a friend's house. Gas of some sort escaped from a stoppered flask midway through the process - I don't know if it was anything close to actual teargas, but the stench was memorable! We rolled out from under the house gagging and laughing, very happy his mom wasn't home. We utterly failed in our subsequent attempt to make thermite. In retrospect, maybe that C minus was generous.
- phpisthebest 4y ago
  We were still doing that stuff in my generation (80's) It was not until the 00's that the schools went crazy
- gregmac 4y ago
  I'm very early (old) millennial. One of my high school chemistry classes stands out as a favorite course of all high school. The teacher was good (likable, engaging, smart) but also did open book tests that had some new never-before-seen problem. Many people, even those that were "top students" in other STEM classes, complained about how hard his tests were. As someone terrible at memorizing, I not only enjoyed the challenge but aced that course, despite not really being that interested in chemistry. The remainder of high school and a lot of university was just memorization. If you knew the formula you could do great, but I had such a hard time remembering that type of detail. I did ok, but on many occasions I remember wishing more courses were like that Chem class, and it still stands out over 20 years later.
sircastor 4y ago
I think this is the tragic reality of everyone wanting to get their hands in education. Government oversight, district oversight, parent oversight. There’s a fear kids won’t learn enough of the right things, and won’t be competitive. Or will be exposed to “dangerous” information. Or some will get access to better teaching than others. Also chemicals are expensive, budgets are thin, and class sizes are large. I feel your pain though. I didn’t get to see any of this cool stuff until I was in college.
- jnsie 4y ago
  > Also chemicals are expensive, budgets are thin, and class sizes are large. This was my experience (growing up outside of the US). I'm not sure I'd call our schools lab a "lab". Oversized closet for 30 year old bunsen burners would be a better descriptor.
  - sircastor 4y ago
    In my middle-school and highschool science courses, we sat at tables that had gas feeds to them. I don't recall what they were marked - probably oxygen and nitrogen or hydrogen or something. There had barbed ends, so as to connect to a flexible hose. I never used them. Not once. I never saw them used. They were a feature of hopeful design, or vestigial hands-on activities.
    - causality0 4y ago
      It's much easier to create stability and equity by making sure nobody gets an exceptionally good education than to make sure nobody gets an exceptionally bad one.
protocolture 4y ago
My chemistry teacher taught like this. Same teacher told stories about how he nearly killed a student with explosives he made in his home country of britain where he is no longer a practicing teacher.

by willjp 4y ago

I get the impression that most people's chemistry experience was much different than mine. Ours was about rote memorization, period. I kind of feel like I missed out.

bloudermilk 4y ago

I'm guessing this is primarily a generational thing. Boomers got a very different education in practice than Millennials.

thedailymail 4y ago
I'm an older GenX and can state that my high school chem teacher was more about checking how we kept our lab notebooks (neat handwriting, correct spelling and notation, no doodles) than about doing any cool practicums. I got a C minus. I did try making the tear gas recipe from Anarchists Cookbook in the crawlspace under a friend's house. Gas of some sort escaped from a stoppered flask midway through the process - I don't know if it was anything close to actual teargas, but the stench was memorable! We rolled out from under the house gagging and laughing, very happy his mom wasn't home. We utterly failed in our subsequent attempt to make thermite. In retrospect, maybe that C minus was generous.
phpisthebest 4y ago
We were still doing that stuff in my generation (80's) It was not until the 00's that the schools went crazy
gregmac 4y ago
I'm very early (old) millennial. One of my high school chemistry classes stands out as a favorite course of all high school. The teacher was good (likable, engaging, smart) but also did open book tests that had some new never-before-seen problem. Many people, even those that were "top students" in other STEM classes, complained about how hard his tests were. As someone terrible at memorizing, I not only enjoyed the challenge but aced that course, despite not really being that interested in chemistry. The remainder of high school and a lot of university was just memorization. If you knew the formula you could do great, but I had such a hard time remembering that type of detail. I did ok, but on many occasions I remember wishing more courses were like that Chem class, and it still stands out over 20 years later.

sircastor 4y ago

I think this is the tragic reality of everyone wanting to get their hands in education. Government oversight, district oversight, parent oversight. There’s a fear kids won’t learn enough of the right things, and won’t be competitive. Or will be exposed to “dangerous” information. Or some will get access to better teaching than others. Also chemicals are expensive, budgets are thin, and class sizes are large. I feel your pain though. I didn’t get to see any of this cool stuff until I was in college.

jnsie 4y ago
> Also chemicals are expensive, budgets are thin, and class sizes are large. This was my experience (growing up outside of the US). I'm not sure I'd call our schools lab a "lab". Oversized closet for 30 year old bunsen burners would be a better descriptor.
- sircastor 4y ago
  In my middle-school and highschool science courses, we sat at tables that had gas feeds to them. I don't recall what they were marked - probably oxygen and nitrogen or hydrogen or something. There had barbed ends, so as to connect to a flexible hose. I never used them. Not once. I never saw them used. They were a feature of hopeful design, or vestigial hands-on activities.
  - causality0 4y ago
    It's much easier to create stability and equity by making sure nobody gets an exceptionally good education than to make sure nobody gets an exceptionally bad one.

protocolture 4y ago

My chemistry teacher taught like this. Same teacher told stories about how he nearly killed a student with explosives he made in his home country of britain where he is no longer a practicing teacher.