Nehring 1 Lisa Nehring Writing 1010 Oct.

15, 2013 Literacy in U of U Chemistry Literacy is defined as the ability to read and rite !Webster". What one does ith said s#ill can e$%lain m&ch abo&t the %erson and hat they 'al&e. (his can also be a%%lied to gro&%s of %eo%le in many forms. Whether it be an eccentric cos%lay comm&nity at a comic con'ention or a comm&nity of tired)eyed st&dents in a &ni'ersity class, the &se of literacy in each en'ironment is significant in defining hat they %arty holds in high regard. One comm&nity that * ish to foc&s on is the U of U chemistry co&rse ta&ght at +,-.. *n this gro&% of high school st&dents, the need for literacy is fo&nd e'ery here from the te$t boo# to online home or#, note ta#ing and frantic te$t messages from one lab %artner to another. Literacy is the center of &nderstanding and comm&nication in the U of U chemistry class. Witho&t it, the class o&ld cease to f&nction %ro%erly. One of the #ey com%onents of the U of U chemistry co&rse is the lect&re. /&ring this time, the %rofessor o&tlines conce%ts and e$%lains the %rocess of deri'ing se'eral %ieces of information from another. (he &se of literacy is e$cl&si'ely associated ith the note ta#ing, %artic&larly in &nderstanding hat is being ritten. While the %rofessor is lect&ring, each st&dent &s&ally co%ies hat is being ta&ght. One e$am%le of this is in defining the relation bet een the electrons of an atom and energy. 01&nd2s r&le3 the lo est energy arrangement in a s&b shell is determined by %lacing electrons in se%arate orbitals ith a %arallel s%in4 !5elley". (his e$am%le of literacy ill&strates the 'al&e of basic chemistry related 'ocab&lary in the comm&nity. +ltho&gh is is %ossible to com%rehend the information or 'ocab&lary being ta&ght, s&ch as the definition of 1&nd2s r&le, it is e$tremely diffic&lt itho&t the ability to read or rite. (his is beca&se the information being e$%lained thro&gh riting. Literacy is cr&cial to the %rocess of lect&re and note ta#ing beca&se it is not only the root of ta#ing notes, b&t is

Nehring 2 also &sef&l in the com%rehension of hat is being ritten by the instr&ctor. +nother as%ect of the U of U chemistry co&rse that each st&dent in the class can relate to is the need to &nderstand the te$t boo#. With information dense lect&res, a lot of it is forgotten, or sim%ly s#i%%ed o'er hen trying to frantically rite notes. /&e to either the lac# of ability or ill%o er to rite e'ery ord s%o#en by the %rofessor, some learning m&st be done o&tside of class. (he most accessible form of doing this is by st&dying from the te$tboo#, ho e'er this cannot be done &nless literacy is directly in'ol'ed. One e$am%le of information from the te$t boo# that as not mentioned in class is an e$%lanation of resonance str&ct&res of atoms, hich is 0the res&lting electron str&ct&re of the molec&le gi'en by the a'erage of t o Le is str&ct&res of the same molec&le4 !6&mdahl, 177". .ince the te$tboo# &sed by the chemistry class does not ha'e an a&dio 'ersion easily accessible, it o&ld be 'ery diffic&lt, itho&t the s#ill of being literate, to get the information from the te$t li#e the e$am%le %re'io&sly gi'en. +nother critical &se of literacy in this class that corres%onds ith the te$t boo# is the home or#, OWL !online eb learning". Literacy is cr&cial to OWL in t o ays3 &nderstanding the te$t boo# in hich the home or# as deri'ed, b&t also the home or# itself hich is com%osed mostly of ritten instr&ctions. 8art of the home or# that in'ol'es riting incl&de the d&e date for each assignment, &nderstanding the 9&estions being as#ed, deciding ho to ans er each 9&estion and com%rehending the 9&estion corrections &sed to e$%lain ho to correctly sol'e the %roblems. +n e$am%le e$%laining the correct ay to ans er a %roblem in'ol'ing the electron config&ration of a gi'en ion states that 0+ nonmetal forms a monoatomic ion that is isoelectronic ith the noble gas that is closest to it in atomic n&mber4 !Cengage". (his e$am%le, in %artic&lar, sho s that literacy is im%ortant not only in being able to read the 9&estion, b&t also in being able to read the te$t boo# or &nderstand notes in order to hel% define e$actly hat the statement means. Other 9&estions in the home or# are 'ery similar to this one. +s the largest assignment in the co&rse, OWL absol&tely

Nehring 3 re9&ires literacy in a sense that the home or# cannot be com%leted itho&t it beca&se it is not only created solely from ritten ords, b&t it also em%loys te$t from the corres%onding te$t boo#. + 'al&e that is fo&nd to be 'ery im%ortant among the st&dents in the chemistry co&rse is comm&nication. (he ability to read and rite is idely &sed for comm&nication in se'eral ays. (his incl&des e)mails on the U),ail and Can'as ebsites, and te$t message. +ltho&gh comm&nication bet een the %rofessor and st&dents is not &s&ally done 'ia te$t message d&e to the more formal relationshi% formed, it is done among st&dents. :oth lines of comm&nication may regard similar s&b;ects, the ty%e of literacy &sed is 'astly different. <or e$am%le, a te$t message con'ersation bet een myself and a fello st&dent is 'ery informal, in'ol'ing the &se of slang terms, and im%ro%er grammar. One con'ersation that fits this criteria began ith 02=o. /on2t forget to do the OWL> *t2s d&e today at one.2 2(here as a ton that ere o%tional. . .*s it ;&st me?24 !Wait". (his e$am%le is 'ery informal, es%ecially hen com%ared to an e)mail e$changed from the teacher to the entire class disc&ssing a similar to%ic. *t reads, 01ello +,-. st&dents> =o& might find the follo ing e9&ation &sef&l in fig&ring yo&r c&rrent %ercentage in the class. Note that the OWL %ercentage is as of .e%tember 15, 20134 !5elley". +ltho&gh this e$am%le still has a friendly 'oice, it is not nearly as rela$ed as the con'ersation bet een myself and another st&dent. :oth forms of comm&nication, as different as they may be, em%loy the &se of literacy, hich is needed to share information, hate'er it may be. +ll in all, literacy is the center of the U of U chemistry comm&nity. Witho&t the ability to read and rite, a st&dent o&ld not be able to f&nction ell in the class, let alone at all sim%ly beca&se the co&rse so f&lly de%ends on literacy. (he ability to read and rite is so f&ndamentally im%ortant in this class beca&se it is the 'ehicle to &nderstanding hat is being ta&ght. Literacy is not only &sed d&ring the sched&led class time, b&t o&tside of class as ell, hen or#ing on home or#, hel%ing a fello st&dent or riting an email to the %rofessor ith a 9&estion.

Nehring @ Citation :otch, :eatrice, Aoberta /ay, and William Bining. OWL CENGAGE. Cengage Learning. Web. C Oct. 2013. Dhtt%s3EEo l.cengage.comF 5elley, Carrie. 0<ig&ring =o&r C&rrent 8ercentage.4 ,essage to the a&thor. .e%t. 15, 2013. 5elley, Carrie, notes gi'en to a&thor, .e%t. 1C, 2013. . N.%.. Web. 1@ Oct 2013. Dhtt%3EE .merriam) ebster.comEdictionaryEliteracyF.

Wait, :en, te$t message to a&thor, October 13, 2013. 6&mdahl, s&san, and .te'en 6&mdahl. Chemistry: An Atoms First Approach. :elmont3 :roo#s Cole, 8rint.