Chemical Education Journal (CEJ),
Vol. 10, No. 2 /Registration No. 10-8/Received October 27, 2008.
URL = http://chem.sci.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp/cejrnlE.html
It is a pleasure to publish this issue featuring the 12 ACC Symposium "Innovation in Chemical Education (ICE) 2007". As the editor, I deeply apologize for the delay in publication and dissemination on the Internet.
The symposium was held as a part of the scientific programs of the 12th Asian Chemical Congress (ACC), which was held in August 23-25, 2007 in Kuala Lumpur.1) Organized by Datin Dr. Zakaria Zuriati, the 2005-2007 director of the FACS project Asian Chemical Education Network (ACEN), it was among the most successful symposia in the past ACCs in chemical education: with unprecedented thirty-one oral papers including six key note lectures and eleven posters scheduled. Among the thirty-five papers actually presented, nineteen came from overseas: the FACS region such as Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, and outside the region such as France, U. K., and U. S. A. Professor Yoshito Takeuchi, the second awardee of the FACS Award for Distinguished Contribution to Advancement in Chemical Education, lectured his leading experiences for globalization of chemical education by taking advantage of the Internet.
In addition, two workshops were held in collaboration with another FACS project Microscale Chemistry (MSC), by two experienced professors, Kazuko Ogino (Japan) and Supawan Tantayanon (Thailand), who both have been actively working worldwide for the dissemination of microscale chemistry in chemical education, both in the secondary and tertiary level. Thanks to the financial support of UNESCO, this was probably the first time that this kind of workshop was held as a part of ACC. Crowded with local teachers and other participants, this workshop enhanced the appreciation of green-chemistry education through microscale experiments and encouraged teachers to develop and practice teaching materials and methods in this field not only in Asia but world-wide.
In this issue are published nine articles among the contributions to the titled symposium; submitted by the end of May 2008. Two keynote speakers contributed: one featuring the impressive opening lecture by Professor Bailey on university chemistry teaching and the other by Professor Ogino, the lecturer of one of the workshops. It is noted that six of them came from Malaysia, reflecting the 13 oral papers from Malaysia in the symposium. Two of them are focused on green and microscale chemistry from a local counterpart in this field. Among the other four contributions, two came from universities, one from a high school teacher, and one from the government. This variety of contributors gives rise to an interesting range of subjects and readership on focus--teachers' experience, career innovation for graduates, use of a computer application for university education, and project based learning in high schools--which has not occurred in any of the past issues of the Asian Edition. Finally, a contribution from Japan focuses an interesting application of instrumental analysis to environmental education.
Although the issue featuring the 12 ACC Symposium was published,
the invitation is still active not only to speakers at and participants
of the symposium but to all others who are involved or interested
in chemical education in the Asian-Pacific region.
1) See the next article for several scenes at the symposium.