COE Faculty Profile

HAROLD H. HARRIS
Professor
Division of Teaching and learning

Email: HarrisH@msx.umsl.edu
Office: 315E Benton Hall
Phone: 314-516-5344

Professor Harris received his B.S. degree from Harvey Mudd College, and his Ph.D. from Michigan State University. He joined the UM-St. Louis Chemistry faculty in 1970 following a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California-Irvine. He has spent leaves at University of Chicago, the Solar Energy Research Institute (Golden, Colorado), and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (Dayton, Ohio).

Research Interests

Over the years, Professor Harris has published research in several areas of physical chemistry: collision-induced dissocation of ions, chemical kinetics at suprahigh pressure, experimental and theoretical dynamics of molecular and ionic collisions, and the dynamics of cellular flames. Since he accepted a joint appointment in the College of Education as well as in the Chemistry Department of the College of Arts and Sciences, the focus of his work has tended increasingly toward science education.

Professor Harris originated and currently edits "The Chemical Education Resource Shelf" (CERS), an online feature of the Journal of Chemical Education. The contents of the CERS, which includes comprehensive information about textbooks, software, models, and references for chemical educators, is published twice per year (February and September) with the Journal. Professor Harris also edits "The Cost-Effective Teacher", a feature in the printed edition that describes clever and inexpensive equipment for laboratories and demonstrations, and he writes the popular monthly column, "Hal's Picks of the Month" (see http://www.umsl.edu/~chemist/books/halspicks).

Professor Harris a pioneer in the use of computer symbolic/numerical mathematical processors in teaching physical chemistry. A "Carnot Cycle" tutorial exemplifying this technique is about to be published in Journal of Chemical Education:Online. See http://www.monmouth.edu/~tzielins/mathcad/HHarris/doc001.htm. Professor Harris is involved in the study of the effectiveness of significant changes that the Chemistry Department is making in its Introductory Chemistry courses. He is directing an undergraduate investigation of a new and interesting oscillating physical system, "The Funnel-Flask Oscillator", illustrated below.

Selected Publications

Book review) Harris, Harold H. "A Biography of Distinguished Scientist Gilbert Newton Lewis" by Edward S. Lewis, Journal of Chemical Education, 1999,76(11), 1487.

(Book review) Harris, Harold H. "Fractals in Molecular Biophysics" by T. Gregory Dewey Journal of the American Chemical Society , 1999,121, 2340.

(Book review) Harris, Hal. "To Light Such a Candle: Chapters in the History of Science and Technology" by Keith J. Laidler, J. Chem. Educ., 1999, 76, 323 (March, 1999).

Harris, Harold H. "Is It Real Gold?", J. Chem. Educ., 1999, 76, 198 (February, 1999).

(Book reviews) Harris, Hal. "The Visual Display of Quantitative Information"; "Envisioning Information"; "Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative", all by Edward R. Tufte, J. Chem. Educ., 1999, 76, 169 (February 1999).

(Book review) Harris, Harold H. "Teaching Secondary School Science: Strategies for Developing Scientific Literacy", 6th ed. by Leslie W. Trowbridge and Rodger W. Bybee, J. Chem. Educ., 1997, 74, 1167. (Oct 1997)

(Book review) Harris, Harold H. "Constructing Science in Middle and Secondary School Classroom" by Dale R. Baker and Michael D. Piburn J. Chem. Educ., 1997, 74, 1167. (Oct 1997)

(Book review) Harris, Harold H. "The Chemistry Classroom: Formulas for Successful Teaching" by J. Dudley Herron ,J. Chem. Educ., 1997, 74, 1167. (Oct 1997)

(Book review) Harris, Hal. "Partners in Chemical Education: Proceedings of the International Conference on Industry - Education Initiatives in Chemistry" edited by J. N. Lazonby and D. J. Waddington J. Chem. Educ, .1997, 74, 626. (Jun 1997)

"Electrical Perturbation of Cellular Premixed Propane/Air Flames", C. L. Maupin and H. H. Harris, Combustion and Flame, 1994, 97, 435-439.

"Instrumental Analysis Courses Part 1. The Current Experimental Practice." H. H. Harris and J. J. O'Brien. J. Chem. Educ.1992, 69, A266.

"Correlation Function Diagnosis of Chaotic Vibrations in HCN", Y. J. Cho, P. R. Winter, H. H. Harris, E. D. Fleischmann and J. E. Adams, J. Phys. Chem., 1990, 94, 1847.

"Parallels Between Adolescents' Conception of Gases and the History of Chemistry", C. J. Furio Mas, J. H. Perez and H. H. Harris, J. Chem. Educ., 1987, 64, 617.

Complete publication list