Events

Organizer: Stacey Lowery Bretz, Miami University, Ohio, bretzsl@miamioh.edu

Assessment has often been referred to as “the tail that wags the dog” because students can be extrinsically motivated to learn what we test. Therefore, chemistry teachers should carefully examine not only what students should know and be able to do, but also what we assess and how. This symposium will showcase chemistry education research focused on the development and/or implementation of classroom and program assessments.

Organizer: Joi Walker, Eastern North Carolina, WALKERJOI15@ecu.edu

A course based undergraduate research experience (CURE) is a popular, high-impact pedagogical approach, however many do not find their way into traditional research labs. Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) are an alternative that can serve all students, including those who may have implicit barriers to seeking position in a research lab, or who have jobs or financial constraints that prohibit them from devoting a significant amount of time to research. In this symposium, we want to hear from faculty who have developed and/or implemented CUREs in chemistry. Faculty in the early stages of developing a CURE are welcome to present course design and plans for implementation. Faculty who have already run the CURE are invited to share all aspects of the course, including what worked well, and obstacles (both expected and unexpected) that arose.

Organizer: Daniel Cruz-Ramires de Arellano, U. South Florida, dcruz5@usf.edu

The organic chemistry laboratory course remains an integral part of organic chemistry curricula all over the nation. While most chemical educators agree with the importance of the laboratory course component, there are a variety of approaches used to conduct and assess them, including project-based, guided inquiry-based, open inquiry-based, and others. Furthermore, the demand
for alternate ways of content delivery (mostly in online or virtual scenarios) and for the inclusion of real-world applications has catalyzed many innovative ways in which students are learning organic chemistry principles in a laboratory setting. This symposium invites papers from practitioners and researchers that describe any curricular innovation related to the organic chemistry laboratory. Topics can include but are not limited to: development of new experiments for specific learning objectives, development of digital resources, development of project-based or inquiry-based curricula, addressing safety and waste management in the laboratory, alternate ways of reporting laboratory data and assessing student performance, integrating spectroscopy into the laboratory, scaling laboratory experiments in large-enrollment courses, and incorporating
the principles of green chemistry to the organic chemistry laboratory.