Mandrakes, elder wands and butterbeer. One would not expect to hear these three words used outside of J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series, especially in an honors chemistry class.

But in University of Nebraska-Lincoln assistant professor Rebecca Lai's "A Muggle's Guide to Harry Potter's Chemistry" class, students can expect a lot more than the usual chemical lab.

When picking a science course, many students, especially nonscience majors, tend to drift away from the chemistry or physics courses because they can be the less "entertaining" classes. Knowing this, Lai sought a new way to encourage more students to sign up for a university chemistry course.

"I really want students to learn science in a broad way, so I combined two of the things that I know best, Harry Potter and chemistry," Lai said.

Chem 192H will be offered for the first time during the spring semester as a prototype. It will be a 15-week course that takes the world of Harry Potter and applies it to everyday life.       

Read more...