Dr. William Adams
Professor of Chemistry

Coordinator, M.A.T. in Chemistry
Office: Meier Hall (MH)  606
Phone:(978) 542-6733
email:mailto:william.adams@salemstate.edu

 

Education:

 

B.S. Chemistry, Bucknell University

M.S., Ph.D. Chemistry, Lehigh University

 

Courses:

 

Required for Nursing and SFL majors - these two courses are accompanied by extra help sessions (called Supplemental Instruction Sessions) which are lead by students:

 

            CHE 124 General Chemistry for Life Sciences

            CHE 125 Chemistry of Life Processes

 

 

A Special Interest Science Elective to Satisfy Distribution Requirements:

 

            CHE 200 Forensic Science

 

For Chemistry Majors:

 

            CHE 212 Organic Chemistry I

            CHE 213 Organic Chemistry II

            CHE 309 Biochemistry

            CHE 439 Advanced Organic Chemistry

            CHE 572 & 573 Chemistry Research I and II

 

Graduate Courses:

 

            CHE 720 Topics in Biochemistry

            CHE 740 Topics in Organic Chemistry (see below for how an online course works)

 

Interests and Activities:

 

A.  Research Interests:

 

Quantitative analysis of sugars.

 

Enzyme Kinetics of lactase.

 

NMR studies of the reaction of aromatic animes and alloxan.  Modification of protein structure on Western Blots to improve immunodetection.

 

B.  Recent Publications and Presentations:

 

1.  William E. Adams and J. David Davis, “Saccharin:  Is it Safe?” a paper in the Sextant, vol. 1, number 2 (1987).

2.  “Laboratory Competitions and Student Involvement”, a presentation based on my contributions to the North Shore Science League, 13th Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, August, 1994.

3.  “Laboratory Competitions and Student Involvement”, W.E. Adams, American Chemical Society-13^th Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, August, 1994.

4.  “The Carcinogenic Activity of Benzo(a)Pyrene”, W. E. Adams, American Chemical Society-13^th Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, August, 1994.

5.  “Turbidity in Drinking Water”, a middle school science education unit on the internet through Northern Essex Community College (1997).

6.  “A Primate Model of Hypertensive Cerebrovascular Disease:  Breakdown of the Blood-Brain Barrier and Complement Activation.”  W. Hollander, W. Adams, G.J. Kemper, S. Prusty and D.L. Rosene, Soc. Neurosci. Abstr., 23, (2): 1458, 1997.

7.  “Workshop:  Problem Solving in Forensic Science”, an all day workshop for high school chemistry teachers, March 18, 1999.

8.  “Chemistry, Greed and Porcelain”, Sextant, Volume XII, 2002, numbers 1 and 2.  A book review of The Arcanum: The Extraordinary True Story of Porcelain, by Janet Gleeson.

9.  Laboratory Experiments for General Chemistry for Life Processes, 4th edition, Fall, 2003.

10.  Laboratory Experiments for Chemistry for Life Processes, 7th edition, Winter, 2006.

11.  “Quantitative Analysis of Sugars”, William. E. Adams, Maureen Fritchy and Sean Marcsisin, NERM2006, Northeastern Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, October, 2006.

12.   “Introductory Enzyme Kinetics Using Lactase,”  William E. Adams and Sean Marcsisin, NERM2006, Northeastern Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, October, 2006.

 

 

Online CHE 740:  Topics in Organic Chemistry

 

Dr. William Adams, Department of Chemistry & Physics

 

Thank you for your interest in CHE 740.  I taught this course once before in the fall of 2004.  In the fall of 2006 the course will be offered for the first time as an online course.  On this web page you will find information about the course and how the course will be managed.

 

Who is this course for?

 

This online course is part of the MAT in chemistry program at Salem State College and it was developed for high school chemistry teachers.  As an online course, this course will be more widely available outside of the Boston north shore area.  There will be no class meetings.  To take this course you need to be able to use a computer and be familiar with Microsoft Office.  You will need minimum computing capability as stated below.

 

What are the Prerequisites for this course?

 

Either you have already been admitted into the MAT in Chemistry program or you have had two semesters of organic chemistry as an undergraduate and have a bachelor’s degree.

 

What is the MAT in Chemistry program?

 

MAT programs, Master of Arts in Teaching, are designed for the continuing education of teachers.  This course is for teachers of chemistry.  Some chemistry teachers would benefit from enrolling in the program and receiving an MAT while others may want to take some of the chemistry content courses.

 

The MAT in chemistry program was developed for the needs of the new chemistry teacher.  The education courses help the student with pedagogy and classroom management.  When completed, the graduate will qualify for an initial licensure from the Department of Education from the state of Massachusetts.  And when the graduate has completed three years of full time teaching along with the MAT, the graduate qualifies for professional licensure.

 

The Course

 

Two years ago the course was a directed study with only one student.  While the first course had no text and used articles from the Journal of Chemical Research in Chemical Toxicology, this time the course will have a text, use information available on the web and focus on organic chemicals used in the home.  These organic chemicals will be in many different products that we use:  food, medications, furniture, building materials, etc.  Everyone will study a set of chemicals and will submit a paper on each one.  Initially, the paper will start as a research paper in which you will apply the concepts from the text readings and will include such things as where the chemical is used, how it is synthesized in the laboratory on a small scale and at the industrial production level, and what is the toxicology of the chemical.  Some chemicals you will readily find other information that can be included in the paper.  And some chemicals you will have difficulty finding some of the information.  Applying your knowledge of organic chemistry will help you understand organic and will help your paper flow.

 

This paper will be shared with others in the class, allowing them to comment or add.  They can add research information or apply their knowledge of organic chemistry which can help your paper.  The final step will be to rework the paper with the comments of others into a final draft.  The final step with each paper will be to convert part of it into a simple lesson plan.  With each chemical there will be at least one lesson plan that would be suitable for a high school chemistry class and a much larger resource paper.  At the end of the course each person will have their lesson plans and resource papers for use in their classes.

 

WebCT Vista Learning Management System

Some of you may be familiar with or have heard of Blackboard.  WebCT is replacing Blackboard at Salem State and it will be used for this online course. Assignments and quizzes and your postings and emails will go through WebCT.  WebCT requires a Salem State email address in order for you to access it.  That being the case, you need to get a Salem State College email address soon after you register for the course, accessing http://www.salemstate.edu/usersupport/US-email.php.    WebCT is connected to the Registrar's office and will automatically send you an e-mail once you are registered for this course.

Can you do an online course?

An on-line course may not work for you. If you answer "yes" to the following questions then you are a good candidate for on-line learning.

• Do you have access to a computer at home or at work with a reliable internet connection?   To check to see if you have a computer capable of handling an online course, go to http://www.salemstate.edu/online/  or   http://www.salemstate.edu/ce/CE-online_credit_checklist.php
• To determine if you have the minimum technical capability with your computer, go to http://www.salemstate.edu/online/min_tech.php   To determine if you have the minimum skills to take an online course, go to http://www.salemstate.edu/online/min_skills.php   Some online resources to help you are at http://www.salemstate.edu/online/readiness.php  
• Can you dedicate at least 9 hours per week to your on-line course?  If you took an evening course at Salem State then the commute to Salem plus course time would be a commitment of about five hours every week.  An online course would exclude travel time while class time is replaced by readings.  There will be no face to face class meetings.
• Are you good at prioritizing tasks and accomplishing them before their deadlines?  Deadlines will be set in WebCT, after which WebCT will not accept your work.
• Are you able to learn and understand by reading the text and visiting and reading websites on your own?
• Can you take short quizzes on the assigned reading?
• Can you do on line and library research for a paper?  To access the Salem State databases you will need a Salem State email account.
• Are you comfortable working independently, accomplishing tasks without constant attention and direction from the instructor?  On the other hand, you can contact me anytime via WebCT email and I will reply as soon as I can.  If you seem to be getting behind, I will email you.
• Are you comfortable with sending attachments to e-mail?  In WebCT you will post your papers somewhat like using attachments in email.

There will be readings from the text as well as readings from on-line material, PowerPoint slides, discussion groups, quizzes and assignments for each module. While the lectures are on PowerPoint slides, all assignments are submitted electronically as Microsoft Word documents.  I will hold office hours during which you are welcome to come see me.

If you have any questions, please free free to e-mail me at  wadams@salemstate.edu .or phone me at 978-542-6733.