Preparing Science Teachers in an Era of Reform: Practitioners' Perspectives of Methods Courses

With recent national calls for the reform of science education have come standards that delineate not only science content but also assessment, pedagogy, and teachers’ professional development. If teachers must teach science differently, then teacher preparation must change. This study asked 31 inservice secondary science teachers to complete a survey about topics for inclusion in a secondary science methods course. Respondents ranked a list of prespecified topics and had an opportunity to suggest other topics for inclusion in the course. Results showed that the majority of prespecified potential topics were judged important enough by these teachers to warrant inclusion in a methods course, though no individual added topic appeared on more than two surveys. Results demonstrate that these teachers believe teaching many of the traditional topics in science methods courses is still needed. In addition, they advocated the inclusion of several topics that either represent recent technological and theoretical advances, or longstanding ideas that have recently received considerable attention.     

Halomethanes in tri-n-octylamine and squalane mixtures at infinite dilution

The retention behavior of eight halomethanes and four saturated hydrocarbons was measured in gas chromatographic stationary phases consisting in tri-n-octylamine (TOA), squalane (SQ) and six TOA+SQ mixtures, at 55.0, 58.5, 62.5 and 65.0°C. Equlibrium constants for complex formation were extracted from experimental data by using a lattice model developed by Martire. The results may be interpreted in terms of the formation of weak hydrogen-bonded complexes, with sociation constants of about 0.13 L-mol^–1 for haloforms and 0.07 L-mol^–1 for dihalomethanes at 60°C.     

Influence of the sulfonate countercation on the thermal stability of nafion perfluorosulfonate membranes

We report a strong dependence of the thermal stability of Nafion® perfluorosulfonate ionomer on the nature of the counterion associated with the fixed sulfonate site. These results were obtained using thermal gravimetric analysis on a series of alkali metal and alkyl ammonium cation-exchanged Nafion films. We have found that the temperature of decomposition of Nafion is inversely dependent on the size of the exchanged cation; i.e., Nafion films show improved thermal stability as the size of the counter cation decreases. We attribute this inverse relationship of thermal stability with counterion size to an initial decomposition reaction which is strongly influenced by the strength of the sulfonate-coun-terion interaction. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A new approach to the synthesis of 16-heteroprostanoids via isoxazole intermediates

Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii. Vol. 30. No. 3, pp. 424–425, March, 1994.     

Interaction of 4-aminobenzofurazan with aryldiazonium salts

The reaction of 4-aminobenzofurazan with aryldiazonium salts leads to the formation of 4-amino-5-aryl-azobenzofurazans and 5-amino-2-aryl-4-nitroso-2H-benzotriazoles, products of the rearrangement of the initially formed 4-amino-7-(arylazo)benzofurazans. Oxidation of the benzofurazan as well as of the triazole derivatives gives 7-aryl-1,2,3-triazol[4,5-e]benzofurazans. The chemical properties of some of the compounds obtained have been investigated.Novosibirsk Institute of Organic Chemistry, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630090. Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 10, pp. 1432–1438, October, 1994. Original article submitted July 25, 1994.     

Synthesis,structure, and chemical properties of some N-(3-chloro-2-quinoxalyl)arylsulfonamides

We have developed a method for synthesis of N-(3-clzloro-2-quinoxalyl)sulfonamides by reaction of 2,3-dichloroquinoxaline with substituted arylsufonamides. Based on the IR spectra, we have established that in the solid state, the synthesized compounds exist in the form of amide tautomers. Alkylation of these compounds leads to N-metliyl-N-(3-chloro-2-quinoxalyl)arylsulfonamides. We demonstrate the possibility of nucleophilic substitution of the halogen upon treatment with O- and N-nucleophiles. The use of bifunctional nucleophiles leads to condensed quinoxalines.Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 387–392, March, 1994.     

Aziridinylketones and their cyclic anils. 12

We have measured the PMR spectra of 5, 7-diaryl-1, 4-diazabicyclo[4. ].O]hept-4-enes. We have studied the structure of the 5-(4-nitrophenyl)-7-phenyl derivative by x-ray diffraction. We show that the six-membered heterocycle has the half-chair form. The 6-H and 7-H protons of the aziridine ring are trans, while the 7-aryl is exo relative to the six-membered ring. Introduction of substituents into the aromatic ring has practically no effect on the geometry of the bicycle.Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 8, pp. 1117–1124, August, 1994.For Communication 11, see [1].     

Electrohydraulic effect in heterodisperse water-plant systems. II. Chemical nature of the suspended particles

On the basis of the results of acid hydrolysis, chromatographic analysis of the hydrolysates, and a study of IR spectra, it has been established that the suspended particles liberated under the action of electrohydraulic shocks on heterodisperse water—plant systems consist of small fragments of the lignocarbohydrate complex of the plant tissue.