While the use of electronic devices in the classroom can be valuable for the teaching process, it can also be distractive. For example, increased cell-phone usage is associated with decreased academic performance of college students.<br/>The talk will explore how to nourish an intellectual community in the classroom without electronic tools by using a routine that pairs chemical interactions with community building. Along the basic concepts related to a particular chemical reaction, the activity focuses on key socio-emotional components such as finding personal value, sense of control, intellectual risk taking, safe emotional climate, insight in how each other’s mind works, and a feeling of belonging.  The exercise is an example of a positive e-free classroom experience targeted toward students who perceive electronic interactions as part of their identity and feel anxious without it. Encouraging a positive emotional climate is important because sustained anxiety decreases attention. This can be achieved by the manner the electronics are withdrawn. For example, students exhibit anxiety when cell-phone use is denied <u>only</u> when their phones are left in sight. Switching from cyber-connectedness to face-to-face interactions can be socially and intellectually rewarding. The presented exercise attempts to offer one such an experience.

Facilitating the formation of an e-free classroom community: A chemistry classroom exercise

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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