Vol. 114 No. 1 (2018)

Resumen: Partiendo de la experiencia de toda una vida dedicada a la enseñanza se intenta demostrar que es fundamental un profesor bien formado y entusiasta que es capaz de buscar en cada momento el método más adecuado pensando en los alumnos que tiene delante y los medios de que dispone. Se insiste en la importancia del esfuerzo y de la búsqueda de un equilibrio entre todas las posibilidades porque lo opuesto puede ser tan malo como lo que estaba haciendo.
Palabras clave: Problemas de enseñanza, técnicas de enseñanza, medios de enseñanza, métodos de enseñanza.
Abstract: Starting from the experience of a whole life dedicated to teaching, we try to demonstrate that a well-trained and enthusiastic teacher is fundamental and is able to search at all times for the most appropriate method, thinking about the students he has before him and the media available to him. Emphasis is placed on the importance of effort and the search for a balance between all possibilities because the opposite can be as bad as what I was doing.
Keywords: Teaching problems, teaching techniques, teaching aids, teaching methods.

Three contemporary artists, two of whom were also chemists, have employed in a prominent way the glassware of the chemical laboratory in their works. In this article a biographical sketch of those artists is presented, the relationship between their artistic expression with chemistry is discussed, and some analogies and differences between them are analyzed.

Keywords: Glassware, contemporary art, conceptual art, biographies of chemists

Self-assembly of nanoparticles has become increasingly complex on both experimental and theoretical levels. Synthetic methods and the diversity of available building blocks, have contributed to better control and prediction of the spatiotemporal distribution of nanoparticles on solid substrates or in a liquid phase. The innovation perspectives are shifting today from the bottom-up fabrication of solid-state devices for electronics to life-inspired systems with spatiotemporal features. This article disscusses two main trends in nanoparticle selfassembly – static and dynamic - with the aim to draw the picture toward future directions.

This article offers a brief discussion about the general interest of photocatalysis, in the field of sustainable chemistry, aiming to transform solar energy into chemical energy in order to obtain products or processes that are thermally forbidden or take place with low yield. An introduction of general concepts in photocatalysis is included, followed by a brief description of the main characteristics of metallic nanoparticles and their capabilities as photocatalysts upon irradiation. Finally, some representative examples of syntheses of organic compounds have been included to illustrate these capabilities, with special emphasis on supported metallic nanoparticles for heterogeneous photocatalysis.

Keywords: Sustainable chemistry, photocatalysis, sunlight, metallic nanoparticles.

New technologies have a great impact in our society, including learning and academia in general. Regarding the teaching and learning process, the new pedagogical trends foster a more active students’ role, together with motivating activities which give rise to meaningful learning. And since learning through play is an excellent way of learning, educational videogames are currently in vogue. In this paper the use of virtual labs is suggested to allow students to develop several key competencies.

Keywords: gamification, virtual laboratories, constructivism, significant learning, simulations