Date: Sunday, 26th July
Time Slot: 08:00 AM - 07:00 PM
Conference Registration and Information Desk
Time Slot: 08:30 AM - 10:00 AM
S352: Quality Education: Green Chemistry Across the Curriculum - Invitation Only
The American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute (ACS GCI) has been working across sectors with a broad spectrum of stakeholders to promote the principles of green chemistry for more than two decades. As ACS celebrates 150 years of advancing science and building communities across the globe in 2026, we are highlighting the rapidly expanding role that green chemistry plays in building a more sustainable future for the chemistry enterprise, from education to industry and beyond. At the foundation of our shared vision for leveraging the power of chemistry lies education – the starting point for every chemist regardless of their chosen career path.
Far more than a set of tools to be applied in the laboratory, the 12 principles of green chemistry form the basis for a holistic, inclusive mindset that helps us contextualize our choices as chemists and compels us to take responsibility for how our field evolves into the future. In honor of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #4 “Quality Education”, this symposium will address innovative approaches to infusing green chemistry and sustainability principles into curricula for K-12, undergraduate (2-year and 4-year), and graduate programs. Invited speakers and panelists from all levels of experience who have made significant progress toward teaching overarching scaffolds like green chemistry and systems thinking will discuss their work and plans for the future while interacting directly with the audience through guided Q&A sessions.
This symposium will be highly publicized through the ACS and Green Chemistry Institute as “Part 3” of a 5-part symposium series scheduled at events throughout 2026 meant to highlight the importance of progress toward reimagining the ways we teach chemistry with a particular focus on innovative teachers from all levels of the education pipeline.
W201: Building a DBER CURE: Do you want us to help your undergraduate students conduct discipline-based education research?
Opportunities for undergraduates to engage in discipline-based education research (DBER) are often informal or limited. This workshop introduces a structured course model that embeds undergraduate engagement in DBER. The course design draws on literature related to course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) and emphasizes student engagement with discovery, relevance, collaboration, iteration, and scientific practices in the research process.
The resulting “DBER CURE” employs a flexible model in which project scope can be adapted based on student interests, faculty expertise, and available resources. Participants will be introduced to the DBER CURE model and explore practical examples of how it has been adapted to align with institutional limitations and contextual constraints across three different cohorts of students. Participants will engage in modeled lesson plans and course activities that position participants in the role of students, and will develop materials or strategies for use in their own teaching contexts.
Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W253: Fostering Inclusive and Engaging Chemistry and STEM Classrooms
This workshop introduces evidence-based strategies for creating inclusive learning environments in chemistry and other STEM disciplines where all students feel valued and supported. The session is grounded in the Inclusive STEM Teaching Project (ISTP), an NSF-funded professional development program designed to help STEM faculty, postdoctoral scholars, and graduate students build awareness, confidence, and skills for creating inclusive classrooms while developing as reflective practitioners. ISTP was recognized in 2025 with two regional ACS Stanley C.
Israel Awards for Advancing Diversity in the Chemical Sciences. The workshop centers on reflection, with participants examining how their personal experiences, identities, and perspectives influence their teaching practices and interactions with students. Through guided reflection and discussion, participants will explore how these factors shape classroom dynamics and learning.
Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W336: The POGIL Project Workshop: Classroom Facilitation
There is no single way to implement POGIL, as each instructional context presents unique characteristics that influence how particular goals are achieved. Effectively facilitating a POGIL classroom involves more than organizing student groups and collaborative activities; it requires careful planning, classroom management, and reflective facilitation techniques.
This workshop introduces participants to approaches for facilitating POGIL activities and examines how facilitation can enhance or interfere with student learning, particularly in the development of student process skills. Participants will consider key components of classroom facilitation, explore how instructor actions can promote or inhibit the development of process skills, and examine facilitation strategies for use in their own classrooms.
W169: Teaming up with undergraduate Learning Assistants (LAs) to foster active and inclusive chemistry learning environments: An Introduction to the LA Model
The Learning Assistant (LA) model engages undergraduate Learning Assistants as members of instructional teams to facilitate active learning and foster inclusive learning environments. Learning Assistants are students who have successfully completed the course they support and receive additional training in pedagogy, often alongside LAs from other disciplines within an institution’s LA program. During weekly instructional team meetings, LAs provide feedback to faculty about student experiences and collaborate in preparing for upcoming instruction.
Together, pedagogy training and instructional team meetings provide structure, community, and resources that support LAs in developing inclusive practices. This workshop introduces the essential elements of the LA model—pedagogy, preparation, and practice. Participants will analyze videos, engage with data from LA-supported courses, and consider how working with LAs could be implemented in their own classroom contexts.
The session also explores how an LA program can complement existing student support systems on campus.
W128: From Classroom to Community: Designing Student-Led Research on Toxic Chemicals in Cosmetic Products
This workshop supports high school chemistry teachers in designing student-driven research experiences that connect classroom learning to community health advocacy. Participants will explore approaches for guiding students in investigating toxic chemicals in cosmetic products, with a focus on mercury and hydroquinone in skin-lightening products, while engaging with issues of environmental racism, health equity, and consumer protection that disproportionately affect communities of color. The workshop highlights a Performance-Based Assessment Task (PBAT) in which students conduct research and communicate findings through community-focused presentations.
Student participants in this work serve as co-facilitators, sharing their research experiences, presenting data and findings, and describing their community engagement efforts, modeling a “Students as Partners” approach that positions students as knowledge producers. Participants will engage in activities such as analyzing cosmetic ingredients using digital tools, creating concept maps that connect periodic trends and organic functional groups, designing community-based research protocols, analyzing data and creating visualizations, and developing advocacy campaigns. The workshop emphasizes how structural factors, including regulatory gaps, marketing practices, and social dynamics, shape both exposure to and impacts of toxic chemicals.
Participants will develop materials or strategies for use in their own teaching contexts and will leave with practical resources for implementation.
W76: Organic Curriculum Design Centered on Authentic Data
Centering the organic chemistry curriculum on real chemical phenomena with authentic data has the potential to significantly impact undergraduate chemistry education. The use of real data shifts the intellectual work of students from predicting reaction outcomes based on similar examples to using data to determine and explain those outcomes. Focusing on authentic chemistry tasks also provides opportunities for students to understand the central role of data in the development of organic chemistry knowledge.
For several years, the presenters have incorporated reaction data into student assessments and practice exercises. This approach has enabled the use of new prompt types and a wider range of authentic science and engineering practices connected to core ideas (e.g., https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.5c00365). Initial feedback from students suggests that some are beginning to view experimental results as an important source of information.
Attendees will explore these approaches and consider how to incorporate authentic data into their own instructional contexts.
W252: An ACS Exams committee experience: Developing a test specification and writing, editing, and scoring items
ACS Exams committees follow a structured process for exam development that includes item writing, editing, and selection. More recent committees have incorporated partial credit assignment for incorrect responses, and integrating these considerations into the item-writing process has supported the development of more effective response options. This workshop engages participants in collaborative activities focused on developing a test specification, writing and editing items, and considering partial credit assignment during the writing and editing process.
Participants will also examine how partial credit can be used in scoring and in making decisions based on assessment results. Activities are not limited to any specific course or item type and include opportunities to develop open-response items with associated grading rubrics. Participants will engage in guided activities and develop materials or strategies for use in their own teaching contexts, leaving with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W107: A beginner’s guide to using coding to enhance (bio)chemical education: From zero to classroom exercise in one day!
Building computational skills among undergraduates in chemistry and biochemistry is increasingly important for preparing future scientists, as these methods support efficient modeling and hypothesis testing across fields such as cheminformatics, bioinformatics, protein design, and next-generation sequencing analysis. This workshop supports faculty at all levels in developing a computational exercise that can be implemented in teaching or research settings at their home institutions. Participants will learn to use online resources such as GitHub, Google Drive, and Google Colab to write and run Python and R code, as well as AI tools to develop working code efficiently.
Through guided activities, participants will create their own instructional exercise and have opportunities to share their projects with others. Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W241: Active Learning in Analytical Chemistry: Strategies, Resources, and Community Building
This hands-on workshop is designed for analytical chemistry instructors seeking to enhance student outcomes and engagement through active learning. The workshop is led by facilitators from an NSF-funded project on active learning in analytical chemistry. Outcomes from this prior project include curriculum materials on the Analytical Sciences Digital Library website and a successful professional development process.
Prior to the workshop, instructors will identify a classroom lesson they would like to transition to an active learning experience. During the session, participants will experience engaged student learning firsthand by assuming a student role in a model classroom activity, followed by a reflective discussion on the principles and impact of active learning. Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W254: Applying Practical Tools to Grief in Chemistry Classrooms
This hands-on workshop focuses on applying HERO (hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism) in addressing grief in chemistry classrooms across K–12 and higher education contexts. Participants will develop an understanding of different forms of grief and the psychological constructs of hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism. Through guided activities, participants will explore practical strategies and tools for engaging HERO in response to grief in classroom settings.
Grief in its many forms is present in daily educational environments, and holding grief without opportunities for processing can be exhausting. Faculty who acknowledge and respond to grief can provide meaningful opportunities for students to process their experiences while applying principles of psychological capital (PsyCap) to support both student learning and instructor well-being. Participants will leave with practical ideas and tools for implementation.
Time Slot: 10:00 AM - 06:00 PM
Badger Bus Transfers from MSN to Memorial Union: Buses will leave MSN at the top of each hour.
Time Slot: 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Sunday Bonding Break
Sunday Bonding Break Menu
regular house brewed coffee, hot water, assorted teas, creamer, oat milk, honey, lemon, bottled juices, water, whole fruit, string cheese, mini danishes(subject to minor changes)
Time Slot: 10:00 AM - 05:00 PM
Exhibition Set-up
Time Slot: 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
S285a: Establishing Trustworthiness: Building Rigor and Credibility in Qualitative Chemistry Education Research
This symposium focuses on a central challenge in qualitative chemistry education research: establishing and communicating trustworthiness, particularly considering the emergence of AI. As more chemistry educators adopt qualitative approaches to understand student thinking, identity, and classroom culture, questions about rigor, credibility, and transparency have become increasingly vital. This symposium invites dialogue on how researchers ensure that their interpretations are both methodologically sound and meaningfully connected to the lived experiences of learners and instructors.
Talks should specifically focus on at least one of the four components of trustworthiness (i.e. credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability), how it was established in their methods, lessons learned from their methodology, and overall research results and implications. This symposium advances the field by reframing rigor through qualitative criteria: credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability, and by showcasing novel approaches for analyzing different types of qualitative data.
This includes interviews, short-response data, observational data, and artifacts. Presenters will share examples of triangulation, reflexive journaling, member checking, comparison across data sources, thick description, use of AI in coding, and incorporation of AI as IRR to demonstrate how trustworthiness enhances both the quality and impact of qualitative findings.
S312a: Looking Around, LOOKING AHEAD with Bassam Shakhashiri
We mark the 50th anniversary of the BCCE held at UW–Madison with joy and fulfillment. Speakers in this symposium will reflect on progress made in chemistry education and, more importantly, will look ahead to consider what must be done now and in the next decade to strengthen classroom practice, deepen public engagement, and better connect chemistry with society.
Education is the most critical ingredient for enabling wise decision-making in a democracy: among scientists, policymakers, and a science-literate public who understand both the benefits and potential hazards of scientific and technological advances. Meeting this responsibility requires learning environments that draw on ideas from science, the arts, and the humanities, and that prepare students to use their knowledge ethically and responsibly. As stewards of powerful technologies (including AI) we must guide their development and application for the benefit of our planet and its inhabitants.
The joy of learning must be nurtured to lead to deeper understanding and appreciation of the beauty of our complex chemical world. Our intellect and energy must be guided purposefully to learn, to teach effectively, and to serve society. Proficiency alone does not ensure responsibility or stewardship; people must be virtuous as well as skilled. This symposium will explore how chemistry educators can enact comprehensive and systemic changes in attitudes and behaviors that support sustainable futures, responsible citizenship, and the flourishing of both people and the planet.
W202: REAL CHEM Courseware as a Shared Facility for Chemical Education Research
This hands-on workshop introduces REAL CHEM as a shared facility for advancing chemical education research through large-scale, data-driven experimentation. Developed by Carnegie Mellon University and Arizona State University using the Torus platform, REAL CHEM integrates authoring, deployment, and analysis tools that make it possible to study learning at scale while supporting classroom instruction.
Participants will gain hands-on experience analyzing REAL CHEM’s detailed clickstream and performance data to uncover how students learn and how instructional design, course policies, and digital supports shape that learning. Authoring tools allow instructors to create and instrument interactive activities that capture rich data on student thinking. Deployment is linked to DataShop, which curates classroom data into research-ready datasets, while LearnSphere supports advanced analysis and sharing of results. Together, these tools enable studies across both traditional and AI-enhanced learning environments. A central example is the use of learning curves, which track progress as students interact with courseware. These curves move beyond traditional pre/post testing by directly visualizing the learning process—where the intercept provides a data-driven estimate of prior knowledge and the slope offers a sensitive measure of instructional effectiveness.
Do you have an idea for a course innovation but not the infrastructure to design, deploy, and study it in the field? REAL CHEM provides that foundation—enabling you to build interactive course materials, gather authentic classroom data, and analyze results using established research tools. Learn how this ecosystem can accelerate your work in course and learning design.
W253: Fostering Inclusive and Engaging Chemistry and STEM Classrooms
This workshop introduces evidence-based strategies for creating inclusive learning environments in chemistry and other STEM disciplines where all students feel valued and supported. The session is grounded in the Inclusive STEM Teaching Project (ISTP), an NSF-funded professional development program designed to help STEM faculty, postdoctoral scholars, and graduate students build awareness, confidence, and skills for creating inclusive classrooms while developing as reflective practitioners. ISTP was recognized in 2025 with two regional ACS Stanley C.
Israel Awards for Advancing Diversity in the Chemical Sciences. The workshop centers on reflection, with participants examining how their personal experiences, identities, and perspectives influence their teaching practices and interactions with students. Through guided reflection and discussion, participants will explore how these factors shape classroom dynamics and learning.
Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W354: Building Skills for the Future: A Workshop on Integrating Green and Sustainable Chemistry into Undergraduate Teaching Laboratories
This workshop engages educators in integrating green chemistry as a framework for teaching fundamental chemical concepts through a lens of sustainability, while emphasizing peer-to-peer learning and mentorship within communities of practice (CoPs). Participants will explore approaches to developing modern laboratory curricula that reflect current industrial practices, guided by experienced facilitators. The workshop includes a review of green chemistry principles and their benefits, including improved safety, waste reduction, and alignment with the ACS Guidelines for Bachelor’s Degree Programs.
Participants will examine practical strategies for greening undergraduate laboratories, including inquiry- and discovery-based pedagogies and assessment approaches that support student engagement with sustainability concepts. Examples of greener experiments from general, organic, and inorganic chemistry illustrate the broad applicability of these approaches. Participants will also work collaboratively to adapt an experiment from their own courses, developing ideas for incorporating green chemistry concepts aligned with student learning outcomes.
The workshop supports the development of action plans for implementation beyond the conference. Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W336: The POGIL Project Workshop: Classroom Facilitation
There is no single way to implement POGIL, as each instructional context presents unique characteristics that influence how particular goals are achieved. Effectively facilitating a POGIL classroom involves more than organizing student groups and collaborative activities; it requires careful planning, classroom management, and reflective facilitation techniques.
This workshop introduces participants to approaches for facilitating POGIL activities and examines how facilitation can enhance or interfere with student learning, particularly in the development of student process skills. Participants will consider key components of classroom facilitation, explore how instructor actions can promote or inhibit the development of process skills, and examine facilitation strategies for use in their own classrooms.
W169: Teaming up with undergraduate Learning Assistants (LAs) to foster active and inclusive chemistry learning environments: An Introduction to the LA Model
The Learning Assistant (LA) model engages undergraduate Learning Assistants as members of instructional teams to facilitate active learning and foster inclusive learning environments. Learning Assistants are students who have successfully completed the course they support and receive additional training in pedagogy, often alongside LAs from other disciplines within an institution’s LA program. During weekly instructional team meetings, LAs provide feedback to faculty about student experiences and collaborate in preparing for upcoming instruction.
Together, pedagogy training and instructional team meetings provide structure, community, and resources that support LAs in developing inclusive practices. This workshop introduces the essential elements of the LA model—pedagogy, preparation, and practice. Participants will analyze videos, engage with data from LA-supported courses, and consider how working with LAs could be implemented in their own classroom contexts.
The session also explores how an LA program can complement existing student support systems on campus.
W128: From Classroom to Community: Designing Student-Led Research on Toxic Chemicals in Cosmetic Products
This workshop supports high school chemistry teachers in designing student-driven research experiences that connect classroom learning to community health advocacy. Participants will explore approaches for guiding students in investigating toxic chemicals in cosmetic products, with a focus on mercury and hydroquinone in skin-lightening products, while engaging with issues of environmental racism, health equity, and consumer protection that disproportionately affect communities of color. The workshop highlights a Performance-Based Assessment Task (PBAT) in which students conduct research and communicate findings through community-focused presentations.
Student participants in this work serve as co-facilitators, sharing their research experiences, presenting data and findings, and describing their community engagement efforts, modeling a “Students as Partners” approach that positions students as knowledge producers. Participants will engage in activities such as analyzing cosmetic ingredients using digital tools, creating concept maps that connect periodic trends and organic functional groups, designing community-based research protocols, analyzing data and creating visualizations, and developing advocacy campaigns. The workshop emphasizes how structural factors, including regulatory gaps, marketing practices, and social dynamics, shape both exposure to and impacts of toxic chemicals.
Participants will develop materials or strategies for use in their own teaching contexts and will leave with practical resources for implementation.
W76: Organic Curriculum Design Centered on Authentic Data
Centering the organic chemistry curriculum on real chemical phenomena with authentic data has the potential to significantly impact undergraduate chemistry education. The use of real data shifts the intellectual work of students from predicting reaction outcomes based on similar examples to using data to determine and explain those outcomes. Focusing on authentic chemistry tasks also provides opportunities for students to understand the central role of data in the development of organic chemistry knowledge.
For several years, the presenters have incorporated reaction data into student assessments and practice exercises. This approach has enabled the use of new prompt types and a wider range of authentic science and engineering practices connected to core ideas (e.g., https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.5c00365). Initial feedback from students suggests that some are beginning to view experimental results as an important source of information.
Attendees will explore these approaches and consider how to incorporate authentic data into their own instructional contexts.
W252: An ACS Exams committee experience: Developing a test specification and writing, editing, and scoring items
ACS Exams committees follow a structured process for exam development that includes item writing, editing, and selection. More recent committees have incorporated partial credit assignment for incorrect responses, and integrating these considerations into the item-writing process has supported the development of more effective response options. This workshop engages participants in collaborative activities focused on developing a test specification, writing and editing items, and considering partial credit assignment during the writing and editing process.
Participants will also examine how partial credit can be used in scoring and in making decisions based on assessment results. Activities are not limited to any specific course or item type and include opportunities to develop open-response items with associated grading rubrics. Participants will engage in guided activities and develop materials or strategies for use in their own teaching contexts, leaving with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W107: A beginner’s guide to using coding to enhance (bio)chemical education: From zero to classroom exercise in one day!
Building computational skills among undergraduates in chemistry and biochemistry is increasingly important for preparing future scientists, as these methods support efficient modeling and hypothesis testing across fields such as cheminformatics, bioinformatics, protein design, and next-generation sequencing analysis. This workshop supports faculty at all levels in developing a computational exercise that can be implemented in teaching or research settings at their home institutions. Participants will learn to use online resources such as GitHub, Google Drive, and Google Colab to write and run Python and R code, as well as AI tools to develop working code efficiently.
Through guided activities, participants will create their own instructional exercise and have opportunities to share their projects with others. Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W241: Active Learning in Analytical Chemistry: Strategies, Resources, and Community Building
This hands-on workshop is designed for analytical chemistry instructors seeking to enhance student outcomes and engagement through active learning. The workshop is led by facilitators from an NSF-funded project on active learning in analytical chemistry. Outcomes from this prior project include curriculum materials on the Analytical Sciences Digital Library website and a successful professional development process.
Prior to the workshop, instructors will identify a classroom lesson they would like to transition to an active learning experience. During the session, participants will experience engaged student learning firsthand by assuming a student role in a model classroom activity, followed by a reflective discussion on the principles and impact of active learning. Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W249: Using Laboratory Instruments in a Learning Environment
Participants will be introduced to a range of laboratory instruments, including HPLCs, GCs, GC–MS, and ICP–MS, along with their common applications. The workshop includes hands-on experience with one of nine HPLCs available in the laboratory, with additional opportunities for sample preparation depending on time. As participants gain experience using both manual and automated HPLC systems, they will engage in discussions about the role of sample preparation in successful analyses and develop a deeper understanding of how HPLC components function together as an integrated system.
The session will also address challenges students face when seeking their first opportunities in industry, what employers look for in prospective hires, and how educators can better prepare students for the transition from academia to the workforce. Participants will leave with ideas for incorporating instrumentation and workforce preparation into their teaching.
W254: Applying Practical Tools to Grief in Chemistry Classrooms
This hands-on workshop focuses on applying HERO (hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism) in addressing grief in chemistry classrooms across K–12 and higher education contexts. Participants will develop an understanding of different forms of grief and the psychological constructs of hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism. Through guided activities, participants will explore practical strategies and tools for engaging HERO in response to grief in classroom settings.
Grief in its many forms is present in daily educational environments, and holding grief without opportunities for processing can be exhausting. Faculty who acknowledge and respond to grief can provide meaningful opportunities for students to process their experiences while applying principles of psychological capital (PsyCap) to support both student learning and instructor well-being. Participants will leave with practical ideas and tools for implementation.
Time Slot: 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM
Sunday Tours of UW–Madison’s New Teaching Facilities
The Department of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison recently completed a major building project that reimagines undergraduate chemistry teaching and learning. Decades-old instructional spaces no longer aligned with contemporary safety standards, enrollment demands, or evidence-based teaching practices. The new instructional tower and renovated spaces were designed to address these challenges while creating a more modern, flexible, and student-centered learning environment.
This will be a guided tour of the updated instructional facilities, including modern teaching laboratories that meet modern safety expectations, flexible lecture halls and classrooms designed for active and collaborative learning, and accessible student-support spaces that promote community and academic success.
The session will also create space for discussion about the design principles that shaped the project, including lab modernization, safety infrastructure, active-learning classroom design, and strategies for supporting high-enrollment chemistry programs.
This session will be of interest to colleagues considering facilities renovations, new construction, lab redesign, or other efforts to align physical space with contemporary chemistry education goals.
B1551: Specification Grading and Alternative Assessment in High School Chemistry
Specifications grading and other alternative assessment approaches offer promising ways to support student learning, yet many faculty find implementation challenging because these methods require shifts in long-standing assessment practices, classroom culture, and instructional logistics. This session invites secondary chemistry educators who are curious about or implementing alternative assessments to come together for conversation and community building. Participants will share experiences, discuss challenges, and consider practical strategies while developing a supportive professional network. Suggested topics for subgroup discussion include alignment with traditional school grading systems, supporting student adjustment to a mastery-based grading mindset, writing clear and measurable specifications, managing increased workload associated with course redesign, lab assessment complications, communicating with parents and other stakeholders, and balancing depth of learning with curriculum coverage.
B804: Building Effective and Inclusive Chemistry Outreach: A Collaborative Exchange of Strategies
Chemistry outreach can inspire communities, strengthen public trust in science, and support student development, but designing meaningful, inclusive, and sustainable programs presents persistent challenges. This Birds of a Feather session, facilitated by members of the American Chemical Society Committee on Community Activities and American Chemical Society Outreach staff, invites participants to engage in a collaborative exchange of effective outreach practices.
The session will begin with a brief overview of outreach frameworks informed by ACS public engagement initiatives, including National Chemistry Week and Chemists Celebrate Earth Week. Facilitators will highlight key considerations for planning, promoting, and adapting outreach activities for diverse audiences and varied community contexts.
The majority of the session will focus on structured small-group discussions designed to foster peer-to-peer sharing. Guiding questions will explore how to meaningfully engage diverse communities, sustain outreach beyond one-time events, adapt activities for different age groups and settings, and assess impact beyond attendance metrics. Participants will be encouraged to share successful models, challenges encountered, and lessons learned.
Attendees will leave with a collective set of practical strategies, adaptable activity ideas, and new professional connections to support future outreach efforts. This interactive session is designed for both new and experienced outreach organizers who seek to strengthen the impact, inclusivity, and sustainability of their chemistry engagement programs.
B1288: Eye Tracking in Chemistry Education: Opportunities, Challenges, and Community Dialogue
Eye-tracking is a natural fit with chemistry education research, offering powerful insights into how learners engage visually with representations and problem-solving tasks. At the same time, applying these methodologies brings complex challenges related to study design, data interpretation, and analysis.
This Birds of a Feather session invites both newcomers curious about eye tracking and experienced researchers to share experiences, exchange ideas, discuss questions, and make connections.
Time Slot: 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
B399: Artificial Intelligence and Science Education
The purpose of the meeting is to share information about AI in science education. The goal is to create a community of science educators who are interested in exploring one or more of the following AI topics: Classroom, Educators, Ethics, Privacy & Security, and Policy.
B547: The Human Element: Science Communication as a Means of Fostering Science Belonging
This Birds of a Feather session will focus on participants' experiences and goals in embedding communication skills into the chemistry curriculum, and specifically on engaging students in written or spoken science communication activities.
Participants will discuss their experience or goals in incorporating student engagement with genuine scientific research and development into their classes either in the traditional chemistry curriculum or in elective or core classes. This session may be of interest to instructors at any level of chemistry.
Special emphasis will be placed on opportunities to increase students' feelings of belonging and community in scientific classes by encouraging engagement with real-world scientific progress and by designing opportunities for students to take on leadership roles in the science-communication setting.
Time will also be dedicated to when, where, and how participants have engaged their students with different audiences outside of the classroom.
B1562: Increasing and deepening student lab experiences through Project SEED
I will discuss my own lab experience as a high school student and chemistry major in college and now, as a high school chemistry teacher, the lab experience I hope to pass on to my students. The opportunity for high school students to participate in a summer research internship at the university level alongside professors and their team of graduate students is an amazing opportunity. It opens their eyes to the skills and attention to detail necessary to conduct experiments, collect and analyze data and summarize their findings so that they can report on whether or not the research confirmed their hypothesis.
If so, they are able to extend their understanding of how this new knowledge can be further applied within the field. If not, they revise the experiment or change some of the constraints to see if these changes produce different results. All in all, it is a great opportunity for high school students to see and do what science looks like at a very high level.
Time Slot: 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Welcome to BCCE 2026!
Time Slot: 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
S49: 3D Printing in Chemical Education: Empowering Learning through Design and Innovation
With rapid advancements in computer-aided design (CAD) and 3D printing, these technologies are increasingly transforming chemical education by enabling hands-on, student-centered learning. This symposium will showcase creative and practical applications of 3D printing that support active engagement in both the classroom and laboratory. Presentations will explore how CAD and additive manufacturing are being used to visualize complex molecular structures, illustrate potential energy surfaces, and fabricate custom analytical tools and lab equipment tailored for educational use.
Strategies for classroom integration, methods for fostering student engagement, and approaches to assessment will also be discussed. The session will conclude with a panel discussion and ample time for audience questions.
S69a: Teaching Data-Driven Approaches in Chemistry
Data-driven approaches are becoming more important in all disciplines of chemistry, including those which did not previously emphasize these approaches. While machine learning and AI are perhaps the most highlighted, data-driven approaches encompass a wide range of topics, including AI, ML, chemometrics/cheminformatics, internet of things, and virtual and extended reality, and require that students develop a wide range of skills, including data management, visualization, programming, and high-performance computing. This symposium aims to bring together chemical educators from all disciplines of chemistry who want to share ideas, best practices, and resources for teaching students data-driven approaches in chemistry.
We welcome submissions that discuss particular activities or resources or larger-scale curricular or program innovations. Innovations could include implementing new lectures, experiments, labs or course-based research activities in existing chemistry courses or the development of new courses. This symposium is sponsored nominally by the CHED Committee on Computing in Chemical Education, which seeks to encourage and support the development, implementation, and assessment of computing and data-driven technologies in chemical education.
The overall objective of the symposium is to provide educators and developers the opportunity to learn about cutting-edge technologies and to share their resources and experiences with each other.
S57a: Improving Your Teaching and Research Through Communities of Practice Participation: Find, Join, Build, and Sustain
A key catalyst for promoting successful teaching and research strategies and improved student learning is participation in a community of practice, i.e. educators supporting each other as they develop and sustain the adoption of new teaching and assessment practices, and support undergraduate research.
Communities of practice now exist for all of the broad content areas of chemistry in postsecondary education contexts, including lecture-based and instructional laboratory courses and undergraduate research. These communities provide curricular resources, learning activities, professional development opportunities, in-person and virtual conferences, research collaborations, and means for sharing, asking questions, and obtaining support for adopting innovative teaching and learning practices.
This symposium has two foci: 1) an introduction to communities of practice, their offerings, and how to get involved; and, 2) a venue for leaders of communities of practice to share their best practices, opportunities for improvement, and visionary outlooks for their community.
An overarching goal of this symposium is to create a space for educators to become active participants in a community of practice as members and leaders. The symposium will include talks to highlight the benefits of communities of practice and the challenges to building and sustaining these communities. Distillations will be used to broadly share the activities of communities of practice across the chemistry community and to provide participants with an opportunity to share ideas for new communities.
S282a: Views from the Classrooms of Award-Winning Chemistry Teachers
A hallmark of the high school chemistry teaching community is the desire of teachers to work together to improve the teaching and learning of chemistry for their students. The collective knowledge and support of this community are important for all teachers, but particularly for those who may be new to teaching high school chemistry or who may be the only chemistry teacher at their school. Many excellent chemistry teachers have been recognized for their work by receiving a variety of awards, including the James Bryant Conant Award, ACS Regional Awards, the Beaumier Award, and other science teacher awards.
These teachers have much to share with other educators about best practices in the classroom. Winners typically have an opportunity to present an award address, but how many of us get to hear their actual award presentations and learn from their experience? This symposium will provide attendees with the opportunity to meet and benefit from these award-winning teachers, as well as learn about the nomination process for these awards and how each award is selected.
S194: Professional Learning about Equity- and Justice-Oriented Science Teaching Through Classroom Action Research - Invitation Only
There is an emerging consensus among teachers and researchers that science education should support communities to bring about more just social conditions. Doing so requires reimagining how we conceptualize and facilitate teacher learning. Yet, it is challenging to structure professional development that addresses teachers’ context-specific learning needs in this area, given the reality that there cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach to equitable or justice-oriented science teaching.
Thus, teachers may struggle to find support (especially long-term support) for shifting their practice in this direction. In this symposium, researchers and teachers will share their experiences with a collaborative, yet localized, model of teacher learning. The speakers will discuss how they have begun to construct both shared and individualized understandings of equity and justice-oriented science teaching, through involvement in multi-site professional learning communities as well as through Classroom Action Research (CAR).
We will explain how CAR is a form of qualitative research particularly well-suited to the challenges presented above, and give examples of the insights our communities of practice have gained about equitable and justice-oriented science education through this model of teacher learning.
S88: Latino Networks in Chemical Education: Identities, Challenges, and Intersectional Collaborations
This symposium highlights the experiences, challenges, and contributions of educators engaged in the teaching and learning of chemistry within Latinx/Hispanic communities across the United States, Puerto Rico, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Through oral presentations, participants will examine how cultural and linguistic identities shape pedagogical practices, curriculum design, and mentorship in diverse educational contexts.
The symposium welcomes faculty, researchers, and allies to share initiatives that advance inclusion, equity, and the retention of Latinx students in STEM. Sessions will feature innovative pedagogical approaches, successful professional development models, and transnational collaborations that have fostered more diverse and representative academic communities.
This symposium is aligned with the conference theme “Fixing Systems, Not People”, underscoring that inequities in chemistry education arise from structural and systemic barriers that must be transformed to more effectively support Latinx students and faculty. It also connects with the intersecting domains of Curriculum and Program Development and Professional Development.
Expected outcomes include the identification of effective strategies for redesigning educational systems to promote equity, the strengthening of academic collaboration networks, and the development of proposals to transform chemistry education in the service of culturally diverse communities.This symposium highlights the experiences, challenges, and contributions of educators engaged in the teaching and learning of chemistry within Latinx/Hispanic communities across the United States, Puerto Rico, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Through oral presentations, participants will examine how cultural and linguistic identities shape pedagogical practices, curriculum design, and mentorship in diverse educational contexts.
S123a: Exploring What It Means to Know and Learn Chemistry
Chemistry education is increasingly moving beyond a focus on the explicit content we teach, toward a deeper examination of the implicit messages our courses send about what it means to know and learn chemistry. These implicit ideas influence how, why, and what students learn; shape perceptions of whose knowledge “counts”; and affect the possibility of transferring classroom learning into daily life beyond school. Because ideas about knowing and learning can also reinforce or challenge inequities, attending to them is essential for supporting both meaningful learning and just learning environments.
This symposium creates space for conversations about the epistemic dimensions of chemistry learning, introduced here as the forms of knowledge, methods of knowledge construction, and criteria for knowledge justification students (and instructors) see as appropriate and valuable in a particular context. We welcome contributions that explore how course structures, instructional choices, or assessment designs communicate particular epistemic expectations; that model or investigate students’ epistemic ideas; or that consider who gets to shape which epistemic ideas are valued. We hope conversations sparked by this symposium will help our community reflect on what we mean by “authentic” practices and phenomena (i.e., for whom and for what purpose are particular practices or phenomena useful or interesting?).
Relevant intersectional attributes include learning activities and environments, and public engagement and science literacy.
S139a: From ‘Huh?’ to ‘Aha!’: Our Most Powerful Chemistry Class Days
We all have class days that feature a tried-and-true recipe for success. The analogy lands, the demo works, students lean in, and you walk out thinking, “This is why I teach chemistry!” This symposium is about those days—and how to help more of them happen.
We invite five-minute show-and-share style talks that spotlight one thing you do that reliably helps students understand, remember, or care about chemistry. It might be a go-to analogy for buffers, a story you tell before equilibrium, a drawing routine for resonance, a lab twist, a homework prompt, or a small shift in how you frame a tough topic. If it’s part of your regular rotation because it works, we want to see it.
Each presenter will briefly set the scene (course, students, challenge), walk us through their “highlight,” and share what they’ve noticed: student reactions, missteps, small wins, or evidence of impact. Ideas do not need to be polished or perfect, just authentic and usable.
Presenters should be prepared to share simple, ready-to-use materials so colleagues can try the ideas in their own courses. Talks will be loosely grouped by theme, with time for conversation, questions, and swapping strategies. Attendees will leave with practical classroom-tested ideas and the reminder that their best teaching moments are worth celebrating and sharing.
S240a: Enhancing Chemical Knowledge through Cultural Heritage: Art, Archaeology, and Material Culture
Cultural heritage science, art conservation science, and archaeology centered pedagogy provides a unique and engaging platform to teach core chemical concepts through the analysis of humanities material past. From characterizing pigment degradation in artworks to authenticating archaeological artifacts, chemistry provides critical analytical techniques and instrumental methods to evaluate, preserve, and interpret historical and cultural materials. These interdisciplinary platforms also provide opportunities to engage students outside the traditional chemistry laboratory through collaboration with natural history museums, archaeological collections, art galleries, and conservation labs.
This symposium will feature art and archaeology themed talks on authentic artifact and object-centered activities, courses, and laboratories that promote interdisciplinary student engagement with humanity’s material past, reinforce chemical theory, and broaden exposure to chemical instrumentation. Presenters from high school and two and four-year institutions are invited to share curricula, laboratory experiments, and lectures that integrate these topics across the curriculum.
S157a: Bridging Pathways: Preparing Chemistry Students for Industry Careers and Graduate School Success
Theme: Pathways to Research Success
Preparing students for life beyond the undergraduate classroom is a critical responsibility of chemistry educators and program leaders. The ACS Guidelines for Bachelor’s Degree Programs emphasize not only content knowledge but also skill development (particularly laboratory skills) alongside collaborative teamwork, problem-solving, and experiential learning. These competencies are essential for success in a wide range of post-graduate pathways, including careers in the private sector and advanced study in graduate or professional programs.
This symposium will explore strategies for embedding career and graduate school readiness into chemistry curricula and co-curricular experiences. One session of the symposium will focus on preparing students for industry careers with topics that could include highlighting evolving workforce needs, essential skills, and successful initiatives such as internships, co-ops, and partnerships with employers. The other session in this symposium will address graduate school preparation with topics showcasing approaches that integrate authentic disciplinary practices (i.e., research experiences, mentoring programs, and workshops) into course design and assessment.
We invite contributions from all institutional contexts that share student-centered strategies for helping chemistry students transition from academic training to professional and academic advancement.
S117a: Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) in Chemistry: Design, Implementation, and Assessment Across the Curriculum
Theme: CURE ShowcasesCourse-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) are increasingly recognized as a powerful mechanism for centering authentic scientific practices within the chemistry curriculum. By embedding genuine, discovery-driven research into coursework, CUREs expand access to high-impact learning opportunities and foster the development of scientific identity, research skills, and persistence in STEM. This symposium brings together chemistry educators, researchers, and program leaders to showcase innovative approaches to designing, implementing, assessing, and sustaining CUREs across the full spectrum of the undergraduate chemistry curriculum, from introductory general and non-major courses to advanced laboratory and capstone experiences.
The session will highlight diverse CURE models, including modular, semester-long, and interdisciplinary designs, with emphasis on approaches that broaden participation across all levels, particularly in the crucial first- and second-year courses where implementation barriers are well-documented. Presentations will address practical and pedagogical considerations such as scaffolding research skills, aligning assessment with the iterative nature of research, developing institutional support structures, and integrating programmatic assessment to demonstrate the impact and value of CURE-based instruction. Contributors are encouraged to share evidence-based practices, lessons learned, challenges encountered, and strategies for sustainable implementation in various institutional contexts, including high schools, community colleges, four-year institutions, and research universities.
Aligning with the mission of the Council on Undergraduate Research (cur.org) and the BCCE 2026 Conference Context of Centering Authentic Phenomena and Practices, this symposium emphasizes the transformative potential of CUREs to create inclusive, inquiry-rich learning environments. By highlighting successes and emerging efforts across the chemistry curriculum, the session aims to build community, support cross-institutional collaboration, and inspire educators to adopt and adapt CUREs that expand equitable access to authentic research experiences for all students.
S55a: Putting Chemistry Education Research into Practice
The results of chemistry education research provide a significant resource to inform scholarly teaching strategies and the design of instructional materials at both the high school and undergraduate levels. The goal of this symposium is to provide a forum for instructors wishing to learn about, adapt, and incorporate evidence-based materials and teaching strategies into their courses, with the goal of creating more effective learning environments. Presentations are expected to incorporate chemical education research findings into instructional practices.
We encourage a wide range of presentations, including data-driven descriptions of how chemical education research has informed scholarly instructional practices, descriptions of design challenges and constraints in implementing a research-based strategy or curriculum, and descriptions of collaborations between researchers and instructors (research-practice partnerships). This symposium is sponsored nominally by the DivCHED Chemistry Education Research Committee (CERC).
S109a: Engaging Students in Organic Chemistry – Present and Future Directions in the Classroom
Engaging students effectively in organic chemistry is a critical task as the course material covered in the two-semester undergraduate sequence is foundational for upper-level science courses. With an emphasis on scholarly teaching practices, we invite presentations that highlight creative strategies that enhance student learning in the undergraduate organic chemistry courses. We welcome presentations that showcase the implementation of novel activities, pedagogical models, and non-traditional assessment practices.
Presentations that explore emerging opportunities such as incorporation of AI, combating online cheating, integration of technology, open education resources (OER), addressing students’ post-COVID preparation, and innovative laboratory experiments synergistic with the lecture content are encouraged. Furthermore, presentations that critically examine conventional teaching practices and highlight the implementation of alternative learner-centered pedagogical approaches would be valuable in fostering a productive dialog among the participants. Finally, since organic chemistry fundamentals form the bedrock of many allied disciplines, presentations that discuss the applications of organic chemistry to medicinal chemistry, materials science, polymer chemistry, green chemistry, and other upper-level courses are also welcome.
S348a: Biochemistry Education: Conversations on the Laboratory Learning Environment
This symposium will focus on scholarly teaching in the biochemistry laboratory learning environment. The biochemistry laboratory is a unique environment where students must synthesize learning from many courses (e.g., chemistry, biology, physics) and attain a high level of representational competence to be successful. The interdisciplinary nature of the biochemistry laboratory can provide students with a context in which to grow and develop their understanding of scientific concepts and practices.
The purpose of this symposium is to provide a forum for educators to present their work in shaping biochemistry laboratory learning environments. We invite biochemistry education researchers and practitioners in all areas of biochemistry to share their work, with an eye toward highlighting pedagogies that emphasize active learning and inclusive teaching strategies. Speakers are encouraged to include some form of assessment results (e.g., surveys, exam questions, interviews) in their presentation.
S347a: Beyond Algorithmic Problem-Solving: Fostering Metacognitive Practices to Improve Conceptual Understanding in Chemistry
Chemistry students often succeed at solving problems through memorized algorithms while lacking deep conceptual understanding. This symposium addresses this challenge by convening educators and researchers to explore how we can better assess and foster metacognitive practices that support meaningful learning in chemistry.
Aligned with the Engaging in Scholarly Teaching Conference Context, the session promotes evidence-based dialogue between practitioners and researchers. Participants will explore methods for distinguishing algorithmic performance from conceptual mastery, share strategies for making student thinking visible, and present practical interventions that encourage reflection, self-assessment, and knowledge transfer.
Spanning multiple subdisciplines, the symposium will feature contributions from instructors using active learning strategies to help students evaluate their own understanding. Topics may include assessing conceptual understanding, designing activities that promote critical thinking, and measuring the impact of metacognitive practices in chemistry education.
By fostering shared experiences and collaborative problem-solving, this symposium is designed to support educators in preparing students who not only solve problems—but who understand why their solutions work. Students who think like chemists, not just calculate like them.
S131a: Engaging and Assessing Science Practices in Chemistry Curriculum
Since the release of A Framework for K–12 Science Education, science practices have become a cornerstone of reform efforts in science education, emphasizing what students should be able to do with their knowledge rather than solely what they know. However, explicit guidance for engaging undergraduate students in these practices and assessing their development remains limited. This symposium aligns with the conference theme of Engaging in Scholarly Teaching by highlighting evidence-based strategies that promote active and reflective approaches to build science practice competencies.
The session will feature presentations from instructors and researchers who are intentionally designing and evaluating curricular innovations that integrate science practices into college-level chemistry. Talks will illustrate how science practice–focused instruction fosters deeper learning and scientific reasoning. Presenters will share insights into curriculum and program development, including the creation of learning modules, laboratory reforms, and instructional scaffolds that foreground students’ engagement in authentic scientific practices. Another key focus of the symposium is assessment and evaluation. Talks will feature the development and use of tools such as rubrics, performance tasks, and formative assessments that measure students’ proficiency with science practices and provide actionable feedback to improve instruction.
Through a combination of contributed talks and distillations, this symposium will foster dialogue among educators committed to evidence-based curriculum design and assessment. Participants will leave with adaptable ideas, validated instruments, and new perspectives for engaging students in the authentic work of chemists through scholarly teaching.
S285b: Establishing Trustworthiness: Building Rigor and Credibility in Qualitative Chemistry Education Research
This symposium focuses on a central challenge in qualitative chemistry education research: establishing and communicating trustworthiness, particularly considering the emergence of AI. As more chemistry educators adopt qualitative approaches to understand student thinking, identity, and classroom culture, questions about rigor, credibility, and transparency have become increasingly vital. This symposium invites dialogue on how researchers ensure that their interpretations are both methodologically sound and meaningfully connected to the lived experiences of learners and instructors.
Talks should specifically focus on at least one of the four components of trustworthiness (i.e. credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability), how it was established in their methods, lessons learned from their methodology, and overall research results and implications. This symposium advances the field by reframing rigor through qualitative criteria: credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability, and by showcasing novel approaches for analyzing different types of qualitative data.
This includes interviews, short-response data, observational data, and artifacts. Presenters will share examples of triangulation, reflexive journaling, member checking, comparison across data sources, thick description, use of AI in coding, and incorporation of AI as IRR to demonstrate how trustworthiness enhances both the quality and impact of qualitative findings.
W202: REAL CHEM Courseware as a Shared Facility for Chemical Education Research
This hands-on workshop introduces REAL CHEM as a shared facility for advancing chemical education research through large-scale, data-driven experimentation. Developed by Carnegie Mellon University and Arizona State University using the Torus platform, REAL CHEM integrates authoring, deployment, and analysis tools that make it possible to study learning at scale while supporting classroom instruction.
Participants will gain hands-on experience analyzing REAL CHEM’s detailed clickstream and performance data to uncover how students learn and how instructional design, course policies, and digital supports shape that learning. Authoring tools allow instructors to create and instrument interactive activities that capture rich data on student thinking. Deployment is linked to DataShop, which curates classroom data into research-ready datasets, while LearnSphere supports advanced analysis and sharing of results. Together, these tools enable studies across both traditional and AI-enhanced learning environments. A central example is the use of learning curves, which track progress as students interact with courseware. These curves move beyond traditional pre/post testing by directly visualizing the learning process—where the intercept provides a data-driven estimate of prior knowledge and the slope offers a sensitive measure of instructional effectiveness.
Do you have an idea for a course innovation but not the infrastructure to design, deploy, and study it in the field? REAL CHEM provides that foundation—enabling you to build interactive course materials, gather authentic classroom data, and analyze results using established research tools. Learn how this ecosystem can accelerate your work in course and learning design.
W291: Scientific Modeling Meets MOSAIC: Reimagining Equity and Critical Thinking in Chemistry Education
Scientific modeling is at the heart of how students build understanding in chemistry, and when paired with the MOSAIC Framework (Meaningful Connections, Opportunities for Collaboration, Scaffolded Supports, Assessment, Integration of Technology, and Culturally Responsive Content), it becomes a pathway to equity and critical thinking. Developed through work with MosesSTEMinc L3C, MOSAIC supports teachers in designing learning experiences that honor students’ lived experiences while deepening their understanding of chemical phenomena. In this session, participants will engage in hands-on modeling examples centered on real-world issues such as climate change, energy flow, and molecular interactions.
The workshop explores how discourse, collaboration, and technology can help students visualize both observable and unobservable aspects of science. Educators will work with tools such as planning templates, discussion stems, and reflection prompts that connect modeling, reasoning, and culturally responsive practice. The session invites participants to consider how chemistry learning environments can support all students in developing as thinkers, problem solvers, and scientists.
W354: Building Skills for the Future: A Workshop on Integrating Green and Sustainable Chemistry into Undergraduate Teaching Laboratories
This workshop engages educators in integrating green chemistry as a framework for teaching fundamental chemical concepts through a lens of sustainability, while emphasizing peer-to-peer learning and mentorship within communities of practice (CoPs). Participants will explore approaches to developing modern laboratory curricula that reflect current industrial practices, guided by experienced facilitators. The workshop includes a review of green chemistry principles and their benefits, including improved safety, waste reduction, and alignment with the ACS Guidelines for Bachelor’s Degree Programs.
Participants will examine practical strategies for greening undergraduate laboratories, including inquiry- and discovery-based pedagogies and assessment approaches that support student engagement with sustainability concepts. Examples of greener experiments from general, organic, and inorganic chemistry illustrate the broad applicability of these approaches. Participants will also work collaboratively to adapt an experiment from their own courses, developing ideas for incorporating green chemistry concepts aligned with student learning outcomes.
The workshop supports the development of action plans for implementation beyond the conference. Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W180: Developing transferable skills in your classroom or lab - start by writing skill-focused prompts.
Transferable skills such as communication, teamwork, critical thinking, and problem solving are important outcomes for chemistry programs, yet these skills (also described as durable, process, or professional skills) are not always explicitly developed in typical coursework or laboratory settings. Supporting students in developing these skills requires questions and tasks that prompt their use in written work and team interactions. This workshop engages participants in developing strategies, practice, and feedback for writing skill-focused questions and tasks.
Feedback-focused rubrics from the ELIPSS Project will be used to support the design of assignments that facilitate the development of transferable skills. Participants will work in structured teams to complete short activities and engage in large-group discussions as they evaluate questions and tasks for their potential to elicit transferable skills, develop and practice strategies for writing such questions, and create sample question structures that intentionally promote skills such as teamwork, information processing, and critical thinking. Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W128: From Classroom to Community: Designing Student-Led Research on Toxic Chemicals in Cosmetic Products
This workshop supports high school chemistry teachers in designing student-driven research experiences that connect classroom learning to community health advocacy. Participants will explore approaches for guiding students in investigating toxic chemicals in cosmetic products, with a focus on mercury and hydroquinone in skin-lightening products, while engaging with issues of environmental racism, health equity, and consumer protection that disproportionately affect communities of color. The workshop highlights a Performance-Based Assessment Task (PBAT) in which students conduct research and communicate findings through community-focused presentations.
Student participants in this work serve as co-facilitators, sharing their research experiences, presenting data and findings, and describing their community engagement efforts, modeling a “Students as Partners” approach that positions students as knowledge producers. Participants will engage in activities such as analyzing cosmetic ingredients using digital tools, creating concept maps that connect periodic trends and organic functional groups, designing community-based research protocols, analyzing data and creating visualizations, and developing advocacy campaigns. The workshop emphasizes how structural factors, including regulatory gaps, marketing practices, and social dynamics, shape both exposure to and impacts of toxic chemicals.
Participants will develop materials or strategies for use in their own teaching contexts and will leave with practical resources for implementation.
W76: Organic Curriculum Design Centered on Authentic Data
Centering the organic chemistry curriculum on real chemical phenomena with authentic data has the potential to significantly impact undergraduate chemistry education. The use of real data shifts the intellectual work of students from predicting reaction outcomes based on similar examples to using data to determine and explain those outcomes. Focusing on authentic chemistry tasks also provides opportunities for students to understand the central role of data in the development of organic chemistry knowledge.
For several years, the presenters have incorporated reaction data into student assessments and practice exercises. This approach has enabled the use of new prompt types and a wider range of authentic science and engineering practices connected to core ideas (e.g., https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.5c00365). Initial feedback from students suggests that some are beginning to view experimental results as an important source of information.
Attendees will explore these approaches and consider how to incorporate authentic data into their own instructional contexts.
W172: Fostering Better Learners in 5 Minutes a Day: Metacognitive Micro-Practices
This interactive workshop equips chemistry instructors with a toolkit of five-minute metacognitive routines that can be embedded before, during, and after class without adding grading burden. Participants will co-set the agenda, surface common learning challenges, and rehearse micro-practices through brief model–try–reflect cycles. Activities emphasize brainstorming from participants’ questions, small-group problem analysis, and whole-group sharing to leverage the room’s collective expertise.
The toolkit is adaptable across organic chemistry and biochemistry courses and for varied class sizes and instructional modalities. Because the workshop is experiential, participants will actively try the routines and engage with concise reflection prompts from the learner perspective. No background in cognitive psychology is required.
Participants will identify evidence-aligned metacognitive routines and map where they fit within an upcoming lecture or assessment cycle, practice a routine with a peer and refine its implementation, and draft a brief plan for implementation and assessment. Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W107: A beginner’s guide to using coding to enhance (bio)chemical education: From zero to classroom exercise in one day!
Building computational skills among undergraduates in chemistry and biochemistry is increasingly important for preparing future scientists, as these methods support efficient modeling and hypothesis testing across fields such as cheminformatics, bioinformatics, protein design, and next-generation sequencing analysis. This workshop supports faculty at all levels in developing a computational exercise that can be implemented in teaching or research settings at their home institutions. Participants will learn to use online resources such as GitHub, Google Drive, and Google Colab to write and run Python and R code, as well as AI tools to develop working code efficiently.
Through guided activities, participants will create their own instructional exercise and have opportunities to share their projects with others. Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W241: Active Learning in Analytical Chemistry: Strategies, Resources, and Community Building
This hands-on workshop is designed for analytical chemistry instructors seeking to enhance student outcomes and engagement through active learning. The workshop is led by facilitators from an NSF-funded project on active learning in analytical chemistry. Outcomes from this prior project include curriculum materials on the Analytical Sciences Digital Library website and a successful professional development process.
Prior to the workshop, instructors will identify a classroom lesson they would like to transition to an active learning experience. During the session, participants will experience engaged student learning firsthand by assuming a student role in a model classroom activity, followed by a reflective discussion on the principles and impact of active learning. Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W249: Using Laboratory Instruments in a Learning Environment
Participants will be introduced to a range of laboratory instruments, including HPLCs, GCs, GC–MS, and ICP–MS, along with their common applications. The workshop includes hands-on experience with one of nine HPLCs available in the laboratory, with additional opportunities for sample preparation depending on time. As participants gain experience using both manual and automated HPLC systems, they will engage in discussions about the role of sample preparation in successful analyses and develop a deeper understanding of how HPLC components function together as an integrated system.
The session will also address challenges students face when seeking their first opportunities in industry, what employers look for in prospective hires, and how educators can better prepare students for the transition from academia to the workforce. Participants will leave with ideas for incorporating instrumentation and workforce preparation into their teaching.
Time Slot: 03:30 PM - 05:15 PM
S312b: Looking Around, LOOKING AHEAD with Bassam Shakhashiri
We mark the 50th anniversary of the BCCE held at UW–Madison with joy and fulfillment. Speakers in this symposium will reflect on progress made in chemistry education and, more importantly, will look ahead to consider what must be done now and in the next decade to strengthen classroom practice, deepen public engagement, and better connect chemistry with society.
Education is the most critical ingredient for enabling wise decision-making in a democracy: among scientists, policymakers, and a science-literate public who understand both the benefits and potential hazards of scientific and technological advances. Meeting this responsibility requires learning environments that draw on ideas from science, the arts, and the humanities, and that prepare students to use their knowledge ethically and responsibly. As stewards of powerful technologies (including AI) we must guide their development and application for the benefit of our planet and its inhabitants.
The joy of learning must be nurtured to lead to deeper understanding and appreciation of the beauty of our complex chemical world. Our intellect and energy must be guided purposefully to learn, to teach effectively, and to serve society. Proficiency alone does not ensure responsibility or stewardship; people must be virtuous as well as skilled. This symposium will explore how chemistry educators can enact comprehensive and systemic changes in attitudes and behaviors that support sustainable futures, responsible citizenship, and the flourishing of both people and the planet.
Time Slot: 05:00 PM - 05:30 PM
Sunday Periodic Pick-Me-Up
Sunday Periodic Pick-Me-Up Menu
regular house brewed coffee, hot water, assorted teas, creamer, oat milk, honey, lemon, canned soda, water, whole fruit, assorted individual bags of chips, pretzels, popcorn, and assorted health granola and protein bars (subject to minor changes)
Time Slot: 05:15 PM - 05:45 PM
A Toast in Honor of Bassam Shakhashiri
Time Slot: 05:30 PM - 09:00 PM
Sunday Exhibition Prime Time
Time Slot: 05:30 PM - 06:30 PM
B156: Active Learning in Organic Chemistry / Organic Education Resources (OrganicERs)
Come join us for an informal gathering of those who teach or plan to teach organic chemistry. This is a great way to find out more about the resources available at www.organicers.org and meet with members of the Organic Education Resources community.
We will briefly share about our community of practice and provide opportunities to sign up for our 2026-27 virtual Faculty Learning Communities and Curriculum Development Teams. All welcome.
B416: Connecting with AACT (American Association of Chemistry Teachers) members and K-12 Chemistry Teachers
This conversation will focus on how AACT can better support teachers of chemistry. The intended audience is middle school and high school science educators.
Additionally, attendees will have the chance to connect with other chemistry teachers and talk about how they are preparing for the upcoming school year. The goal is to create a safe space to reflect on challenges in education and how to meet them with compassion and creativity.
B586: Networking for CER Graduate Students
This networking event is intended to bring together graduate students in CER to make new professional connections in an informal setting. The event will be loosely structured so attendees can identify peers with similar research interests or going through similar professional hurdles (i.e. preparing an OP, preparing to defend, finding a post-doc position, learning about entering the job market, etc.).
While the event is designed with graduate students in mind, we invite early career scholars to join either "Networking for CER" BoaF event that best fits their networking needs. We hope this event sparks numerous new connections and conversations that can continue throughout the week and beyond BCCE. This event is hosted by the Early Career Chemistry Education Scholars Committee of DivCHED.
Time Slot: 06:00 PM - 09:00 PM
Wisconsin Idea Welcome
Opening Wisconsin Idea Welcome Menu
Offerings vary by room and will be distributed across Great Hall, Main Lounge, Multicultural Greek Council, and Tripp Commons.
Appetizers & Small Plates
- Sartori cheese board with prosciutto, tangerine chili olives, strawberry balsamic jam, berries, grapes, and bruschettini toasts
- bruschetta (tomato relish, feta artichoke spread, red pepper hummus)
- fresh fruit platter
- vegetable array (grilled, fresh, and pickled vegetables with vegan ramp aioli)
- vegetable samosas with cilantro chutney
Salads
- garden salad with balsamic and ranch
- grilled vegetable pasta salad
- harissa tofu, quinoa, cauliflower, and cabbage salad with pomegranate dressing
Sliders and Heartier Bites
- halal meatballs in marinara
- fire-braised chicken sliders with house-made BBQ sauces and pickles
- Varsity Meats pulled pork sliders with slaw, mustards, and pickles
- falafel with pickled vegetables and tzatziki
Desserts & Beverages
- chocolate-covered strawberries, lemon bars, brownies, and Babcock ice cream cups
- house-brewed coffee and hot water
- assorted teas, creamer, oat milk, honey, and lemon
Bar Service (included!)
- local Wisconsin microbrews
- house wines
- hard seltzers
- assorted sodas and bottled waters
(subject to minor changes)
Time Slot: 06:00 PM - 07:00 PM
CC213: Educating for a Sustainable Future
Sustainability is an increasingly important focus in chemistry education, with implications across course levels and institutional contexts. This community conversation begins with a broad guiding question: How does sustainability connect to chemistry education? Panelists will share perspectives on integrating sustainability concepts into courses ranging from high school through advanced undergraduate levels.Participants will contribute ideas, resources, and approaches for embedding sustainability into curricula, learning activities, and program design. The discussion will also highlight chemistry’s central role in addressing global challenges, including its contributions to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Attendees are encouraged to bring questions, concerns, and examples from their own practice as the group explores how chemistry education can support the development of scientifically informed, globally engaged citizens. This session aligns with broader efforts to integrate sustainability into curriculum, pedagogy, and student learning experiences.
Time Slot: 07:00 PM - 08:00 PM
CC316: Embracing Neurodiversity in the Teaching and Learning of Chemistry
Neurodiversity recognizes and values the wide range of cognitive differences that shape how individuals think, learn, and engage with the world. This community conversation brings together researchers, educators, and advocates to explore how chemistry learning environments can better support neurodiverse students and faculty. The session will include brief panelist contributions followed by discussion focused on two key areas: research on supporting neurodiverse learners in undergraduate chemistry, and the experiences of neurodiverse educators navigating teaching, accessibility, and institutional structures.
Participants will consider instructional strategies, classroom practices, and systemic changes that promote inclusion and accessibility across learning environments. This conversation aims to highlight neurodiversity as a strength while fostering dialogue around how chemistry education can become more inclusive, responsive, and supportive of diverse ways of thinking and learning.
Date: Monday, 27th July
Time Slot: 06:30 AM - 07:15 AM
“Get Ready for the Day” movement class
Orange Shoe Personal Fitness offers complimentary morning “Get Ready for the Day” movement classes. Each 45-minute class will include movement preparation focused on mobility, stability, and safely warming up for the conference day.
Please register at least 12 hours in advance.
Time Slot: 08:00 AM - 06:00 PM
Conference Registration and Information Desk
Time Slot: 08:30 AM - 10:00 AM
S69b: Teaching Data-Driven Approaches in Chemistry
Data-driven approaches are becoming more important in all disciplines of chemistry, including those which did not previously emphasize these approaches. While machine learning and AI are perhaps the most highlighted, data-driven approaches encompass a wide range of topics, including AI, ML, chemometrics/cheminformatics, internet of things, and virtual and extended reality, and require that students develop a wide range of skills, including data management, visualization, programming, and high-performance computing. This symposium aims to bring together chemical educators from all disciplines of chemistry who want to share ideas, best practices, and resources for teaching students data-driven approaches in chemistry.
We welcome submissions that discuss particular activities or resources or larger-scale curricular or program innovations. Innovations could include implementing new lectures, experiments, labs or course-based research activities in existing chemistry courses or the development of new courses. This symposium is sponsored nominally by the CHED Committee on Computing in Chemical Education, which seeks to encourage and support the development, implementation, and assessment of computing and data-driven technologies in chemical education.
The overall objective of the symposium is to provide educators and developers the opportunity to learn about cutting-edge technologies and to share their resources and experiences with each other.
S57b: Improving Your Teaching and Research Through Communities of Practice Participation: Find, Join, Build, and Sustain
A key catalyst for promoting successful teaching and research strategies and improved student learning is participation in a community of practice, i.e. educators supporting each other as they develop and sustain the adoption of new teaching and assessment practices, and support undergraduate research.
Communities of practice now exist for all of the broad content areas of chemistry in postsecondary education contexts, including lecture-based and instructional laboratory courses and undergraduate research. These communities provide curricular resources, learning activities, professional development opportunities, in-person and virtual conferences, research collaborations, and means for sharing, asking questions, and obtaining support for adopting innovative teaching and learning practices.
This symposium has two foci: 1) an introduction to communities of practice, their offerings, and how to get involved; and, 2) a venue for leaders of communities of practice to share their best practices, opportunities for improvement, and visionary outlooks for their community.
An overarching goal of this symposium is to create a space for educators to become active participants in a community of practice as members and leaders. The symposium will include talks to highlight the benefits of communities of practice and the challenges to building and sustaining these communities. Distillations will be used to broadly share the activities of communities of practice across the chemistry community and to provide participants with an opportunity to share ideas for new communities.
S282b: Views from the Classrooms of Award-Winning Chemistry Teachers
A hallmark of the high school chemistry teaching community is the desire of teachers to work together to improve the teaching and learning of chemistry for their students. The collective knowledge and support of this community are important for all teachers, but particularly for those who may be new to teaching high school chemistry or who may be the only chemistry teacher at their school. Many excellent chemistry teachers have been recognized for their work by receiving a variety of awards, including the James Bryant Conant Award, ACS Regional Awards, the Beaumier Award, and other science teacher awards.
These teachers have much to share with other educators about best practices in the classroom. Winners typically have an opportunity to present an award address, but how many of us get to hear their actual award presentations and learn from their experience? This symposium will provide attendees with the opportunity to meet and benefit from these award-winning teachers, as well as learn about the nomination process for these awards and how each award is selected.
S284a: Innovations, Practices, and Challenges in Large Laboratory Courses
Large-enrollment laboratory courses face unique challenges in administration, pedagogy, and assessment. As the number of students approaches or exceeds 100 people, the faculty and staff administrating these labs face similar challenges. These challenges include, but are not limited to, the design and development of effective instructional materials, evaluation of student learning using new grading systems and/or assessments, and preparing Teaching Assistants to be successful in their role.
This symposium aims to provide a space for the directors of large laboratory courses (both researchers and practitioners) to share their creative approaches to laboratory curriculum, structure, instruction, and execution of their courses as a community of practice. Contributions are encouraged from all types of institutions and laboratory courses including introductory, general, organic, and biochemistry. Discussions of the successful implementation of new ideas, as well as lessons learned from not-so-successful ones, are welcome.
S45a: Integrating Green Chemistry and Sustainability into Chemistry Education
This symposium will highlight the incorporation of green chemistry and sustainability principles throughout the chemistry curriculum as well as through co-curricular activities such as clubs, organizations, and service-learning opportunities. The focus will be on green chemistry and sustainability materials, and models rooted in the Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry that are designed to educate high school, community college, four-year college, and graduate students.
These materials will include classroom teaching modules/courses, learning methods, educational research, laboratory experiments and experiences, the integration of toxicology into the chemistry curriculum, and the use of systems-thinking.
S258a: Active Learning in Organic Chemistry: Rethinking Assessment
Active learning not only changes how students engage with organic chemistry, it challenges us to rethink the systems through which we measure and support that learning. This symposium focuses on assessment practices that move beyond traditional, high-stakes exams toward models emphasizing growth, transparency, inclusion and rethinking the systems that measure and support learning. Presentations may highlight mastery- or specifications-based grading systems that reward persistence and iteration; portfolio or project-based assessments that capture longitudinal learning; collaborative testing and peer review that build communication and metacognition; or oral, reflective, or authentic performance tasks that assess synthesis and reasoning rather than rote recall.
Both well-established and developing work are welcome, from classroom-tested systems supported by data to in-progress or exploratory designs seeking community feedback. Presenters should discuss the pedagogical rationale, implementation strategies, and observed or anticipated impact on student learning, skill development, engagement and motivation, or equity and belonging, supported by qualitative or quantitative evidence. Attendees will acquire adaptable frameworks and tools for creating assessments that honor students’ varied learning preferences and life contexts, promote equity, and align with active-learning environments to provide a more accurate measure of understanding and achievement in organic chemistry.
The session will emphasize dialogue and shared reflection, fostering a supportive community dedicated to transforming assessment culture in chemistry education.
S154a: Building Bonds: Fostering a Sense of Belonging in Large-Enrollment Chemistry Courses
Affective measures, such as social belonging, have been demonstrated to impact students’ performance and retention in undergraduate chemistry courses, as well as in chemistry as a field. Enrollment in general and organic chemistry courses continues to increase both in the number of students and the various identities and backgrounds of students. In addition to the historically challenging content of chemistry courses, the size of large-enrollment chemistry courses poses an additional challenge to the sense of belonging for students, particularly those from historically underrepresented identities and backgrounds.
Educators seeking to support their students must continue to find innovative ways to overcome these difficulties. This symposium aims to serve as a medium for the community to share strategies for creating an inclusive classroom environment and promoting students’ belonging in large enrollment courses. Of particular interest are novel approaches to promote belonging that incorporate technology, social media, or auxiliary educators (e.g., teaching assistants, supplemental instruction, learning assistants, peer-led team learning, etc.).
Although general chemistry and organic chemistry are commonly known large-enrollment courses, presenters focused on any large-enrollment undergraduate chemistry lecture or lab course (e.g., physical chemistry, biochemistry, etc.) are welcome to submit abstracts.
S123b: Exploring What It Means to Know and Learn Chemistry
Chemistry education is increasingly moving beyond a focus on the explicit content we teach, toward a deeper examination of the implicit messages our courses send about what it means to know and learn chemistry. These implicit ideas influence how, why, and what students learn; shape perceptions of whose knowledge “counts”; and affect the possibility of transferring classroom learning into daily life beyond school. Because ideas about knowing and learning can also reinforce or challenge inequities, attending to them is essential for supporting both meaningful learning and just learning environments.
This symposium creates space for conversations about the epistemic dimensions of chemistry learning, introduced here as the forms of knowledge, methods of knowledge construction, and criteria for knowledge justification students (and instructors) see as appropriate and valuable in a particular context. We welcome contributions that explore how course structures, instructional choices, or assessment designs communicate particular epistemic expectations; that model or investigate students’ epistemic ideas; or that consider who gets to shape which epistemic ideas are valued. We hope conversations sparked by this symposium will help our community reflect on what we mean by “authentic” practices and phenomena (i.e., for whom and for what purpose are particular practices or phenomena useful or interesting?).
Relevant intersectional attributes include learning activities and environments, and public engagement and science literacy.
S139b: From ‘Huh?’ to ‘Aha!’: Our Most Powerful Chemistry Class Days
We all have class days that feature a tried-and-true recipe for success. The analogy lands, the demo works, students lean in, and you walk out thinking, “This is why I teach chemistry!” This symposium is about those days—and how to help more of them happen.
We invite five-minute show-and-share style talks that spotlight one thing you do that reliably helps students understand, remember, or care about chemistry. It might be a go-to analogy for buffers, a story you tell before equilibrium, a drawing routine for resonance, a lab twist, a homework prompt, or a small shift in how you frame a tough topic. If it’s part of your regular rotation because it works, we want to see it.
Each presenter will briefly set the scene (course, students, challenge), walk us through their “highlight,” and share what they’ve noticed: student reactions, missteps, small wins, or evidence of impact. Ideas do not need to be polished or perfect, just authentic and usable.
Presenters should be prepared to share simple, ready-to-use materials so colleagues can try the ideas in their own courses. Talks will be loosely grouped by theme, with time for conversation, questions, and swapping strategies. Attendees will leave with practical classroom-tested ideas and the reminder that their best teaching moments are worth celebrating and sharing.
S240b: Enhancing Chemical Knowledge through Cultural Heritage: Art, Archaeology, and Material Culture
Cultural heritage science, art conservation science, and archaeology centered pedagogy provides a unique and engaging platform to teach core chemical concepts through the analysis of humanities material past. From characterizing pigment degradation in artworks to authenticating archaeological artifacts, chemistry provides critical analytical techniques and instrumental methods to evaluate, preserve, and interpret historical and cultural materials. These interdisciplinary platforms also provide opportunities to engage students outside the traditional chemistry laboratory through collaboration with natural history museums, archaeological collections, art galleries, and conservation labs.
This symposium will feature art and archaeology themed talks on authentic artifact and object-centered activities, courses, and laboratories that promote interdisciplinary student engagement with humanity’s material past, reinforce chemical theory, and broaden exposure to chemical instrumentation. Presenters from high school and two and four-year institutions are invited to share curricula, laboratory experiments, and lectures that integrate these topics across the curriculum.
S157b: Bridging Pathways: Preparing Chemistry Students for Industry Careers and Graduate School Success
Theme: Pathways to Research Success
Preparing students for life beyond the undergraduate classroom is a critical responsibility of chemistry educators and program leaders. The ACS Guidelines for Bachelor’s Degree Programs emphasize not only content knowledge but also skill development (particularly laboratory skills) alongside collaborative teamwork, problem-solving, and experiential learning. These competencies are essential for success in a wide range of post-graduate pathways, including careers in the private sector and advanced study in graduate or professional programs.
This symposium will explore strategies for embedding career and graduate school readiness into chemistry curricula and co-curricular experiences. One session of the symposium will focus on preparing students for industry careers with topics that could include highlighting evolving workforce needs, essential skills, and successful initiatives such as internships, co-ops, and partnerships with employers. The other session in this symposium will address graduate school preparation with topics showcasing approaches that integrate authentic disciplinary practices (i.e., research experiences, mentoring programs, and workshops) into course design and assessment.
We invite contributions from all institutional contexts that share student-centered strategies for helping chemistry students transition from academic training to professional and academic advancement.
S117b: Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) in Chemistry: Design, Implementation, and Assessment Across the Curriculum
Theme: CURE in General ChemistryCourse-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) are
increasingly recognized as a powerful mechanism for centering authentic
scientific practices within the chemistry curriculum. By embedding
genuine, discovery-driven research into coursework, CUREs expand access
to high-impact learning opportunities and foster the development of
scientific identity, research skills, and persistence in STEM. This
symposium brings together chemistry educators, researchers, and program
leaders to showcase innovative approaches to designing, implementing,
assessing, and sustaining CUREs across the full spectrum of the
undergraduate chemistry curriculum, from introductory general and
non-major courses to advanced laboratory and capstone experiences.
The
session will highlight diverse CURE models, including modular,
semester-long, and interdisciplinary designs, with emphasis on
approaches that broaden participation across all levels, particularly in
the crucial first- and second-year courses where implementation
barriers are well-documented. Presentations will address practical and
pedagogical considerations such as scaffolding research skills, aligning
assessment with the iterative nature of research, developing
institutional support structures, and integrating programmatic
assessment to demonstrate the impact and value of CURE-based
instruction. Contributors are encouraged to share evidence-based
practices, lessons learned, challenges encountered, and strategies for
sustainable implementation in various institutional contexts, including
high schools, community colleges, four-year institutions, and research
universities.
Aligning with the mission of the Council on
Undergraduate Research (cur.org) and the BCCE 2026 Conference Context of
Centering Authentic Phenomena and Practices, this symposium emphasizes
the transformative potential of CUREs to create inclusive, inquiry-rich
learning environments. By highlighting successes and emerging efforts
across the chemistry curriculum, the session aims to build community,
support cross-institutional collaboration, and inspire educators to
adopt and adapt CUREs that expand equitable access to authentic research
experiences for all students.
S55b: Putting Chemistry Education Research into Practice
The results of chemistry education research provide a significant resource to inform scholarly teaching strategies and the design of instructional materials at both the high school and undergraduate levels. The goal of this symposium is to provide a forum for instructors wishing to learn about, adapt, and incorporate evidence-based materials and teaching strategies into their courses, with the goal of creating more effective learning environments. Presentations are expected to incorporate chemical education research findings into instructional practices.
We encourage a wide range of presentations, including data-driven descriptions of how chemical education research has informed scholarly instructional practices, descriptions of design challenges and constraints in implementing a research-based strategy or curriculum, and descriptions of collaborations between researchers and instructors (research-practice partnerships). This symposium is sponsored nominally by the DivCHED Chemistry Education Research Committee (CERC).
S109b: Engaging Students in Organic Chemistry – Present and Future Directions in the Classroom
Engaging students effectively in organic chemistry is a critical task as the course material covered in the two-semester undergraduate sequence is foundational for upper-level science courses. With an emphasis on scholarly teaching practices, we invite presentations that highlight creative strategies that enhance student learning in the undergraduate organic chemistry courses. We welcome presentations that showcase the implementation of novel activities, pedagogical models, and non-traditional assessment practices.
Presentations that explore emerging opportunities such as incorporation of AI, combating online cheating, integration of technology, open education resources (OER), addressing students’ post-COVID preparation, and innovative laboratory experiments synergistic with the lecture content are encouraged. Furthermore, presentations that critically examine conventional teaching practices and highlight the implementation of alternative learner-centered pedagogical approaches would be valuable in fostering a productive dialog among the participants. Finally, since organic chemistry fundamentals form the bedrock of many allied disciplines, presentations that discuss the applications of organic chemistry to medicinal chemistry, materials science, polymer chemistry, green chemistry, and other upper-level courses are also welcome.
S348b: Biochemistry Education: Conversations on the Laboratory Learning Environment
This symposium will focus on scholarly teaching in the biochemistry laboratory learning environment. The biochemistry laboratory is a unique environment where students must synthesize learning from many courses (e.g., chemistry, biology, physics) and attain a high level of representational competence to be successful. The interdisciplinary nature of the biochemistry laboratory can provide students with a context in which to grow and develop their understanding of scientific concepts and practices.
The purpose of this symposium is to provide a forum for educators to present their work in shaping biochemistry laboratory learning environments. We invite biochemistry education researchers and practitioners in all areas of biochemistry to share their work, with an eye toward highlighting pedagogies that emphasize active learning and inclusive teaching strategies. Speakers are encouraged to include some form of assessment results (e.g., surveys, exam questions, interviews) in their presentation.
S347b: Beyond Algorithmic Problem-Solving: Fostering Metacognitive Practices to Improve Conceptual Understanding in Chemistry
Chemistry students often succeed at solving problems through memorized algorithms while lacking deep conceptual understanding. This symposium addresses this challenge by convening educators and researchers to explore how we can better assess and foster metacognitive practices that support meaningful learning in chemistry.
Aligned with the Engaging in Scholarly Teaching Conference Context, the session promotes evidence-based dialogue between practitioners and researchers. Participants will explore methods for distinguishing algorithmic performance from conceptual mastery, share strategies for making student thinking visible, and present practical interventions that encourage reflection, self-assessment, and knowledge transfer.
Spanning multiple subdisciplines, the symposium will feature contributions from instructors using active learning strategies to help students evaluate their own understanding. Topics may include assessing conceptual understanding, designing activities that promote critical thinking, and measuring the impact of metacognitive practices in chemistry education.
By fostering shared experiences and collaborative problem-solving, this symposium is designed to support educators in preparing students who not only solve problems—but who understand why their solutions work. Students who think like chemists, not just calculate like them.
S131b: Engaging and Assessing Science Practices in Chemistry Curriculum
Since the release of A Framework for K–12 Science Education, science practices have become a cornerstone of reform efforts in science education, emphasizing what students should be able to do with their knowledge rather than solely what they know. However, explicit guidance for engaging undergraduate students in these practices and assessing their development remains limited. This symposium aligns with the conference theme of Engaging in Scholarly Teaching by highlighting evidence-based strategies that promote active and reflective approaches to build science practice competencies.
The session will feature presentations from instructors and researchers who are intentionally designing and evaluating curricular innovations that integrate science practices into college-level chemistry. Talks will illustrate how science practice–focused instruction fosters deeper learning and scientific reasoning. Presenters will share insights into curriculum and program development, including the creation of learning modules, laboratory reforms, and instructional scaffolds that foreground students’ engagement in authentic scientific practices. Another key focus of the symposium is assessment and evaluation. Talks will feature the development and use of tools such as rubrics, performance tasks, and formative assessments that measure students’ proficiency with science practices and provide actionable feedback to improve instruction.
Through a combination of contributed talks and distillations, this symposium will foster dialogue among educators committed to evidence-based curriculum design and assessment. Participants will leave with adaptable ideas, validated instruments, and new perspectives for engaging students in the authentic work of chemists through scholarly teaching.
S68a: From Assistants to Agents of Change: Advancing Graduate Teaching Professional Development and Scholarship
Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are crucial for teaching chemistry courses at large research institutions. GTAs are uniquely situated in their career – they must balance research, coursework, and teaching. However, university culture tends to prioritize graduate students’ research productivity, often at the expense of their teaching.
Thus, GTA professional development tends to be confined as brief orientations with little room for collaboration, reflective inquiry, and long-term instructional growth. To advance Engagement in Scholarly Teaching, our symposium invites presentations that explore and demonstrate new insights about GTA professional development and scholarship. Actively engaging GTAs in reformed-based instructional strategies that are both equitable and effective are essential for enhancing students’ retention, matriculation, and STEM trajectories.
This symposium invites discussions about GTA experiences being at the intersection of a student, researcher, and instructor. In alignment with key intersectional attributes, we intend to invite researchers and practitioners to present novel (a) data- or theory-driven professional development practices, (b) research that leverages and amplifies GTA voices in professional development, or (c) evaluations of GTA professional development programs that challenge conventional environments. These presentations that meld research and practice promote ongoing GTA professional development efforts and catalyze discussions on how GTAs can be positioned as pedagogical knowledge constructors and agents of change
W366: Open Pedagogy in Practice: Create a Renewable Assignment using The Forge
This hands-on workshop introduces chemistry faculty new to Open Educational Resources (OER) and Open Pedagogy (OP) to foundational principles and practices for implementing open approaches to teaching and learning. The session focuses on designing “renewable assignments,” in which student learning activities result in openly licensed educational resources that can be shared and reused by future cohorts. Participants will work in course-specific tracks to develop and prototype usable assets, such as student-generated interactive problem sets, conceptual video explanations, and adaptable, low-cost laboratory procedures, supporting both reduced reliance on proprietary materials and increased student engagement.
The workshop includes examples of Open Pedagogy assignments across disciplines, including general, physical, and analytical chemistry, illustrating features such as co-creation, ongoing revision, and contribution to public platforms. Faculty new to Open Pedagogy are encouraged to attend. The session also introduces The Forge, the LibreTexts co-creation platform, and provides guidance on using it to develop and share instructional materials.
Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W319: American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT) Resources for AP Chemistry
This hands-on, lab-based workshop shares lessons, labs, and activities drawn from select AP Chemistry units. Topics focus on challenging concepts such as entropy, enthalpy, equilibrium and equilibrium constants, titrations, and related content areas. Participants will engage in several of these activities and consider how they can be implemented in their own courses.
The session highlights resources developed by the American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT) to support instruction in AP Chemistry. Participants will leave with new materials and ideas for use in their own AP Chemistry courses.
W146: Open-Source Hardware in the Chemistry Teaching Lab
Chemists rely on a wide array of tools for chemical synthesis and characterization, and instructional laboratories devote significant time to helping students learn to use these tools and interpret the resulting data. This workshop introduces the growing movement toward open-source hardware designed by and for scientists and explores its potential for chemistry teaching laboratories. Open hardware offers several advantages in instructional settings, including lower cost, simplified and customizable interfaces, full documentation, and flexible, interoperable designs that can support creative and engaging learning experiences.
Participants will consider multiple approaches for incorporating open hardware into their teaching, depending on instructional goals. These include customizing interfaces to align with specific experiments, sharing design documentation to support student understanding, and engaging students in building hardware or connecting components to create multifunctional systems. Attendees will explore strategies for integrating open hardware into laboratory instruction and consider how these approaches can support student learning and engagement.
W280: Developing assessments to emphasize 21st century skills
As the use of generative AI expands, there is increasing need to shift assessment toward what students can do with their knowledge rather than recall and routine calculation. Employers consistently emphasize skills such as critical thinking and complex problem solving, yet these competencies are often not well defined, making it difficult to gather meaningful evidence of student ability. This workshop uses the Scientific Practices described in A Framework for K–12 Science Education as a proxy for these workforce skills to guide the development of assessments.
Participants will work in groups using a modified version of evidence-centered design to develop assessment tasks that incorporate scientific practices, including model construction, explanation and argumentation, and analysis and interpretation of data, across both open-ended and multiple-choice formats. Criteria from the Three-Dimensional Learning Assessment Protocol (3D-LAP), along with evidence statements generated during the activity, will be used to develop coding and grading schemes for these tasks. Participants will receive a copy of the 3D-LAP and develop a working knowledge of how to design and use assessment tasks that elicit 21st century skills.
W99: Using Video Game Software (Unity) to Animate 3D Organic Reaction Mechanisms
This workshop introduces participants to using Unity’s built-in animation features to create three-dimensional representations of organic reaction mechanisms. Unity is a professional video game engine that is available free of charge for educational use. The session draws on the workshop leader’s experience using Unity to develop chemistry games and simulations, many of which are available at InteractiveChemistry.org.
Participants will work through the Fischer esterification reaction as a model for developing animations within the Unity environment. The workshop also explores how animations can be shared with students and colleagues through WebGL builds that run in standard web browsers. Attendees will gain experience with the animation workflow and consider how these tools can be applied to support teaching and learning in organic chemistry.
W330: The POGIL Project Workshop: Development and Implementation of Guided Inquiry Experiments for Physical Chemistry
The NSF-funded POGIL-PCL project applies the principles of Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) to improve student learning in the physical chemistry laboratory course. These principles are used to develop inquiry-based experiments that emphasize both macroscopic and molecular models of chemical phenomena. The project aims to provide a wide range of physical chemistry experiments, along with training materials and practitioner support, enabling instructors to assess their needs and resources and select from a variety of turn-key experiments that support student learning.
This workshop introduces the structure of a POGIL physical chemistry experiment through a classroom-tested, hands-on example, allowing participants to experience the POGIL-PCL approach from the student perspective while examining features of effective guided inquiry experiments. Participants will also discuss how to apply POGIL-PCL principles to develop new experiments, adapt existing laboratory activities, and engage further with the POGIL-PCL project.
W189: Preparing Application Materials and Navigating Academic Job Searches
This workshop, led by members of the Early-Career Chemistry Education Scholars (ECCES) community and distinguished leaders in the field, provides graduate students with practical guidance for navigating the academic job search. Participants will learn how to identify relevant job postings, craft compelling cover letters, and develop strong research and teaching statements. The session will also cover strategies for preparing for interviews and presenting oneself effectively to hiring committees.
Through examples, discussion, and hands-on advice, attendees will gain actionable tools and insights to create application materials that highlight their experience, skills, and potential, helping them approach the job search with confidence and clarity.To increase access to the workshop, the committee is offering the workshop at a reduced cost of $5. Use promo code ECCES2026 to receive this discounted registration rate.
W244: Connecting Chemistry Concepts Through a Single Scenario: A Hands-On, Integrated Approach for General Chemistry Sequence
This workshop introduces an instructional approach that uses a single chemical phenomenon or demonstration to conceptually link foundational topics across a general chemistry course or sequence. Example contexts include reactions such as a metal reacting with hydrochloric acid as well as real-world scenarios such as swimming pool maintenance and water quality testing. Participants will engage in hands-on demonstrations using common laboratory materials to collect, analyze, and interpret data while exploring connections among core topics including stoichiometry, thermodynamics, gas laws, and molecular polarity.
Contextualized data collection in water quality testing and swimming pool chemistry further supports connections to acid–base chemistry, equilibrium, and kinetics. These activities also support the development of scientific reasoning and highlight the relevance of chemistry. Participants will conduct experiments, respond to prompts, and engage in discussion of instructional design implications.
Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W311: Computational Chemistry in the Classroom
Implementing computational chemistry in undergraduate and high school classrooms remains challenging for chemical educators at all levels. Organized by the MoleCVUE consortium, this workshop provides participants with tools and experience to support the integration of computational chemistry activities into their curricula. Participants will engage in computer-based demonstrations and hands-on exercises using WebMO, a free, web-based interface for performing computational chemistry calculations without the need for additional hardware or software.
Participants will learn how to set up calculations, submit computations, and visualize and interpret results. Facilitators will provide example activities spanning chemical subfields, including organic, physical, and inorganic chemistry, and will address practical considerations for implementing computational chemistry in classroom settings. The workshop includes a question-and-answer session with WebMO experts.
Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W345: Mentorship That Matters: A Practical Guide for Advancing Undergraduate Researchers
Researchers are often not formally trained for the critical role they play in mentoring the next generation of scientists. Grounded in the training program developed by the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) and adopted by the National Research Mentoring Network, this workshop focuses on developing effective mentoring practices for undergraduate researchers. Through case studies, structured activities, and group discussions, participants will explore strategies for building productive mentoring relationships.
Topics include articulating expectations for mentoring relationships, communicating effectively with trainees, and supporting the professional development of novice researchers, as well as approaches for assessing trainee understanding, fostering independence and self-efficacy, and promoting continued mentorship. Attendees will engage with concrete mentoring scenarios and leave with approaches they can apply in their own research settings.
Time Slot: 08:50 AM - 10:00 AM
S279a: Catalyzing Innovations in Chemistry Education Research: Harnessing the Power of Machine Learning and Generative AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the landscape of education, with machine learning, natural language processing, and generative AI opening new possibilities for research. In chemistry education, these technologies offer powerful tools for analyzing complex learning processes—for example, by classifying or quantifying open-ended student responses to assess conceptual understanding or reasoning.
This symposium spotlights how AI-based methods are being applied to advance chemistry education research. We invite contributions that investigate or develop innovative educational approaches using machine learning, natural language processing, or generative AI. Submissions may include, but are not limited to: 1) The development of advanced AI models that automatically evaluate students’ reasoning, 2) the implementation of AI tools in research settings, 3) the analysis of learning and teaching interactions shaped by AI applications, 4) the replication of research findings across educational settings using AI methods, and 5) conceptual/theoretical work that sets community norms for valid, equitable uses of AI in chemistry education and research. We also welcome submissions that incorporate learning analytics or explore the intersection of AI and pedagogical design. Submissions may include empirical studies, methodological innovations, design-based research, or critical/ethical analyses. We especially welcome work that engages students as partners, reports negative or mixed results, and surfaces system-level affordances and constraints.
By convening researchers and practitioners, this symposium aims to highlight the achievements of AI-enhanced chemistry education research, uncover emerging methodological opportunities, and outline promising directions for future research while providing practical examples of how these tools can inform assessment, personalize learning, and enhance instructional design. By fostering dialogue around the integration of AI, we seek to support the broader community in leveraging these tools to better understand and analyze student learning—while critically reflecting on their benefits and limitations.
Time Slot: 09:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Monday Morning Exhibition Open
Time Slot: 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Monday Bonding Break
Monday Bonding Break Menuregular house brewed coffee, hot water, assorted teas, creamer, oat milk, honey, lemon, bottled juices, water, whole fruit, hard boiled eggs, coffee cake
(subject to minor changes)
Time Slot: 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
S279b: Catalyzing Innovations in Chemistry Education Research: Harnessing the Power of Machine Learning and Generative AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the landscape of education, with machine learning, natural language processing, and generative AI opening new possibilities for research. In chemistry education, these technologies offer powerful tools for analyzing complex learning processes—for example, by classifying or quantifying open-ended student responses to assess conceptual understanding or reasoning.
This symposium spotlights how AI-based methods are being applied to advance chemistry education research. We invite contributions that investigate or develop innovative educational approaches using machine learning, natural language processing, or generative AI. Submissions may include, but are not limited to: 1) The development of advanced AI models that automatically evaluate students’ reasoning, 2) the implementation of AI tools in research settings, 3) the analysis of learning and teaching interactions shaped by AI applications, 4) the replication of research findings across educational settings using AI methods, and 5) conceptual/theoretical work that sets community norms for valid, equitable uses of AI in chemistry education and research. We also welcome submissions that incorporate learning analytics or explore the intersection of AI and pedagogical design. Submissions may include empirical studies, methodological innovations, design-based research, or critical/ethical analyses. We especially welcome work that engages students as partners, reports negative or mixed results, and surfaces system-level affordances and constraints.
By convening researchers and practitioners, this symposium aims to highlight the achievements of AI-enhanced chemistry education research, uncover emerging methodological opportunities, and outline promising directions for future research while providing practical examples of how these tools can inform assessment, personalize learning, and enhance instructional design. By fostering dialogue around the integration of AI, we seek to support the broader community in leveraging these tools to better understand and analyze student learning—while critically reflecting on their benefits and limitations.
S57c: Improving Your Teaching and Research Through Communities of Practice Participation: Find, Join, Build, and Sustain
A key catalyst for promoting successful teaching and research strategies and improved student learning is participation in a community of practice, i.e. educators supporting each other as they develop and sustain the adoption of new teaching and assessment practices, and support undergraduate research.
Communities of practice now exist for all of the broad content areas of chemistry in postsecondary education contexts, including lecture-based and instructional laboratory courses and undergraduate research. These communities provide curricular resources, learning activities, professional development opportunities, in-person and virtual conferences, research collaborations, and means for sharing, asking questions, and obtaining support for adopting innovative teaching and learning practices.
This symposium has two foci: 1) an introduction to communities of practice, their offerings, and how to get involved; and, 2) a venue for leaders of communities of practice to share their best practices, opportunities for improvement, and visionary outlooks for their community.
An overarching goal of this symposium is to create a space for educators to become active participants in a community of practice as members and leaders. The symposium will include talks to highlight the benefits of communities of practice and the challenges to building and sustaining these communities. Distillations will be used to broadly share the activities of communities of practice across the chemistry community and to provide participants with an opportunity to share ideas for new communities.
S256a: Exploring the Intersection of Secondary and Post-Secondary Communities and Partnerships
Effective chemistry education is enhanced through a strong sense of community, which often leads to collaborations. As communities and partnerships involving secondary and post-secondary educators can often go unnoticed, we aim to highlight examples in the hope that learning about such collaborations might lead attendees to seek others.
This symposium examines different ways secondary teachers engage in formal and informal partnerships and professional networks. Presenters may describe activities, practices, and insights gained through specific collaborations or communities; opportunities for developing or expanding professional networks; mutual benefits gained from partnerships across levels, such as secondary/post-secondary or industry/education; or other features or benefits of successful collaborations.
S284b: Innovations, Practices, and Challenges in Large Laboratory Courses
Large-enrollment laboratory courses face unique challenges in administration, pedagogy, and assessment. As the number of students approaches or exceeds 100 people, the faculty and staff administrating these labs face similar challenges. These challenges include, but are not limited to, the design and development of effective instructional materials, evaluation of student learning using new grading systems and/or assessments, and preparing Teaching Assistants to be successful in their role.
This symposium aims to provide a space for the directors of large laboratory courses (both researchers and practitioners) to share their creative approaches to laboratory curriculum, structure, instruction, and execution of their courses as a community of practice. Contributions are encouraged from all types of institutions and laboratory courses including introductory, general, organic, and biochemistry. Discussions of the successful implementation of new ideas, as well as lessons learned from not-so-successful ones, are welcome.
S45b: Integrating Green Chemistry and Sustainability into Chemistry Education
This symposium will highlight the incorporation of green chemistry and sustainability principles throughout the chemistry curriculum as well as through co-curricular activities such as clubs, organizations, and service-learning opportunities. The focus will be on green chemistry and sustainability materials, and models rooted in the Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry that are designed to educate high school, community college, four-year college, and graduate students.
These materials will include classroom teaching modules/courses, learning methods, educational research, laboratory experiments and experiences, the integration of toxicology into the chemistry curriculum, and the use of systems-thinking.
S258b: Active Learning in Organic Chemistry: Rethinking Assessment
Active learning not only changes how students engage with organic chemistry, it challenges us to rethink the systems through which we measure and support that learning. This symposium focuses on assessment practices that move beyond traditional, high-stakes exams toward models emphasizing growth, transparency, inclusion and rethinking the systems that measure and support learning. Presentations may highlight mastery- or specifications-based grading systems that reward persistence and iteration; portfolio or project-based assessments that capture longitudinal learning; collaborative testing and peer review that build communication and metacognition; or oral, reflective, or authentic performance tasks that assess synthesis and reasoning rather than rote recall.
Both well-established and developing work are welcome, from classroom-tested systems supported by data to in-progress or exploratory designs seeking community feedback. Presenters should discuss the pedagogical rationale, implementation strategies, and observed or anticipated impact on student learning, skill development, engagement and motivation, or equity and belonging, supported by qualitative or quantitative evidence. Attendees will acquire adaptable frameworks and tools for creating assessments that honor students’ varied learning preferences and life contexts, promote equity, and align with active-learning environments to provide a more accurate measure of understanding and achievement in organic chemistry.
The session will emphasize dialogue and shared reflection, fostering a supportive community dedicated to transforming assessment culture in chemistry education.
S129a: Expanding Mechanistic Reasoning Across Contexts: From Disciplinary Phenomena to Societally Relevant Problems
Mechanistic reasoning is a central scientific practice because it enables students to identify, describe, or analyze the underlying mechanisms of observed phenomena to predict or explain their outcomes. In doing so, mechanistic reasoning provides students with an authentic way to engage in scientific inquiry and make sense of the natural and engineered world.
Over the past two decades, research has explored how students engage in mechanistic reasoning, what instructional practices foster its development, and how instructors can effectively integrate it into teaching. Much is known about how students construct mechanistic reasoning within single domains, such as organic chemistry. However, research on mechanistic reasoning is evolving. It is moving beyond investigating students’ mechanistic reasoning within isolated phenomena toward exploring how students reason across multiple, conceptually related phenomena within a domain, and ultimately how they transfer mechanistic reasoning across disciplinary boundaries.
Engaging students in mechanistic reasoning within interdisciplinary or societally relevant contexts—such as sustainability, climate change, or energy conversion—has become increasingly important considering today’s pressing global challenges, which demand understanding and reasoning about complex mechanisms. Researching and supporting students’ mechanistic reasoning across such contexts has the potential to foster students’ engagement with crosscutting concepts, deepen their understanding of how scientific reasoning is used to generate evidence, and strengthen their capacity to evaluate information.
This symposium brings together data- and theory-driven perspectives on students’ mechanistic reasoning across contexts. The contributions could examine (1) how students construct and apply mechanistic reasoning within and across disciplinary boundaries, (2) how instructional designs can support transfer of mechanistic reasoning, and (3) how engaging with mechanistic reasoning in societally relevant contexts can foster authentic learning. Collectively, this symposium offers an overview of emerging research on students’ mechanistic reasoning in chemistry education and beyond.
S278a: Playing Fun-tastic Games in Chemistry
Looking for creative ways to make your chemistry classroom (in-person or virtual) or lesson more engaging? Content-based games provide an alternative to traditional forms of learning and promote active learning through student-student and student-content interactions. Each year, an increasing number of articles about chemistry games are published in the literature. Games can provide a playful environment to engage students authentically with the content. They create spaces that encourage iteration, curiosity and trying new things they might be afraid to otherwise. Many of these tools are new learning activities; however, others touch on various other intersectional attributes targeted by this conference, including games as assessment, improving science literacy, and as reflections. This symposium is your chance to hear all about these games or share ones you’ve made! Please stop by to get inspired for the upcoming semester!
This series of distillations will give educators and practitioners space to share the games they have created. All types of games are welcome! The post-distillation open discussion time will provide space for attendees to ask questions to presenters while playing their games.
S240c: Enhancing Chemical Knowledge through Cultural Heritage: Art, Archaeology, and Material Culture
Cultural heritage science, art conservation science, and archaeology centered pedagogy provides a unique and engaging platform to teach core chemical concepts through the analysis of humanities material past. From characterizing pigment degradation in artworks to authenticating archaeological artifacts, chemistry provides critical analytical techniques and instrumental methods to evaluate, preserve, and interpret historical and cultural materials. These interdisciplinary platforms also provide opportunities to engage students outside the traditional chemistry laboratory through collaboration with natural history museums, archaeological collections, art galleries, and conservation labs.
This symposium will feature art and archaeology themed talks on authentic artifact and object-centered activities, courses, and laboratories that promote interdisciplinary student engagement with humanity’s material past, reinforce chemical theory, and broaden exposure to chemical instrumentation. Presenters from high school and two and four-year institutions are invited to share curricula, laboratory experiments, and lectures that integrate these topics across the curriculum.
S157c: Bridging Pathways: Preparing Chemistry Students for Industry Careers and Graduate School Success
Theme: Identities, Confidence, and Aspirations of Future Chemists
Preparing students for life beyond the undergraduate classroom is a critical responsibility of chemistry educators and program leaders. The ACS Guidelines for Bachelor’s Degree Programs emphasize not only content knowledge but also skill development (particularly laboratory skills) alongside collaborative teamwork, problem-solving, and experiential learning. These competencies are essential for success in a wide range of post-graduate pathways, including careers in the private sector and advanced study in graduate or professional programs.
This symposium will explore strategies for embedding career and graduate school readiness into chemistry curricula and co-curricular experiences. One session of the symposium will focus on preparing students for industry careers with topics that could include highlighting evolving workforce needs, essential skills, and successful initiatives such as internships, co-ops, and partnerships with employers. The other session in this symposium will address graduate school preparation with topics showcasing approaches that integrate authentic disciplinary practices (i.e., research experiences, mentoring programs, and workshops) into course design and assessment.
We invite contributions from all institutional contexts that share student-centered strategies for helping chemistry students transition from academic training to professional and academic advancement.
S117c: Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) in Chemistry: Design, Implementation, and Assessment Across the Curriculum
Theme: CURE in Upper-divisionCourse-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) are
increasingly recognized as a powerful mechanism for centering authentic
scientific practices within the chemistry curriculum. By embedding
genuine, discovery-driven research into coursework, CUREs expand access
to high-impact learning opportunities and foster the development of
scientific identity, research skills, and persistence in STEM. This
symposium brings together chemistry educators, researchers, and program
leaders to showcase innovative approaches to designing, implementing,
assessing, and sustaining CUREs across the full spectrum of the
undergraduate chemistry curriculum, from introductory general and
non-major courses to advanced laboratory and capstone experiences.
The
session will highlight diverse CURE models, including modular,
semester-long, and interdisciplinary designs, with emphasis on
approaches that broaden participation across all levels, particularly in
the crucial first- and second-year courses where implementation
barriers are well-documented. Presentations will address practical and
pedagogical considerations such as scaffolding research skills, aligning
assessment with the iterative nature of research, developing
institutional support structures, and integrating programmatic
assessment to demonstrate the impact and value of CURE-based
instruction. Contributors are encouraged to share evidence-based
practices, lessons learned, challenges encountered, and strategies for
sustainable implementation in various institutional contexts, including
high schools, community colleges, four-year institutions, and research
universities.
Aligning with the mission of the Council on
Undergraduate Research (cur.org) and the BCCE 2026 Conference Context of
Centering Authentic Phenomena and Practices, this symposium emphasizes
the transformative potential of CUREs to create inclusive, inquiry-rich
learning environments. By highlighting successes and emerging efforts
across the chemistry curriculum, the session aims to build community,
support cross-institutional collaboration, and inspire educators to
adopt and adapt CUREs that expand equitable access to authentic research
experiences for all students.
S55c: Putting Chemistry Education Research into Practice
The results of chemistry education research provide a significant resource to inform scholarly teaching strategies and the design of instructional materials at both the high school and undergraduate levels. The goal of this symposium is to provide a forum for instructors wishing to learn about, adapt, and incorporate evidence-based materials and teaching strategies into their courses, with the goal of creating more effective learning environments. Presentations are expected to incorporate chemical education research findings into instructional practices.
We encourage a wide range of presentations, including data-driven descriptions of how chemical education research has informed scholarly instructional practices, descriptions of design challenges and constraints in implementing a research-based strategy or curriculum, and descriptions of collaborations between researchers and instructors (research-practice partnerships). This symposium is sponsored nominally by the DivCHED Chemistry Education Research Committee (CERC).
S109c: Engaging Students in Organic Chemistry – Present and Future Directions in the Classroom
Engaging students effectively in organic chemistry is a critical task as the course material covered in the two-semester undergraduate sequence is foundational for upper-level science courses. With an emphasis on scholarly teaching practices, we invite presentations that highlight creative strategies that enhance student learning in the undergraduate organic chemistry courses. We welcome presentations that showcase the implementation of novel activities, pedagogical models, and non-traditional assessment practices.
Presentations that explore emerging opportunities such as incorporation of AI, combating online cheating, integration of technology, open education resources (OER), addressing students’ post-COVID preparation, and innovative laboratory experiments synergistic with the lecture content are encouraged. Furthermore, presentations that critically examine conventional teaching practices and highlight the implementation of alternative learner-centered pedagogical approaches would be valuable in fostering a productive dialog among the participants. Finally, since organic chemistry fundamentals form the bedrock of many allied disciplines, presentations that discuss the applications of organic chemistry to medicinal chemistry, materials science, polymer chemistry, green chemistry, and other upper-level courses are also welcome.
S283a: Biochemistry Education: Conversations on the Lecture Learning Environment
Biochemistry is a unique subdiscipline of chemistry since its home department, background of instructor, available instrumentation, and material covered in prerequisite courses can vary. This can lead to undergraduate courses with a diversity of content and learning goals. This symposium will focus on teaching biochemistry in a lecture learning environment.
Speakers are invited to share their approach to teaching biochemistry, as well as, if and how their courses align with the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) accreditation standards. We especially welcome those who integrate active learning pedagogies and diverse and inclusive classrooms into their curriculum. We also encourage speakers to include results from some form of assessment, e.g.
surveys, exam questions, and/or student interviews, in their presentations. The hope is that a shared dialog will help those who are reevaluating their curricular content to identify commonalities that should appear in an undergraduate biochemistry curriculum.
S347c: Beyond Algorithmic Problem-Solving: Fostering Metacognitive Practices to Improve Conceptual Understanding in Chemistry
Chemistry students often succeed at solving problems through memorized algorithms while lacking deep conceptual understanding. This symposium addresses this challenge by convening educators and researchers to explore how we can better assess and foster metacognitive practices that support meaningful learning in chemistry.
Aligned with the Engaging in Scholarly Teaching Conference Context, the session promotes evidence-based dialogue between practitioners and researchers. Participants will explore methods for distinguishing algorithmic performance from conceptual mastery, share strategies for making student thinking visible, and present practical interventions that encourage reflection, self-assessment, and knowledge transfer.
Spanning multiple subdisciplines, the symposium will feature contributions from instructors using active learning strategies to help students evaluate their own understanding. Topics may include assessing conceptual understanding, designing activities that promote critical thinking, and measuring the impact of metacognitive practices in chemistry education.
By fostering shared experiences and collaborative problem-solving, this symposium is designed to support educators in preparing students who not only solve problems—but who understand why their solutions work. Students who think like chemists, not just calculate like them.
S138a: Pathways to Engaging in Research and Practice with Alternative Grading Systems
Employing alternative grading systems (AGS) is revolutionizing educators’ approach to STEM education. With a shift away from conventional grading systems that reward students for quick adaptation and compliance, AGS are increasingly redefining the nature of assessments, educator-learner relationships, and accessibility of learning. AGS encompass a variety of grading approaches (e.g., specifications grading, standards-based grading) that decenter the role of points and performance on individual assignments to (re)design grading structures that embrace clearly defined standards, helpful and timely feedback, marks that indicate student progress, and opportunities for reattempts without penalty (Talbert & Clark, 2023).
This symposium will highlight the stories of educators as they reflect on their journey towards AGS across multiple subdisciplines of chemistry. Presenters are invited to share the (re)design of curricula with AGS approaches and empirical data on assessing students’ knowledge and perspectives using evidence-based teaching practices. This symposium will showcase both talks and distillations to explore AGS from multiple perspectives (i.e., research and practice).
Presenters are encouraged to contribute to the development of an AGS community of practice by sharing accessible resources that support their implementation of AGS in their courses. Attendees will explore a variety of AGS approaches with evidence-based scholarly findings to assess the “pros and cons” of AGS in chemistry education.
S68b: From Assistants to Agents of Change: Advancing Graduate Teaching Professional Development and Scholarship
Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are crucial for teaching chemistry courses at large research institutions. GTAs are uniquely situated in their career – they must balance research, coursework, and teaching. However, university culture tends to prioritize graduate students’ research productivity, often at the expense of their teaching.
Thus, GTA professional development tends to be confined as brief orientations with little room for collaboration, reflective inquiry, and long-term instructional growth. To advance Engagement in Scholarly Teaching, our symposium invites presentations that explore and demonstrate new insights about GTA professional development and scholarship. Actively engaging GTAs in reformed-based instructional strategies that are both equitable and effective are essential for enhancing students’ retention, matriculation, and STEM trajectories.
This symposium invites discussions about GTA experiences being at the intersection of a student, researcher, and instructor. In alignment with key intersectional attributes, we intend to invite researchers and practitioners to present novel (a) data- or theory-driven professional development practices, (b) research that leverages and amplifies GTA voices in professional development, or (c) evaluations of GTA professional development programs that challenge conventional environments. These presentations that meld research and practice promote ongoing GTA professional development efforts and catalyze discussions on how GTAs can be positioned as pedagogical knowledge constructors and agents of change
S350a: Celebrating the Career and Contributions of John Moore
As the chemistry education community gathers to reflect back and prepare to march forward, it is an apt time to celebrate the career of John Moore, which has been devoted to creating, evaluating and disseminating better tools and processes by which students can learn chemistry. John’s accomplishments span three main sectors: finding new and effective ways to teach chemistry, such as using emerging technology or including environmental chemistry; outreach efforts, such as creating accessible materials for other chemistry educators to use and workshops for teachers; and national and international leadership, such as his 13-year editorship of the Journal of Chemical Education. John led the NSF-sponsored New Traditions curriculum project, which brought more active-learning methods to the undergraduate curriculum. As director of the Institute for Chemical Education, he expanded the Institute’s activities to include kits and publications that for three decades were distributed throughout the world, increased the number of themes that guided its summer Chemistry Camps, and developed new summer workshops for college, high school, middle school, and early elementary school teachers. As a textbook author John co-authored (with Elizabeth Moore) a pioneering environmental chemistry book, a graduate-level kinetics book, and three general chemistry texts. As editor of the JCE, he enhanced offerings for high school teachers, initiated a column on chemical education research, initiated online publication and digitization of all back issues, and was receptive to a broad range of inputs from the chemical education community the Journal serves.
This session will include tributes and work from many of the chemistry educators John Moore has influenced over his career.
W366: Open Pedagogy in Practice: Create a Renewable Assignment using The Forge
This hands-on workshop introduces chemistry faculty new to Open Educational Resources (OER) and Open Pedagogy (OP) to foundational principles and practices for implementing open approaches to teaching and learning. The session focuses on designing “renewable assignments,” in which student learning activities result in openly licensed educational resources that can be shared and reused by future cohorts. Participants will work in course-specific tracks to develop and prototype usable assets, such as student-generated interactive problem sets, conceptual video explanations, and adaptable, low-cost laboratory procedures, supporting both reduced reliance on proprietary materials and increased student engagement.
The workshop includes examples of Open Pedagogy assignments across disciplines, including general, physical, and analytical chemistry, illustrating features such as co-creation, ongoing revision, and contribution to public platforms. Faculty new to Open Pedagogy are encouraged to attend. The session also introduces The Forge, the LibreTexts co-creation platform, and provides guidance on using it to develop and share instructional materials.
Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W313: Educating Students about Careers as Chemical Technical Professionals
This workshop introduces educators to resources that support chemistry students pursuing careers in the Skilled Technical Workforce (STW), defined as STEM careers requiring specialized training but not four-year degrees. The session is designed for secondary chemistry teachers and two-year community college instructors. Participants will explore materials from the American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT) and the American Chemical Society’s Skilled Technical Workforce initiative, including the Chemical Technical Professionals collection available through teachchemistry.org.
These resources include videos, laboratories, and lesson plans that highlight careers requiring associate degrees or technical certifications. Participants will engage in hands-on experiments from the collection, such as a Vinegar Quality Control laboratory activity involving acid–base titrations to verify product specifications and a Recycling Copper from E-Waste activity using electrolysis to recover copper. The workshop supports efforts to broaden students’ career awareness while reinforcing fundamental chemistry concepts through authentic, industry-relevant applications.
Participants will leave with practical materials for immediate implementation, including lesson plans, safety protocols, and student handouts that demonstrate connections between chemistry content and technical workforce opportunities.
W146: Open-Source Hardware in the Chemistry Teaching Lab
Chemists rely on a wide array of tools for chemical synthesis and characterization, and instructional laboratories devote significant time to helping students learn to use these tools and interpret the resulting data. This workshop introduces the growing movement toward open-source hardware designed by and for scientists and explores its potential for chemistry teaching laboratories. Open hardware offers several advantages in instructional settings, including lower cost, simplified and customizable interfaces, full documentation, and flexible, interoperable designs that can support creative and engaging learning experiences.
Participants will consider multiple approaches for incorporating open hardware into their teaching, depending on instructional goals. These include customizing interfaces to align with specific experiments, sharing design documentation to support student understanding, and engaging students in building hardware or connecting components to create multifunctional systems. Attendees will explore strategies for integrating open hardware into laboratory instruction and consider how these approaches can support student learning and engagement.
W280: Developing assessments to emphasize 21st century skills
As the use of generative AI expands, there is increasing need to shift assessment toward what students can do with their knowledge rather than recall and routine calculation. Employers consistently emphasize skills such as critical thinking and complex problem solving, yet these competencies are often not well defined, making it difficult to gather meaningful evidence of student ability. This workshop uses the Scientific Practices described in A Framework for K–12 Science Education as a proxy for these workforce skills to guide the development of assessments.
Participants will work in groups using a modified version of evidence-centered design to develop assessment tasks that incorporate scientific practices, including model construction, explanation and argumentation, and analysis and interpretation of data, across both open-ended and multiple-choice formats. Criteria from the Three-Dimensional Learning Assessment Protocol (3D-LAP), along with evidence statements generated during the activity, will be used to develop coding and grading schemes for these tasks. Participants will receive a copy of the 3D-LAP and develop a working knowledge of how to design and use assessment tasks that elicit 21st century skills.
W99: Using Video Game Software (Unity) to Animate 3D Organic Reaction Mechanisms
This workshop introduces participants to using Unity’s built-in animation features to create three-dimensional representations of organic reaction mechanisms. Unity is a professional video game engine that is available free of charge for educational use. The session draws on the workshop leader’s experience using Unity to develop chemistry games and simulations, many of which are available at InteractiveChemistry.org.
Participants will work through the Fischer esterification reaction as a model for developing animations within the Unity environment. The workshop also explores how animations can be shared with students and colleagues through WebGL builds that run in standard web browsers. Attendees will gain experience with the animation workflow and consider how these tools can be applied to support teaching and learning in organic chemistry.
W330: The POGIL Project Workshop: Development and Implementation of Guided Inquiry Experiments for Physical Chemistry
The NSF-funded POGIL-PCL project applies the principles of Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) to improve student learning in the physical chemistry laboratory course. These principles are used to develop inquiry-based experiments that emphasize both macroscopic and molecular models of chemical phenomena. The project aims to provide a wide range of physical chemistry experiments, along with training materials and practitioner support, enabling instructors to assess their needs and resources and select from a variety of turn-key experiments that support student learning.
This workshop introduces the structure of a POGIL physical chemistry experiment through a classroom-tested, hands-on example, allowing participants to experience the POGIL-PCL approach from the student perspective while examining features of effective guided inquiry experiments. Participants will also discuss how to apply POGIL-PCL principles to develop new experiments, adapt existing laboratory activities, and engage further with the POGIL-PCL project.
W189: Preparing Application Materials and Navigating Academic Job Searches
This workshop, led by members of the Early-Career Chemistry Education Scholars (ECCES) community and distinguished leaders in the field, provides graduate students with practical guidance for navigating the academic job search. Participants will learn how to identify relevant job postings, craft compelling cover letters, and develop strong research and teaching statements. The session will also cover strategies for preparing for interviews and presenting oneself effectively to hiring committees.
Through examples, discussion, and hands-on advice, attendees will gain actionable tools and insights to create application materials that highlight their experience, skills, and potential, helping them approach the job search with confidence and clarity.To increase access to the workshop, the committee is offering the workshop at a reduced cost of $5. Use promo code ECCES2026 to receive this discounted registration rate.
W244: Connecting Chemistry Concepts Through a Single Scenario: A Hands-On, Integrated Approach for General Chemistry Sequence
This workshop introduces an instructional approach that uses a single chemical phenomenon or demonstration to conceptually link foundational topics across a general chemistry course or sequence. Example contexts include reactions such as a metal reacting with hydrochloric acid as well as real-world scenarios such as swimming pool maintenance and water quality testing. Participants will engage in hands-on demonstrations using common laboratory materials to collect, analyze, and interpret data while exploring connections among core topics including stoichiometry, thermodynamics, gas laws, and molecular polarity.
Contextualized data collection in water quality testing and swimming pool chemistry further supports connections to acid–base chemistry, equilibrium, and kinetics. These activities also support the development of scientific reasoning and highlight the relevance of chemistry. Participants will conduct experiments, respond to prompts, and engage in discussion of instructional design implications.
Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W311: Computational Chemistry in the Classroom
Implementing computational chemistry in undergraduate and high school classrooms remains challenging for chemical educators at all levels. Organized by the MoleCVUE consortium, this workshop provides participants with tools and experience to support the integration of computational chemistry activities into their curricula. Participants will engage in computer-based demonstrations and hands-on exercises using WebMO, a free, web-based interface for performing computational chemistry calculations without the need for additional hardware or software.
Participants will learn how to set up calculations, submit computations, and visualize and interpret results. Facilitators will provide example activities spanning chemical subfields, including organic, physical, and inorganic chemistry, and will address practical considerations for implementing computational chemistry in classroom settings. The workshop includes a question-and-answer session with WebMO experts.
Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W345: Mentorship That Matters: A Practical Guide for Advancing Undergraduate Researchers
Researchers are often not formally trained for the critical role they play in mentoring the next generation of scientists. Grounded in the training program developed by the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) and adopted by the National Research Mentoring Network, this workshop focuses on developing effective mentoring practices for undergraduate researchers. Through case studies, structured activities, and group discussions, participants will explore strategies for building productive mentoring relationships.
Topics include articulating expectations for mentoring relationships, communicating effectively with trainees, and supporting the professional development of novice researchers, as well as approaches for assessing trainee understanding, fostering independence and self-efficacy, and promoting continued mentorship. Attendees will engage with concrete mentoring scenarios and leave with approaches they can apply in their own research settings.
Time Slot: 10:30 AM - 11:40 AM
S69c: Teaching Data-Driven Approaches in Chemistry
Data-driven approaches are becoming more important in all disciplines of chemistry, including those which did not previously emphasize these approaches. While machine learning and AI are perhaps the most highlighted, data-driven approaches encompass a wide range of topics, including AI, ML, chemometrics/cheminformatics, internet of things, and virtual and extended reality, and require that students develop a wide range of skills, including data management, visualization, programming, and high-performance computing. This symposium aims to bring together chemical educators from all disciplines of chemistry who want to share ideas, best practices, and resources for teaching students data-driven approaches in chemistry.
We welcome submissions that discuss particular activities or resources or larger-scale curricular or program innovations. Innovations could include implementing new lectures, experiments, labs or course-based research activities in existing chemistry courses or the development of new courses. This symposium is sponsored nominally by the CHED Committee on Computing in Chemical Education, which seeks to encourage and support the development, implementation, and assessment of computing and data-driven technologies in chemical education.
The overall objective of the symposium is to provide educators and developers the opportunity to learn about cutting-edge technologies and to share their resources and experiences with each other.
S154b: Building Bonds: Fostering a Sense of Belonging in Large-Enrollment Chemistry Courses
Affective measures, such as social belonging, have been demonstrated to impact students’ performance and retention in undergraduate chemistry courses, as well as in chemistry as a field. Enrollment in general and organic chemistry courses continues to increase both in the number of students and the various identities and backgrounds of students. In addition to the historically challenging content of chemistry courses, the size of large-enrollment chemistry courses poses an additional challenge to the sense of belonging for students, particularly those from historically underrepresented identities and backgrounds.
Educators seeking to support their students must continue to find innovative ways to overcome these difficulties. This symposium aims to serve as a medium for the community to share strategies for creating an inclusive classroom environment and promoting students’ belonging in large enrollment courses. Of particular interest are novel approaches to promote belonging that incorporate technology, social media, or auxiliary educators (e.g., teaching assistants, supplemental instruction, learning assistants, peer-led team learning, etc.).
Although general chemistry and organic chemistry are commonly known large-enrollment courses, presenters focused on any large-enrollment undergraduate chemistry lecture or lab course (e.g., physical chemistry, biochemistry, etc.) are welcome to submit abstracts.
Time Slot: 12:00 PM - 03:30 PM
Monday Afternoon Exhibition Prime Time
Time Slot: 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM
B675: Taking Flight: Elevating Your Science Communication Skills
In an era where scientific information competes with noise, helping students communicate science with clarity, creativity, and impact is more important than ever. Taking Flight: Elevating Your Science Communication Skills offers an engaging, collaborative space for educators who want to equip students with the ability to translate complex scientific topics into accessible, compelling narratives for general audiences.
The session centers on strategies that help learners move their audiences from “Wait, what?” to authentic “Ah‑ha!” moments.
B1164: Chemistry for Non-Traditional College Students: Teaching and Access Needs for Adult Learners
This Birds of a Feather session invites chemistry educators, researchers, and advocates working with non-traditional chemistry students to gather informally and share experiences. Guiding questions will include: What structural and educational barriers do our students face that traditional undergraduate programs were not designed to address? How are we adapting chemistry content, laboratory design, and course structures to serve learners who bring diverse prior experiences with them? What does accessibility – including socioeconomic equity, disability inclusion, linguistic diversity – look like in these programs?
Audience: This session is intended for anyone who works with or is curious about adult learners, career changers, or otherwise non-traditional pathways into chemistry and pre-health pathways. This can include community college instructors who teach returning students, post-bacc faculty and staff, researchers interested in non-traditional student populations in STEM, and disability advocates working in chemistry education. No prior familiarity with post-bacc programs is necessary; the goal is to find one another, share what we know, and identify where collaboration or future research might grow.
Format Note: The session will open with brief round-robin introductions, followed by structured small-group discussion around 2-3 guiding questions, and close with a large-group share-out. A shared notes document will be available for participants who want to stay connected after the conference.
B1460: Beyond “Adding Activities”: Making Active Learning Purposeful in General and Organic Chemistry
Active learning is widely recommended in chemistry education, yet instructors often report uncertainty about how to implement it in ways that meaningfully support student learning rather than simply increasing engagement. Questions persist about how to design activities that reinforce core concepts, promote analytical thinking, and fit within real-world instructional constraints such as class size, time, and curriculum requirements.
This structured Birds-of-a-Feather session will facilitate discussion among chemistry educators interested in active learning in general chemistry and organic chemistry. The focus will be on shared experiences and collective problem-solving. Guiding questions may include: What distinguishes purposeful active learning from “activity for activity’s sake”? How can games and structured classroom activities support conceptual understanding and reasoning? What challenges arise when implementing active learning across different institutional contexts, and how have instructors addressed them?
The session is well suited for instructors new to active learning as well as those with experience who are seeking to refine their approaches. Participants will be encouraged to share successes, frustrations, and open questions, building a broader picture of how active learning can be aligned with instructional goals in chemistry courses. The goal is to foster dialogue, connection, and shared sense-making around effective, sustainable active-learning practices.
B486: Decolonizing Chemical Education: What Does It Mean? What Will It Take? Is It Possible?
As the chemical education community reckons with embedded institutional discrimination against BIPOC, the next question concerns how to stop, repair, and prevent such harm. Unpacking the ways that chemical science recreates harm reveals parallels with colonial logics critiqued by Black and Indigenous scholars. This includes both the classroom experiences of BIPOC students and the impacts of chemical enterprise on BIPOC communities (as environmental violence is mainly inflicted on marginalized peoples).
Decolonizing chemical education thus refers to two interrelated tasks of racial and environmental justice: (1) dismantling and replacing narratives of “deficiency” to support student learning and career outcomes and (2) positioning chemical education to recognize and mitigate environmental injustice. In this session, we will explore Black and Indigenous scholars’ work in the social sciences and humanities to glean strategies for making chemical education responsive to societal needs and challenging its air of inevitability, stasis, and neutrality. Further, communities facing immediate environmental consequences rightfully decry the confinement of academics’ work to the “ivory tower” and, as Greg Tate put it, ‘safeguarding social inertia by participating in an illusion’ of reform.
(How) can we invent decolonial chemical science and translate it to industry? How do we identify and thwart what Eve Tuck calls ‘damage-centered narratives’ (i.e., putting issues students face squarely on their shoulders, ignoring the power structures causing them)? How can we illuminate the historical and political contexts that chemical science originates from?
How do we expose the chemical industry’s colonial foundations, empowering us to achieve environmental justice? (How) can Indigenous thought frameworks like ‘ethical relationality’ (described by Dwayne Donald and Zoe Todd) help us reinscribe chemical theory and reimagine its practice? This session hopes to create space for those seeking to consider deeply the scope of chemical science as a knowledge system and break disciplinary boundaries to spark meaningful change.
B1071: Building Community Science in Chemistry Education: How H2O Q Connects Professionals, Students, and Local Watersheds
H2O Q is a place-based water-quality monitoring initiative developed by the ACS Midland Local Section where grade 7–12 students and teachers measure real environmental parameters using a purpose-built field-testing kit and contribute their results to a shared regional ArcGIS database. It is a simple idea with stewardship potential, but making it work across middle and high school classrooms, university students, and industry partner volunteers is harder than it looks.
Come talk with us about what it takes to build and sustain that kind of multi-level community. We will dig into two connected challenges: how do we meaningfully engage university students and industry professionals in grade 7–12 classrooms, and how can that engagement be framed as STEM pipeline development rather than just a volunteer opportunity? Corporations are increasingly recognizing the value of this kind of community investment, and there is real momentum to tap. So how do we keep these networks alive when the grant ends, the semester turns over, or the champion teacher moves on? Could this model work in your watershed?
If you have tried something like this, struggled with it, or are just starting to think about it, this is the conversation for you.
Time Slot: 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Monday Tours of UW–Madison’s New Teaching Facilities
The Department of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison recently completed a major building project that reimagines undergraduate chemistry teaching and learning. Decades-old instructional spaces no longer aligned with contemporary safety standards, enrollment demands, or evidence-based teaching practices. The new instructional tower and renovated spaces were designed to address these challenges while creating a more modern, flexible, and student-centered learning environment.
This will be a guided tour of the updated instructional facilities, including modern teaching laboratories that meet modern safety expectations, flexible lecture halls and classrooms designed for active and collaborative learning, and accessible student-support spaces that promote community and academic success.
The session will also create space for discussion about the design principles that shaped the project, including lab modernization, safety infrastructure, active-learning classroom design, and strategies for supporting high-enrollment chemistry programs.
This session will be of interest to colleagues considering facilities renovations, new construction, lab redesign, or other efforts to align physical space with contemporary chemistry education goals.
B458: Small Changes with a Big Impact: Personalizing Large-sized General Chemistry Classroom
In this structured conversation we will gather to discuss and share ideas for how we can make teaching introductory-level chemistry to large classes personal, engaging, and inspiring. To spark conversations, we will share small changes made in our classes that have led to big impacts in student learning and engagement.
Then, through round table discussions, participants will share their experiences and come away with new-to-them tools to use in the new semester.
B676: Incorporating Computation and Programming Instruction in Chemistry Courses: Challenges and Solutions!
Have you ever wanted to try teaching computation or programming in your chemistry class but just haven’t known where to begin? Or have you been teaching programming for a while now, but find you’re running into issues with a specific concept or assignment?
Join colleagues from the Molecular Science Software Institute (MolSSI) Accelerating Curricular Transformation in the Computational Molecular Sciences (ACT-CMS) program for a structured conversation on ways to incorporate programming and computation into your classroom!
This session is open to anyone who is interested in teaching computation and programming in their chemistry classes! No prior experience necessary!
In this structured conversation, we will begin by identifying and discussing some of the initial barriers and continuing challenges instructors encounter when trying to include computation and programming instruction into their courses. Current ACT-CMS Fellows will then share some examples of challenges that they’ve faced and solutions that have worked in their own courses, including the lesson plans they’ve created (available on the ACT-CMS Lesson Portal). Based on these examples, participants will devise and discuss solutions to their own specific challenges described earlier in the session.
Guiding questions:
Part 1
- Why are you interested in teaching computation and/or programming in your chemistry course?
- What barriers have you encountered that have limited your ability to get started with computation and/or programming?
- What challenges have you faced or are you currently facing when teaching computation and/or programming?
Part 2
- How do the ACT-CMS examples relate to the issues you are currently experiencing?
- What are some potential solutions for overcoming the barriers and challenges you thought of in the first part of the discussion?
- What remaining questions do you have about teaching computation and programming?
B1457: Overcoming Pain Points in Organic Chemistry Education
Organic chemistry instructors frequently express concern that students rely on memorization rather than conceptual understanding and analytical reasoning. Despite broad agreement that skills such as pattern recognition, mechanistic reasoning, and transfer of core concepts are central to organic chemistry learning, there is less consensus about how these skills should be defined, emphasized, and assessed across courses and institutions.
This Birds-of-a-Feather session will bring together instructors interested in discussing how we identify and prioritize “core concepts” and analytical skills in organic chemistry, and how those priorities shape instructional and curricular decisions. The session will facilitate a structured conversation around shared challenges and guiding questions, such as: What analytical skills do we most want students to develop? How do we balance conceptual depth with content coverage? Where do students most commonly struggle to apply ideas across reactions or topics? How do course structures, assessments, and instructional constraints support—or undermine—these goals?
The session is intended for organic chemistry instructors at the high school, undergraduate, and professional-preparatory levels, as well as chemistry education researchers interested in learning outcomes and skill development. Participants will have opportunities to share experiences, compare approaches, and collectively reflect on how we might better align our teaching practices with the intellectual work we want students to be able to do.
B1479: Re-imagining Chemistry Ethics Knowledge Assessment: Building a Consultative Culture Through Community Engagement in Ethics Education and Assessment Knowledge Practice
It is important for people to be able to understand that ethical frameworks and theories are shaped from cultural influences and mindsets. When students and their teachers practice thinking about ethical scenarios from ethical theories and perspectives together, they will be better equipped for consultative processes to address ethical dilemmas that may arise.
An ethics scenario writing template to help educators design test items intended to measure progression of chemistry students’ knowledge of ethics is being developed by a collaborative team. During the ethics workshop at BCCE 2024, the addition of theoretical frameworks and theories of ethics were added to the template. The guiding questions for this structured community conversation include:
- Which theoretical frameworks and theories of ethics are most important for ethics education in the chemistry education community?
- When educators practice thinking about the assessment of chemistry students’ knowledge of ethics through ethical theories and perspectives together, are they building a consultative culture of engagement?
*All are invited to collaborate and consult in this community conversation that is synergistic with the larger goal of developing standards for ethics through consultative processes.
B996: Best Practices, Pitfalls, and Practical Strategies—Exploring Alternative Grading Systems in Undergraduate Chemistry
As interest grows in creating more equitable, transparent, and learning‑centered assessment practices, many chemistry instructors are shifting away from traditional points‑based grading. Approaches such as mastery learning, standards‑based grading (SBG), and competency‑based grading (CBG) offer promising alternatives—but they also raise questions about implementation, workload, student buy‑in, and alignment with existing departmental structures. This conversation invites participants to share experiences, challenges, and successes with alternative grading systems in undergraduate chemistry courses of all sizes and levels.
This session will begin with a brief framing of the core principles behind alternative grading approaches, highlighting common elements such as clearly defined learning objectives, opportunities for revision, and an emphasis on demonstrated understanding over point accumulation. From there, the conversation will focus on practical issues faculty encounter when adopting these systems. Topics may include designing meaningful learning targets, creating effective reassessment policies, managing grading logistics, and supporting student engagement and motivation.
Participants with experience using alternative grading will be encouraged to share concrete strategies, cautionary tales, and lessons learned, while those who are exploring these systems will be able to ask questions and discuss what works from current practitioners. The goal of this session is not to prescribe a single “best” model but to build a community of practice grounded in the experiences of chemistry educators using these models. Our wish is that attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of the advantages and limitations of various grading frameworks, as well as practical next steps for experimenting with or refining alternative assessment practices in their own courses.
Time Slot: 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM
Monday Data & Dessert
Monday Data & Dessert Menu
- UW–Madison's Babcock ice cream cups
- Italian ices
- soda
- sparkling water
- water
(subject to minor changes)
Poster Session: Tripp Commons (Interactive)
This poster session provides a dedicated opportunity for presenters and attendees to engage in extended, in-depth conversation. During the scheduled session time, presenters are expected to be at their posters to discuss their work, answer questions, and interact with participants.
Attendees are encouraged to move freely among posters and locations, explore a range of topics, and engage directly with presenters. This format supports rich dialogue, networking, and the exchange of ideas within the community.
Poster Session: Main Lounge (Interactive)
This poster session provides a dedicated opportunity for presenters and attendees to engage in extended, in-depth conversation. During the scheduled session time, presenters are expected to be at their posters to discuss their work, answer questions, and interact with participants.
Attendees are encouraged to move freely among posters and locations, explore a range of topics, and engage directly with presenters. This format supports rich dialogue, networking, and the exchange of ideas within the community.
Poster Session: Great Hall (Interactive)
This poster session provides a dedicated opportunity for presenters and attendees to engage in extended, in-depth conversation. During the scheduled session time, presenters are expected to be at their posters to discuss their work, answer questions, and interact with participants.
Attendees are encouraged to move freely among posters and locations, explore a range of topics, and engage directly with presenters. This format supports rich dialogue, networking, and the exchange of ideas within the community.
Poster Session: Multicultural Greek Council (Interactive)
This poster session provides a dedicated opportunity for presenters and attendees to engage in extended, in-depth conversation. During the scheduled session time, presenters are expected to be at their posters to discuss their work, answer questions, and interact with participants.
Attendees are encouraged to move freely among posters and locations, explore a range of topics, and engage directly with presenters. This format supports rich dialogue, networking, and the exchange of ideas within the community.
Time Slot: 03:30 PM - 05:30 PM
Monday Afternoon Exhibition Open
Time Slot: 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
S279c: Catalyzing Innovations in Chemistry Education Research: Harnessing the Power of Machine Learning and Generative AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the landscape of education, with machine learning, natural language processing, and generative AI opening new possibilities for research. In chemistry education, these technologies offer powerful tools for analyzing complex learning processes—for example, by classifying or quantifying open-ended student responses to assess conceptual understanding or reasoning.
This symposium spotlights how AI-based methods are being applied to advance chemistry education research. We invite contributions that investigate or develop innovative educational approaches using machine learning, natural language processing, or generative AI. Submissions may include, but are not limited to: 1) The development of advanced AI models that automatically evaluate students’ reasoning, 2) the implementation of AI tools in research settings, 3) the analysis of learning and teaching interactions shaped by AI applications, 4) the replication of research findings across educational settings using AI methods, and 5) conceptual/theoretical work that sets community norms for valid, equitable uses of AI in chemistry education and research. We also welcome submissions that incorporate learning analytics or explore the intersection of AI and pedagogical design. Submissions may include empirical studies, methodological innovations, design-based research, or critical/ethical analyses. We especially welcome work that engages students as partners, reports negative or mixed results, and surfaces system-level affordances and constraints.
By convening researchers and practitioners, this symposium aims to highlight the achievements of AI-enhanced chemistry education research, uncover emerging methodological opportunities, and outline promising directions for future research while providing practical examples of how these tools can inform assessment, personalize learning, and enhance instructional design. By fostering dialogue around the integration of AI, we seek to support the broader community in leveraging these tools to better understand and analyze student learning—while critically reflecting on their benefits and limitations.
S69d: Teaching Data-Driven Chemistry Approaches in Chemistry
Data-driven approaches are becoming more important in all disciplines of chemistry, including those which did not previously emphasize these approaches. While machine learning and AI are perhaps the most highlighted, data-driven approaches encompass a wide range of topics, including AI, ML, chemometrics/cheminformatics, internet of things, and virtual and extended reality, and require that students develop a wide range of skills, including data management, visualization, programming, and high-performance computing. This symposium aims to bring together chemical educators from all disciplines of chemistry who want to share ideas, best practices, and resources for teaching students data-driven approaches in chemistry.
We welcome submissions that discuss particular activities or resources or larger-scale curricular or program innovations. Innovations could include implementing new lectures, experiments, labs or course-based research activities in existing chemistry courses or the development of new courses. This symposium is sponsored nominally by the CHED Committee on Computing in Chemical Education, which seeks to encourage and support the development, implementation, and assessment of computing and data-driven technologies in chemical education.
The overall objective of the symposium is to provide educators and developers the opportunity to learn about cutting-edge technologies and to share their resources and experiences with each other.
S57d: Improving Your Teaching and Research Through Communities of Practice Participation: Find, Join, Build, and Sustain
A key catalyst for promoting successful teaching and research strategies and improved student learning is participation in a community of practice, i.e. educators supporting each other as they develop and sustain the adoption of new teaching and assessment practices, and support undergraduate research.
Communities of practice now exist for all of the broad content areas of chemistry in postsecondary education contexts, including lecture-based and instructional laboratory courses and undergraduate research. These communities provide curricular resources, learning activities, professional development opportunities, in-person and virtual conferences, research collaborations, and means for sharing, asking questions, and obtaining support for adopting innovative teaching and learning practices.
This symposium has two foci: 1) an introduction to communities of practice, their offerings, and how to get involved; and, 2) a venue for leaders of communities of practice to share their best practices, opportunities for improvement, and visionary outlooks for their community.
An overarching goal of this symposium is to create a space for educators to become active participants in a community of practice as members and leaders. The symposium will include talks to highlight the benefits of communities of practice and the challenges to building and sustaining these communities. Distillations will be used to broadly share the activities of communities of practice across the chemistry community and to provide participants with an opportunity to share ideas for new communities.
S256b: Exploring the Intersection of Secondary and Post-Secondary Communities and Partnerships
Effective chemistry education is enhanced through a strong sense of community, which often leads to collaborations. As communities and partnerships involving secondary and post-secondary educators can often go unnoticed, we aim to highlight examples in the hope that learning about such collaborations might lead attendees to seek others.
This symposium examines different ways secondary teachers engage in formal and informal partnerships and professional networks. Presenters may describe activities, practices, and insights gained through specific collaborations or communities; opportunities for developing or expanding professional networks; mutual benefits gained from partnerships across levels, such as secondary/post-secondary or industry/education; or other features or benefits of successful collaborations.
S284c: Innovations, Practices, and Challenges in Large Laboratory Courses
Large-enrollment laboratory courses face unique challenges in administration, pedagogy, and assessment. As the number of students approaches or exceeds 100 people, the faculty and staff administrating these labs face similar challenges. These challenges include, but are not limited to, the design and development of effective instructional materials, evaluation of student learning using new grading systems and/or assessments, and preparing Teaching Assistants to be successful in their role.
This symposium aims to provide a space for the directors of large laboratory courses (both researchers and practitioners) to share their creative approaches to laboratory curriculum, structure, instruction, and execution of their courses as a community of practice. Contributions are encouraged from all types of institutions and laboratory courses including introductory, general, organic, and biochemistry. Discussions of the successful implementation of new ideas, as well as lessons learned from not-so-successful ones, are welcome.
S45c: Integrating Green Chemistry and Sustainability into Chemistry Education
This symposium will highlight the incorporation of green chemistry and sustainability principles throughout the chemistry curriculum as well as through co-curricular activities such as clubs, organizations, and service-learning opportunities. The focus will be on green chemistry and sustainability materials, and models rooted in the Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry that are designed to educate high school, community college, four-year college, and graduate students.
These materials will include classroom teaching modules/courses, learning methods, educational research, laboratory experiments and experiences, the integration of toxicology into the chemistry curriculum, and the use of systems-thinking.
S258c: Active Learning in Organic Chemistry: Rethinking Assessment
Active learning not only changes how students engage with organic chemistry, it challenges us to rethink the systems through which we measure and support that learning. This symposium focuses on assessment practices that move beyond traditional, high-stakes exams toward models emphasizing growth, transparency, inclusion and rethinking the systems that measure and support learning. Presentations may highlight mastery- or specifications-based grading systems that reward persistence and iteration; portfolio or project-based assessments that capture longitudinal learning; collaborative testing and peer review that build communication and metacognition; or oral, reflective, or authentic performance tasks that assess synthesis and reasoning rather than rote recall.
Both well-established and developing work are welcome, from classroom-tested systems supported by data to in-progress or exploratory designs seeking community feedback. Presenters should discuss the pedagogical rationale, implementation strategies, and observed or anticipated impact on student learning, skill development, engagement and motivation, or equity and belonging, supported by qualitative or quantitative evidence. Attendees will acquire adaptable frameworks and tools for creating assessments that honor students’ varied learning preferences and life contexts, promote equity, and align with active-learning environments to provide a more accurate measure of understanding and achievement in organic chemistry.
The session will emphasize dialogue and shared reflection, fostering a supportive community dedicated to transforming assessment culture in chemistry education.
S154c: Building Bonds: Fostering a Sense of Belonging in Large-Enrollment Chemistry Courses
Affective measures, such as social belonging, have been demonstrated to impact students’ performance and retention in undergraduate chemistry courses, as well as in chemistry as a field. Enrollment in general and organic chemistry courses continues to increase both in the number of students and the various identities and backgrounds of students. In addition to the historically challenging content of chemistry courses, the size of large-enrollment chemistry courses poses an additional challenge to the sense of belonging for students, particularly those from historically underrepresented identities and backgrounds.
Educators seeking to support their students must continue to find innovative ways to overcome these difficulties. This symposium aims to serve as a medium for the community to share strategies for creating an inclusive classroom environment and promoting students’ belonging in large enrollment courses. Of particular interest are novel approaches to promote belonging that incorporate technology, social media, or auxiliary educators (e.g., teaching assistants, supplemental instruction, learning assistants, peer-led team learning, etc.).
Although general chemistry and organic chemistry are commonly known large-enrollment courses, presenters focused on any large-enrollment undergraduate chemistry lecture or lab course (e.g., physical chemistry, biochemistry, etc.) are welcome to submit abstracts.
S129b: Expanding Mechanistic Reasoning Across Contexts: From Disciplinary Phenomena to Societally Relevant Problems
Mechanistic reasoning is a central scientific practice because it enables students to identify, describe, or analyze the underlying mechanisms of observed phenomena to predict or explain their outcomes. In doing so, mechanistic reasoning provides students with an authentic way to engage in scientific inquiry and make sense of the natural and engineered world.
Over the past two decades, research has explored how students engage in mechanistic reasoning, what instructional practices foster its development, and how instructors can effectively integrate it into teaching. Much is known about how students construct mechanistic reasoning within single domains, such as organic chemistry. However, research on mechanistic reasoning is evolving. It is moving beyond investigating students’ mechanistic reasoning within isolated phenomena toward exploring how students reason across multiple, conceptually related phenomena within a domain, and ultimately how they transfer mechanistic reasoning across disciplinary boundaries.
Engaging students in mechanistic reasoning within interdisciplinary or societally relevant contexts—such as sustainability, climate change, or energy conversion—has become increasingly important considering today’s pressing global challenges, which demand understanding and reasoning about complex mechanisms. Researching and supporting students’ mechanistic reasoning across such contexts has the potential to foster students’ engagement with crosscutting concepts, deepen their understanding of how scientific reasoning is used to generate evidence, and strengthen their capacity to evaluate information.
This symposium brings together data- and theory-driven perspectives on students’ mechanistic reasoning across contexts. The contributions could examine (1) how students construct and apply mechanistic reasoning within and across disciplinary boundaries, (2) how instructional designs can support transfer of mechanistic reasoning, and (3) how engaging with mechanistic reasoning in societally relevant contexts can foster authentic learning. Collectively, this symposium offers an overview of emerging research on students’ mechanistic reasoning in chemistry education and beyond.
S54a: Teaching Chemistry with Humanities-Informed Pedagogies
Humanities-informed pedagogies such as narrative, ethics, music, literature, creative writing, public humanities, foodways, or identity-centered storytelling can be incorporated into chemistry classes to help students understand chemical concepts. When implemented well, creative projects, labs and in-class activities that are grounded in human experience, creativity, cultural expression, and meaning-making can make chemistry less abstract and more relevant to the students. Classes can become more engaging and inclusive for students from diverse backgrounds and disciplines, while centering authentic human experience and encouraging students’ creativity in solving chemistry problems.
With a focus on pedagogies that use humanities to frame phenomena, rather than those centering on analyzing material artifacts, this symposium invites presentations from instructors who have creatively integrated humanities topics and activities into chemistry education. Presenters can share specific activities and learning outcomes that describe authentic phenomena such as real-world human experiences, community histories, cultural practices, and/or lived realities that students can use chemistry to make sense of. Talks in this symposium may describe an entire course, module, lab, or larger activity.
Smaller activities, early ideas, or in-progress insights are invited to be considered for distillations. This symposium will serve as an ad hoc community of practice by including time for discussion and conversation among presenters and attendees.
S157d: Bridging Pathways: Preparing Chemistry Students for Industry Careers and Graduate School Success
Theme: Identities, Confidence, and Aspirations of Future Chemists
Preparing students for life beyond the undergraduate classroom is a critical responsibility of chemistry educators and program leaders. The ACS Guidelines for Bachelor’s Degree Programs emphasize not only content knowledge but also skill development (particularly laboratory skills) alongside collaborative teamwork, problem-solving, and experiential learning. These competencies are essential for success in a wide range of post-graduate pathways, including careers in the private sector and advanced study in graduate or professional programs.
This symposium will explore strategies for embedding career and graduate school readiness into chemistry curricula and co-curricular experiences. One session of the symposium will focus on preparing students for industry careers with topics that could include highlighting evolving workforce needs, essential skills, and successful initiatives such as internships, co-ops, and partnerships with employers. The other session in this symposium will address graduate school preparation with topics showcasing approaches that integrate authentic disciplinary practices (i.e., research experiences, mentoring programs, and workshops) into course design and assessment.
We invite contributions from all institutional contexts that share student-centered strategies for helping chemistry students transition from academic training to professional and academic advancement.
S117d: Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) in Chemistry: Design, Implementation, and Assessment Across the Curriculum
Theme: CURE in Upper-division
Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) are
increasingly recognized as a powerful mechanism for centering authentic
scientific practices within the chemistry curriculum. By embedding
genuine, discovery-driven research into coursework, CUREs expand access
to high-impact learning opportunities and foster the development of
scientific identity, research skills, and persistence in STEM. This
symposium brings together chemistry educators, researchers, and program
leaders to showcase innovative approaches to designing, implementing,
assessing, and sustaining CUREs across the full spectrum of the
undergraduate chemistry curriculum, from introductory general and
non-major courses to advanced laboratory and capstone experiences.
The
session will highlight diverse CURE models, including modular,
semester-long, and interdisciplinary designs, with emphasis on
approaches that broaden participation across all levels, particularly in
the crucial first- and second-year courses where implementation
barriers are well-documented. Presentations will address practical and
pedagogical considerations such as scaffolding research skills, aligning
assessment with the iterative nature of research, developing
institutional support structures, and integrating programmatic
assessment to demonstrate the impact and value of CURE-based
instruction. Contributors are encouraged to share evidence-based
practices, lessons learned, challenges encountered, and strategies for
sustainable implementation in various institutional contexts, including
high schools, community colleges, four-year institutions, and research
universities.
Aligning with the mission of the Council on
Undergraduate Research (cur.org) and the BCCE 2026 Conference Context of
Centering Authentic Phenomena and Practices, this symposium emphasizes
the transformative potential of CUREs to create inclusive, inquiry-rich
learning environments. By highlighting successes and emerging efforts
across the chemistry curriculum, the session aims to build community,
support cross-institutional collaboration, and inspire educators to
adopt and adapt CUREs that expand equitable access to authentic research
experiences for all students.
S55d: Putting Chemistry Education Research into Practice
The results of chemistry education research provide a significant resource to inform scholarly teaching strategies and the design of instructional materials at both the high school and undergraduate levels. The goal of this symposium is to provide a forum for instructors wishing to learn about, adapt, and incorporate evidence-based materials and teaching strategies into their courses, with the goal of creating more effective learning environments. Presentations are expected to incorporate chemical education research findings into instructional practices.
We encourage a wide range of presentations, including data-driven descriptions of how chemical education research has informed scholarly instructional practices, descriptions of design challenges and constraints in implementing a research-based strategy or curriculum, and descriptions of collaborations between researchers and instructors (research-practice partnerships). This symposium is sponsored nominally by the DivCHED Chemistry Education Research Committee (CERC).
S109d: Engaging Students in Organic Chemistry – Present and Future Directions in the Classroom
Engaging students effectively in organic chemistry is a critical task as the course material covered in the two-semester undergraduate sequence is foundational for upper-level science courses. With an emphasis on scholarly teaching practices, we invite presentations that highlight creative strategies that enhance student learning in the undergraduate organic chemistry courses. We welcome presentations that showcase the implementation of novel activities, pedagogical models, and non-traditional assessment practices.
Presentations that explore emerging opportunities such as incorporation of AI, combating online cheating, integration of technology, open education resources (OER), addressing students’ post-COVID preparation, and innovative laboratory experiments synergistic with the lecture content are encouraged. Furthermore, presentations that critically examine conventional teaching practices and highlight the implementation of alternative learner-centered pedagogical approaches would be valuable in fostering a productive dialog among the participants. Finally, since organic chemistry fundamentals form the bedrock of many allied disciplines, presentations that discuss the applications of organic chemistry to medicinal chemistry, materials science, polymer chemistry, green chemistry, and other upper-level courses are also welcome.
S283b: Biochemistry Education: Conversations on the Lecture Learning Environment
Biochemistry is a unique subdiscipline of chemistry since its home department, background of instructor, available instrumentation, and material covered in prerequisite courses can vary. This can lead to undergraduate courses with a diversity of content and learning goals. This symposium will focus on teaching biochemistry in a lecture learning environment.
Speakers are invited to share their approach to teaching biochemistry, as well as, if and how their courses align with the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) accreditation standards. We especially welcome those who integrate active learning pedagogies and diverse and inclusive classrooms into their curriculum. We also encourage speakers to include results from some form of assessment, e.g.
surveys, exam questions, and/or student interviews, in their presentations. The hope is that a shared dialog will help those who are reevaluating their curricular content to identify commonalities that should appear in an undergraduate biochemistry curriculum.
S234a: General Chemistry Labs: Curriculum and Best Practices
The goal of this symposium is to provide an opportunity for general chemistry laboratory instructors to come together and share information about the structure of their lab course, current curriculum, recent redesigns or tried-and-true experiments, best practices, teaching or grading strategies, and/or exams and assessments. What assessments are you using for your general chemistry lab course? How has generative AI changed your lab assessments?
Have you been teaching for a while and found something that works well, or did you recently revamp your general chemistry lab curriculum and have results to share? What projects, units, or experiments work well at your college or university? As instructors, it is wonderful to get an idea about one new, interesting experiment, but it can also be helpful to see what others are doing as a whole picture.
S138b: Pathways to Engaging in Research and Practice with Alternative Grading Systems
Employing alternative grading systems (AGS) is revolutionizing educators’ approach to STEM education. With a shift away from conventional grading systems that reward students for quick adaptation and compliance, AGS are increasingly redefining the nature of assessments, educator-learner relationships, and accessibility of learning. AGS encompass a variety of grading approaches (e.g., specifications grading, standards-based grading) that decenter the role of points and performance on individual assignments to (re)design grading structures that embrace clearly defined standards, helpful and timely feedback, marks that indicate student progress, and opportunities for reattempts without penalty (Talbert & Clark, 2023).
This symposium will highlight the stories of educators as they reflect on their journey towards AGS across multiple subdisciplines of chemistry. Presenters are invited to share the (re)design of curricula with AGS approaches and empirical data on assessing students’ knowledge and perspectives using evidence-based teaching practices. This symposium will showcase both talks and distillations to explore AGS from multiple perspectives (i.e., research and practice).
Presenters are encouraged to contribute to the development of an AGS community of practice by sharing accessible resources that support their implementation of AGS in their courses. Attendees will explore a variety of AGS approaches with evidence-based scholarly findings to assess the “pros and cons” of AGS in chemistry education.
S68c: From Assistants to Agents of Change: Advancing Graduate Teaching Professional Development and Scholarship
Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are crucial for teaching chemistry courses at large research institutions. GTAs are uniquely situated in their career – they must balance research, coursework, and teaching. However, university culture tends to prioritize graduate students’ research productivity, often at the expense of their teaching.
Thus, GTA professional development tends to be confined as brief orientations with little room for collaboration, reflective inquiry, and long-term instructional growth. To advance Engagement in Scholarly Teaching, our symposium invites presentations that explore and demonstrate new insights about GTA professional development and scholarship. Actively engaging GTAs in reformed-based instructional strategies that are both equitable and effective are essential for enhancing students’ retention, matriculation, and STEM trajectories.
This symposium invites discussions about GTA experiences being at the intersection of a student, researcher, and instructor. In alignment with key intersectional attributes, we intend to invite researchers and practitioners to present novel (a) data- or theory-driven professional development practices, (b) research that leverages and amplifies GTA voices in professional development, or (c) evaluations of GTA professional development programs that challenge conventional environments. These presentations that meld research and practice promote ongoing GTA professional development efforts and catalyze discussions on how GTAs can be positioned as pedagogical knowledge constructors and agents of change.
W75: Rubrics to assess science practices in chemistry laboratories
Calls for transforming chemistry education emphasize the need to center instruction on authentic phenomena and practices, yet assessing students’ engagement with these practices remains a persistent challenge. Traditional content-focused assessments often overlook how students reason, model, and construct scientific explanations. This workshop addresses that challenge by introducing science practice rubrics designed to capture evidence of student engagement and support meaningful assessment and feedback.
Participants will engage in interactive exercises using real student artifacts, including laboratory notebooks and reports. After a brief introduction to the structure and purpose of the rubrics, participants will apply them in small groups to sample artifacts, compare their assessments with peers, and discuss the reasoning behind their evaluations. Through these calibration exercises, attendees will examine both the challenges and opportunities of assessing scientific practices and consider strategies for providing actionable feedback to students.
Gallery walks and Think-Pair-Share activities will support the exchange of ideas and reflection on new insights.
Time Slot: 03:30 PM - 04:40 PM
S278b: Playing Fun-tastic Games in Chemistry
Looking for creative ways to make your chemistry classroom (in-person or virtual) or lesson more engaging? Content-based games provide an alternative to traditional forms of learning and promote active learning through student-student and student-content interactions. Each year, an increasing number of articles about chemistry games are published in the literature. Games can provide a playful environment to engage students authentically with the content. They create spaces that encourage iteration, curiosity and trying new things they might be afraid to otherwise. Many of these tools are new learning activities; however, others touch on various other intersectional attributes targeted by this conference, including games as assessment, improving science literacy, and as reflections. This symposium is your chance to hear all about these games or share ones you’ve made! Please stop by to get inspired for the upcoming semester!
This series of distillations will give educators and practitioners space to share the games they have created. All types of games are welcome! The post-distillation open discussion time will provide space for attendees to ask questions to presenters while playing their games.
Time Slot: 03:30 PM - 05:15 PM
S350b: Celebrating the Career and Contributions of John Moore
As the chemistry education community gathers to reflect back and prepare to march forward, it is an apt time to celebrate the career of John Moore, which has been devoted to creating, evaluating and disseminating better tools and processes by which students can learn chemistry. John’s accomplishments span three main sectors: finding new and effective ways to teach chemistry, such as using emerging technology or including environmental chemistry; outreach efforts, such as creating accessible materials for other chemistry educators to use and workshops for teachers; and national and international leadership, such as his 13-year editorship of the Journal of Chemical Education. John led the NSF-sponsored New Traditions curriculum project, which brought more active-learning methods to the undergraduate curriculum. As director of the Institute for Chemical Education, he expanded the Institute’s activities to include kits and publications that for three decades were distributed throughout the world, increased the number of themes that guided its summer Chemistry Camps, and developed new summer workshops for college, high school, middle school, and early elementary school teachers. As a textbook author John co-authored (with Elizabeth Moore) a pioneering environmental chemistry book, a graduate-level kinetics book, and three general chemistry texts. As editor of the JCE, he enhanced offerings for high school teachers, initiated a column on chemical education research, initiated online publication and digitization of all back issues, and was receptive to a broad range of inputs from the chemical education community the Journal serves.
This session will include tributes and work from many of the chemistry educators John Moore has influenced over his career.
Time Slot: 05:00 PM - 05:30 PM
Monday Periodic Pick-Me-Up
Monday Periodic Pick-Me-Up Menu
regular house brewed coffee, hot water, assorted teas, creamer, oat milk, honey, lemon, canned soda, water, whole fruit, assorted individual bags of chips, pretzels, popcorn, and assorted jerkey and meat snacks(subject to minor changes)
Time Slot: 05:15 PM - 05:45 PM
A Toast in Honor of John Moore
Time Slot: 05:30 PM - 08:30 PM
Monday Evening Exhibition Prime Time
Poster Session: Tripp Commons (Open Viewing)
This poster session is designed for flexible, self-guided exploration of contributions. Posters will be displayed for viewing throughout the designated time period, but presenters are not required to be present at a specific time.
Attendees are invited to browse posters at their own pace and engage with the work independently. This format allows for broad visibility of contributions while accommodating varying schedules and levels of participation.
Poster Session: Main Lounge (Open Viewing)
This poster session is designed for flexible, self-guided exploration of contributions. Posters will be displayed for viewing throughout the designated time period, but presenters are not required to be present at a specific time.
Attendees are invited to browse posters at their own pace and engage with the work independently. This format allows for broad visibility of contributions while accommodating varying schedules and levels of participation.
Poster Session: Great Hall (Open Viewing)
This poster session is designed for flexible, self-guided exploration of contributions. Posters will be displayed for viewing throughout the designated time period, but presenters are not required to be present at a specific time.
Attendees are invited to browse posters at their own pace and engage with the work independently. This format allows for broad visibility of contributions while accommodating varying schedules and levels of participation.
Poster Session Multicultural Greek Council (Open Viewing)
This poster session is designed for flexible, self-guided exploration of contributions. Posters will be displayed for viewing throughout the designated time period, but presenters are not required to be present at a specific time.
Attendees are invited to browse posters at their own pace and engage with the work independently. This format allows for broad visibility of contributions while accommodating varying schedules and levels of participation.
Time Slot: 05:30 PM - 06:30 PM
Global Opportunities in Chemistry Education for Everyone: Let's Talk!
This Birds of a Feather session invites all chemistry educators—whether experienced in international work or simply curious about getting started—to come together and explore global connections in chemistry education. Participants will share and discuss a range of approaches, including cross-cultural projects, virtual exchanges, study abroad programs, collaborative research, and partnerships that broaden students’ perspectives and professional opportunities.
The session is designed to be conversational and interactive, creating space to exchange ideas, ask questions, and learn from one another’s successes and challenges. Attendees will have the opportunity to build new connections, discover practical strategies and resources, and explore ways to create sustainable international collaborations at any scale.
Together, we will consider how global engagement can enrich student learning, strengthen professional networks, and connect our efforts with broader scientific and educational communities that serve chemists and chemical engineers worldwide.
B424: Western States Chemical Education Group
Chemistry educators across the Western States share many opportunities and challenges, including supporting increasingly diverse student populations, navigating differences in academic calendars such as quarter and semester systems, redesigning curricula, and balancing professional expectations across time zones and institutional cultures. This Birds of a Feather session invites chemistry educators from across the western United States—defined broadly as institutions west of the Mississippi River—to come together for collegial conversation and connection.
Rather than formal presentations, this session will emphasize open discussion, networking, and collaborative sense‑making. Participants will have the opportunity to exchange perspectives and strategies, pose shared questions, and identify areas of mutual interest for future collaboration across institutions and disciplines. Whether you teach at a research university, primarily undergraduate institution, community college, or in another educational context, this session offers a welcoming space to connect with colleagues from your region who are committed to teaching and learning in chemistry.
If you can not attend this Birds of a Feather, join our listserv at https://sites.google.com/uw.edu/wsceg
B637: Find Your People: A 2YC3 Meet-and-Greet for First- and Second-Year Chemistry Educators
Teaching chemistry in the first two years of college is its own unique adventure. Whether you teach at a two-year college or primarily teach students in introductory and foundational chemistry courses at a four-year institution, this Bird-of-a-Feather session is a chance to connect with colleagues who truly understand your teaching context.
This meet-and-greet session invites participants to learn about the Two-Year College Chemistry Consortium (2YC3), a professional community dedicated to supporting educators teaching chemistry in the first two years of college. We’ll share what 2YC3 is all about—professional development opportunities, teaching and learning initiatives, leadership roles, and ways to get involved—while keeping the focus on conversation and connection.
Designed as a relaxed networking space, this session will encourage participants to swap stories, share challenges and successes, and build community with others teaching similar courses and student populations. Whether you’re new to 2YC3 and curious about getting involved, or already part of the community, come meet colleagues, make connections, and learn how 2YC3 can support your teaching, professional growth, and impact on student success.
B1130: ChemEd X Meet and Greet
This Birds of a Feather brings together members of the Chemical Education Xchange (ChemEd X) and people interested in learning about and/or contributing to ChemEd X. If you are a current or prior ChemEd X editorial team member or contributor please join us for some face-to-face time.
If you want to know more about who we are and what we do, please stop by. As ChemEd X has a new Editor-in-Chief (Jack Barbera), this will also a time to meet him and share your thoughts on ChemEd X and its future.
B588: Networking for CER Post-Docs and Early Career Scholars
This networking event is intended to bring together post-docs and early career folks within 5 years of entering a research or teaching position in CER. We hope attendees will make new professional connections in an informal setting. The event will be loosely structured so attendees can identify peers with similar research interests or going through similar professional hurdles (i.e.
applying for teaching or tenure-track position, navigating tenure and promotion, publishing, navigating funding opportunities, etc.) While the event is designed with post-docs and early career scholars in mind, we invite early career scholars to join either “Networking for CER” BoaF event that best fits their networking needs. We hope this event sparks numerous new connections and conversations that can continue throughout the week and beyond BCCE. This event is hosted by the Early Career Chemistry Education Scholars Committee of DivCHED.
Time Slot: 06:00 PM - 09:00 PM
Monday Night Flamingle
Monday Night Flamingle Menu
- Ian’s Pizza (variety of options, including mac and cheese, spinach feta pesto, buffalo chicken, and pepperoni)
- garden salad
- assorted antipasta salads
- mushroom meatballs
- assorted cookies
Beverages
- local Wisconsin microbrews
- house wines
- hard seltzers
- assorted sodas and bottled waters
(subject to minor changes)
Time Slot: 06:00 PM - 07:00 PM
CC328: Building and Sustaining Chemistry Communities of Practice: Teaching, Learning, and Undergraduate Research Experiences
Communities of practice play an important role in supporting chemistry teaching, learning, and undergraduate research by creating collaborative spaces for faculty development and innovation. These communities often operate between institutional and professional society levels, providing opportunities for sustained engagement and shared growth. This session will feature examples from communities at different stages of development, highlighting both successes and ongoing challenges in building and sustaining these initiatives.
Panelists will share strategies for fostering participation, maintaining momentum, and leveraging community resources to support instructional and research practices. Participants will be invited to discuss how communities of practice can enhance courses, support faculty development, and expand undergraduate research opportunities. The session aims to provide practical insights and create space for exchanging ideas about strengthening and sustaining these collaborative networks.
CC384: Initiating and Sustaining Undergraduate Research Experiences
Undergraduate research is a high-impact educational practice that supports student learning, professional development, and engagement with the process of knowledge creation. This community conversation, led by representatives from the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) Division of Chemistry, will explore strategies for launching and sustaining undergraduate research experiences across institutional contexts. Panelists will share perspectives from a range of institutions, including primarily undergraduate institutions and research-intensive universities, and discuss approaches to supporting faculty, building programs, and expanding student access.
Topics may include mentoring, program structure, and institutional support. Participants will be invited to share experiences and challenges as the group considers how to strengthen undergraduate research opportunities. The session aims to provide practical guidance and foster connections among educators interested in expanding and sustaining research experiences for students.
Time Slot: 07:00 PM - 08:00 PM
CC242: Engaging in Scholarly Teaching for Meaningful Learning
Scholarly teaching involves making intentional, evidence-informed decisions about course design, implementation, and revision. This session brings together chemistry educators working across high school, undergraduate, and laboratory settings to share how data, learning theory, and reflective practice inform their instructional approaches. Panelists will describe shifts from intuition-driven teaching toward strategies grounded in research on student learning, including attention to representational reasoning, alignment of instruction and assessment, and the use of structured frameworks such as learning cycles and Claim–Evidence–Reasoning. These approaches have contributed to improved conceptual understanding, increased engagement, and more equitable outcomes. Participants will engage with concrete examples of scholarly teaching and consider how theory and evidence can guide meaningful instructional change in their own contexts. The conversation invites reflection on how educators can continuously refine their practice to better support student learning.
B1203: Building Research–Practice Partnerships in Chemistry Education
Classroom practitioners frequently engage in innovative teaching and assessment work, yet many lack the methodological tools or research design expertise needed to formally study the impact of their efforts. At the same time, chemical education researchers often face challenges related to limited sample sizes, access to diverse instructional contexts, and the ability to test ideas across multiple course settings. This Birds of a Feather session aims to bring these two groups together to explore opportunities for meaningful collaboration. Participants will discuss shared interests, potential research–practice partnerships, and strategies for designing classroom studies.
Date: Tuesday, 28th July
Time Slot: 06:30 AM - 07:30 AM
Fun Run/Walk Along the Lakeshore Path!
Time Slot: 08:00 AM - 06:00 PM
Conference Registration and Information Desk
Time Slot: 08:30 AM - 10:00 AM
S198: Beyond the Flash: What Makes Chemistry Multimedia Pedagogically Powerful?
As digital tools become increasingly central to chemistry education, educators and developers face a critical question: What makes an online animation, simulation, or short video pedagogically effective? This symposium invites researchers, instructional designers, and educators to explore the characteristics that enhance the aspects of multimedia resources that lead to effective learning in chemistry. We seek contributions that examine cognitive load, interactivity, visual design, accessibility, and alignment with learning outcomes. Presenters may share empirical studies, design frameworks, or classroom implementations that evaluate or exemplify effective use of these tools.
The goal is to establish evidence-based parameters to guide the creation, selection, and integration of multimedia resources that truly support student learning in chemistry. Whether you study these tools or wish to use them more effectively in your teaching, join us to understand the evidence and best practices behind incorporating multimedia for successful student learning.
S203a: Improving Chemistry Learning Through Interactive Online Courseware and Shared Data Insights
Interactive online courseware is transforming not only how we teach and learn chemistry, but also how we study the learning process itself. By incorporating interactive activities with immediate feedback, these platforms support student success while generating detailed data that reveal how understanding develops over time. Modern courseware integrates concise explanations with opportunities for practice, reflection, and targeted feedback, creating conditions that promote mastery while producing fine-grained datasets for continuous improvement and research.
Aligned with the BCCE theme of Integrating Technology Effectively, this symposium highlights work that uses online chemistry courseware and the learning data it generates to enhance equity, deepen conceptual understanding, and improve instructional effectiveness. We invite work on topics such as:
- Instructional design strategies that leverage interactive courseware in diverse teaching contexts;
- Implementation challenges and lessons learned when incorporating courseware into real instructional settings;
- Analyses of learning data to identify and mitigate inequities;
- Studies linking analytics to cognitive and affective dimensions of student learning;
- Innovations in the use of AI within online learning environments; and
- Methods for monitoring how learning unfolds over time, offering richer insight than traditional pre–post measures alone.
We welcome contributions that involve using online chemistry courseware, drawing on courseware-generated data, or leveraging learning analytics approaches to promote evidence-based instructional change. We especially encourage submissions that share innovations and help build a community committed to advancing chemistry education through data-informed practice.
S57e: Improving Your Teaching and Research Through Communities of Practice Participation: Find, Join, Build, and Sustain
A key catalyst for promoting successful teaching and research strategies and improved student learning is participation in a community of practice, i.e. educators supporting each other as they develop and sustain the adoption of new teaching and assessment practices, and support undergraduate research.
Communities of practice now exist for all of the broad content areas of chemistry in postsecondary education contexts, including lecture-based and instructional laboratory courses and undergraduate research. These communities provide curricular resources, learning activities, professional development opportunities, in-person and virtual conferences, research collaborations, and means for sharing, asking questions, and obtaining support for adopting innovative teaching and learning practices.
This symposium has two foci: 1) an introduction to communities of practice, their offerings, and how to get involved; and, 2) a venue for leaders of communities of practice to share their best practices, opportunities for improvement, and visionary outlooks for their community.
An overarching goal of this symposium is to create a space for educators to become active participants in a community of practice as members and leaders. The symposium will include talks to highlight the benefits of communities of practice and the challenges to building and sustaining these communities. Distillations will be used to broadly share the activities of communities of practice across the chemistry community and to provide participants with an opportunity to share ideas for new communities.
S223: Learning Networks Driving Change in Chemistry Education
Networks that support chemistry education often emerge when people with shared interests come together to build and expand upon collective knowledge. These groups can form on their own or be established by a small team responding to a particular need. In chemical education, such networks are especially helpful for encouraging collaboration among faculty (like VIPEr, OrganicERs), students (through student-led workshops), and administrators (such as institutional networks).
Further, some of these networks are both interdisciplinary and interinstitutional (like the (STEM)2 Network). Regardless of their composition, these networks aim to enhance teaching strategies and curriculum development at all levels. This symposium will include presentations about how to build and assess networks that involve chemical educators, students, administrators, or various combinations of these participants.
S176a: Student Engagement & Curriculum Development in Large Classes
Gateway chemistry courses serve as critical junctures in students' academic journeys, yet large-enrollment formats in these courses present persistent challenges to creating effective learning environments: shifts in student preparation, remote/hybrid learning legacies, increased diversity of learner backgrounds, and renewed urgency for inclusive, active, and scalable pedagogies. A key challenge is helping students develop these skills while covering essential content in large enrollment lectures. This symposium explores how to create highly effective learning environments in large-enrollment settings that support student engagement, problem-solving proficiency, and retention.
This symposium brings together chemistry educators and researchers to address fundamental questions: (1) How can we foster meaningful engagement and deeper learning when teaching hundreds of students? (2) What practices translate effectively to large-enrollment settings? Presenters will share how they have used critical reflection, research on teaching and learning, and/or data from their classrooms, to develop practical solutions for large-enrollment courses.
Topics will span curriculum design/redesign that incorporates active learning at scale, innovative learning activities that promote student engagement, and assessment strategies that provide meaningful feedback while remaining sustainable in large enrollment formats. Also welcomed are talks that discuss how AI technology can facilitate these goals. This symposium aims to support a community of educators facing similar challenges, to advance our collective understanding of what works in large-enrollment gateway courses, and to foster partnerships that bridge theory, research, and practice.
Attendees will discover new approaches to learning, engagement, and course design to enhance their teaching.
S158a: Case Studies of Green Chemistry in the Classroom
The most recent ACS Guidelines for Undergraduate Chemistry Programs recognize green chemistry, sustainability, and systems thinking ideas as components of a modern chemistry curriculum. These guidelines specifically encourage the use of case studies of authentic, real-world practice to connect chemistry content to environmental, health, regulatory, and business considerations that influence chemical processes and product design. Case studies of real-world applications expose students to authentic practice, foster deeper engagement, and strengthen learning outcomes.
Case study-based teaching has a rich history in many disciplines. Although not yet widespread in chemical education, instructors increasingly draw on real-world chemical examples to prepare future scientists to consider themes of sustainability in their careers. To aid chemistry educators in adopting case study-based teaching, the ACS Green Chemistry Institute and Beyond Benign have recently developed a case study template and guide. This tool will assist instructors in developing their own case study-based lessons and innovate their curricula.
This session will highlight the diverse ways in which chemical educators at all levels have employed case study-based lessons in their classrooms. Presenters will share examples of case studies they’ve used at the high school, undergraduate, and graduate levels (as well as in teaching labs). Attendees of the session will also learn about the challenges instructors have faced in developing and implementing their lessons along with how those challenges have been overcome. A moderated discussion session will close the session to stimulate further dialogue, foster networking between presenters and attendees, encourage sharing of ideas and course materials, and build community.
S246a: Second Chances in STEM: Equitable Assessment in Large Enrollment Chemistry Courses
Traditional high-stakes assessments in large enrollment chemistry courses often reinforce systemic inequities, disproportionately affecting students from marginalized backgrounds. However, the very real challenges presented by evaluating hundreds of students can feel restrictive when considering assessment options. This symposium will feature a series of talks showcasing how faculty have implemented “second chance” assessment strategies—such as exam corrections, retakes, and alternative formats—to promote equity, mastery, and student persistence in STEM. These approaches not only reduce performance anxiety and support diverse learners but also provide a powerful incentive for students to revisit their mistakes, reflect on their understanding, and engage more deeply with the material. This turns assessment into a meaningful learning opportunity without sacrificing academic rigor.
This symposium addresses the conference context of fixing systems, not students. Rather than framing students as the issue to be addressed, these strategies aim to fix systems by rethinking rigid grading structures and implementing new assessment strategies. Second-chance assessments recognize that learning is nonlinear and that one-time evaluation of student learning rarely reflects true understanding. By offering structured opportunities for students to demonstrate mastery, instructors foster a growth mindset and support long-term retention.
Additionally, this symposium also addresses the conference context of integrating technology effectively. Speakers will present scalable models for reassessment in large chemistry courses, including implementation logistics, grading workflows, and student outcomes. Talks will highlight how these practices align with equitable grading philosophies and inclusive pedagogy, and how they can be adapted across institutional contexts.
Second chances on exams or quizzes are not about lowering standards—they are about raising support and reimagining assessment as a tool for learning. This symposium invites educators to consider how intentional reassessment practices can transform STEM education and create more inclusive pathways for student success.
S292a: Peer-mediated Chemistry Learning and Instruction
Many chemistry classes use one or multiple models of peer-mediated learning, such as Learning Assistants (LAs), Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL), or Supplemental Instruction (SI). While there are differences between these models, they all involve undergraduate students who have studied the content of the course prior to instruction and can serve as “expert learners” in order to support student learning and leverage near-peer effects. Research on near-peer instruction and peer-mediated learning has shown that near-peer instructors support students both conceptually and socioemotionally.
Near-peer instructors engage in scholarly teaching and can be a leverage to promote scholarly teaching beyond their own practice, helping build communities of practice focused on evidence-based, student-centered instruction. In this symposium, data- and theory-driven insights will advance our community’s understanding of the impact and mechanisms of near-peer instruction and peer-mediated learning. The symposium will intentionally bridge research and practice by featuring both theoretical insights and practitioner presentations on innovative learning activities and environments involving near-peer instructors.
This symposium will showcase rich educational development and research work while growing community around peer-mediated learning with the goal to deepen our collaboration and understanding of working with students as partners on improving chemistry education. Grounded in the principle of fixing systems, not people, this symposium emphasizes the critical role near-peer instructors play in reshaping classroom culture and instructional practices in a way that dismantles barriers, fosters inclusion, and ensures chemistry education reflects the diverse talents and perspectives of our students.
S255a: George R. Hague Memorial AP/IB Chemistry Symposium
In this symposium, participants will hear from the AP Chemistry Chief Reader about lessons learned from the 2026 administration of the AP Chemistry exam. A representative from the College Board may also present developments in AP Chemistry.
In addition, presenters will present pedagogical tools for successfully teaching AP and IB chemistry. Talks which present effective pedagogy centered around authentic phenomena will be prioritized.
S54b: Teaching Chemistry with Humanities-Informed Pedagogies
Humanities-informed pedagogies such as narrative, ethics, music, literature, creative writing, public humanities, foodways, or identity-centered storytelling can be incorporated into chemistry classes to help students understand chemical concepts. When implemented well, creative projects, labs and in-class activities that are grounded in human experience, creativity, cultural expression, and meaning-making can make chemistry less abstract and more relevant to the students. Classes can become more engaging and inclusive for students from diverse backgrounds and disciplines, while centering authentic human experience and encouraging students’ creativity in solving chemistry problems.
With a focus on pedagogies that use humanities to frame phenomena, rather than those centering on analyzing material artifacts, this symposium invites presentations from instructors who have creatively integrated humanities topics and activities into chemistry education. Presenters can share specific activities and learning outcomes that describe authentic phenomena such as real-world human experiences, community histories, cultural practices, and/or lived realities that students can use chemistry to make sense of. Talks in this symposium may describe an entire course, module, lab, or larger activity.
Smaller activities, early ideas, or in-progress insights are invited to be considered for distillations. This symposium will serve as an ad hoc community of practice by including time for discussion and conversation among presenters and attendees.
S157e: Bridging Pathways: Preparing Chemistry Students for Industry Careers and Graduate School Successs
Theme: Aligning Curriculum with Workforce Needs. Preparing students for life beyond the undergraduate classroom is a critical responsibility of chemistry educators and program leaders. The ACS Guidelines for Bachelor’s Degree Programs emphasize not only content knowledge but also skill development (particularly laboratory skills) alongside collaborative teamwork, problem-solving, and experiential learning. These competencies are essential for success in a wide range of post-graduate pathways, including careers in the private sector and advanced study in graduate or professional programs.
This symposium will explore strategies for embedding career and graduate school readiness into chemistry curricula and co-curricular experiences. One session of the symposium will focus on preparing students for industry careers with topics that could include highlighting evolving workforce needs, essential skills, and successful initiatives such as internships, co-ops, and partnerships with employers. The other session in this symposium will address graduate school preparation with topics showcasing approaches that integrate authentic disciplinary practices (i.e., research experiences, mentoring programs, and workshops) into course design and assessment.
We invite contributions from all institutional contexts that share student-centered strategies for helping chemistry students transition from academic training to professional and academic advancement.
S117e: Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) in Chemistry: Design, Implementation, and Assessment Across the Curriculum
Theme: CURE Framework
Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) are
increasingly recognized as a powerful mechanism for centering authentic
scientific practices within the chemistry curriculum. By embedding
genuine, discovery-driven research into coursework, CUREs expand access
to high-impact learning opportunities and foster the development of
scientific identity, research skills, and persistence in STEM. This
symposium brings together chemistry educators, researchers, and program
leaders to showcase innovative approaches to designing, implementing,
assessing, and sustaining CUREs across the full spectrum of the
undergraduate chemistry curriculum, from introductory general and
non-major courses to advanced laboratory and capstone experiences.
The
session will highlight diverse CURE models, including modular,
semester-long, and interdisciplinary designs, with emphasis on
approaches that broaden participation across all levels, particularly in
the crucial first- and second-year courses where implementation
barriers are well-documented. Presentations will address practical and
pedagogical considerations such as scaffolding research skills, aligning
assessment with the iterative nature of research, developing
institutional support structures, and integrating programmatic
assessment to demonstrate the impact and value of CURE-based
instruction. Contributors are encouraged to share evidence-based
practices, lessons learned, challenges encountered, and strategies for
sustainable implementation in various institutional contexts, including
high schools, community colleges, four-year institutions, and research
universities.
Aligning with the mission of the Council on
Undergraduate Research (cur.org) and the BCCE 2026 Conference Context of
Centering Authentic Phenomena and Practices, this symposium emphasizes
the transformative potential of CUREs to create inclusive, inquiry-rich
learning environments. By highlighting successes and emerging efforts
across the chemistry curriculum, the session aims to build community,
support cross-institutional collaboration, and inspire educators to
adopt and adapt CUREs that expand equitable access to authentic research
experiences for all students.
S1635: Research in Chemistry Education - General Papers
This symposium provides a broad forum for chemistry education research (CER) including but not limited to quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, and action research studies. presentation.
S109e: Engaging Students in Organic Chemistry – Present and Future Directions in the Classroom
Engaging students effectively in organic chemistry is a critical task as the course material covered in the two-semester undergraduate sequence is foundational for upper-level science courses. With an emphasis on scholarly teaching practices, we invite presentations that highlight creative strategies that enhance student learning in the undergraduate organic chemistry courses. We welcome presentations that showcase the implementation of novel activities, pedagogical models, and non-traditional assessment practices.
Presentations that explore emerging opportunities such as incorporation of AI, combating online cheating, integration of technology, open education resources (OER), addressing students’ post-COVID preparation, and innovative laboratory experiments synergistic with the lecture content are encouraged. Furthermore, presentations that critically examine conventional teaching practices and highlight the implementation of alternative learner-centered pedagogical approaches would be valuable in fostering a productive dialog among the participants. Finally, since organic chemistry fundamentals form the bedrock of many allied disciplines, presentations that discuss the applications of organic chemistry to medicinal chemistry, materials science, polymer chemistry, green chemistry, and other upper-level courses are also welcome.
S234b: General Chemistry Labs: Curriculum and Best Practices
The goal of this symposium is to provide an opportunity for general chemistry laboratory instructors to come together and share information about the structure of their lab course, current curriculum, recent redesigns or tried-and-true experiments, best practices, teaching or grading strategies, and/or exams and assessments. What assessments are you using for your general chemistry lab course? How has generative AI changed your lab assessments?
Have you been teaching for a while and found something that works well, or did you recently revamp your general chemistry lab curriculum and have results to share? What projects, units, or experiments work well at your college or university? As instructors, it is wonderful to get an idea about one new, interesting experiment, but it can also be helpful to see what others are doing as a whole picture.
S138c: Pathways to Engaging in Research and Practice with Alternative Grading Systems
Employing alternative grading systems (AGS) is revolutionizing educators’ approach to STEM education. With a shift away from conventional grading systems that reward students for quick adaptation and compliance, AGS are increasingly redefining the nature of assessments, educator-learner relationships, and accessibility of learning. AGS encompass a variety of grading approaches (e.g., specifications grading, standards-based grading) that decenter the role of points and performance on individual assignments to (re)design grading structures that embrace clearly defined standards, helpful and timely feedback, marks that indicate student progress, and opportunities for reattempts without penalty (Talbert & Clark, 2023).
This symposium will highlight the stories of educators as they reflect on their journey towards AGS across multiple subdisciplines of chemistry. Presenters are invited to share the (re)design of curricula with AGS approaches and empirical data on assessing students’ knowledge and perspectives using evidence-based teaching practices. This symposium will showcase both talks and distillations to explore AGS from multiple perspectives (i.e., research and practice).
Presenters are encouraged to contribute to the development of an AGS community of practice by sharing accessible resources that support their implementation of AGS in their courses. Attendees will explore a variety of AGS approaches with evidence-based scholarly findings to assess the “pros and cons” of AGS in chemistry education.
S289a: CER Graduate Student Symposium: Fixing Systems, Not People
This symposium is designed specifically to provide a constructive venue for graduate students to present their research. This symposium will feature projects that focus on systemic transformation rather than individual student change. We particularly encourage projects investigating data and theory-driven insights about systemic inequities or oppressions and projects that engage students or communities as partners.
This symposium will include full talks on projects that are more developed as well as projects in introductory phases to be presented as distillations. All presentations should clearly articulate the project’s research aims, include a clear discussion of how the project contributes to the literature to implement changes at the systemic level, and include empirical data, however preliminary. All presenters should expect to engage in constructive dialogue with audience members following their presentation.
Presenters can conclude by soliciting for specific types of feedback if they choose. This symposium is organized and hosted by the Early Career Chemistry Education Scholars Committee of DivCHED as part of their larger mission to foster research advancement in the next generation of chemistry education researchers.
W308: Teaching Essential Chemistry Content with High-Impact Labs and Demonstrations
Selecting effective laboratory activities and demonstrations can be challenging, particularly when balancing student engagement with conceptual depth. This workshop highlights three high-impact labs and demonstrations that have consistently increased student curiosity and improved conceptual understanding in introductory chemistry courses. Each activity is drawn from the American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT) resource library and aligns with core chemistry topics commonly taught at the secondary and early undergraduate levels.
Participants will examine the rationale for each activity, along with implementation guidance, safety considerations, and options for differentiation. Classroom-ready handouts, student prompts, and facilitation strategies will be shared. Attendees will explore how these resources can be incorporated into their own instruction to support student engagement and conceptual understanding.
W349: Harnessing AI for Chemistry Productivity
Modern artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming both scientific research and everyday life. This interactive workshop equips participants with tools and insights for integrating both deterministic and stochastic AI technologies into chemistry education and research workflows. Participants will use the Wolfram Notebook Assistant and Chat Notebooks, along with built-in large language model (LLM) functions in the Wolfram Language, within a unified computational notebook environment.
The session explores approaches to prompt engineering, the development of custom AI tools, and the integration of services from multiple LLM providers while remaining grounded in curated chemical knowledge. Strategies for reducing AI hallucinations through retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) are introduced to support the generation of reliable, data-informed outputs. Participants will also explore how to design tools aligned with specific learning goals and integrate them into a notebook environment.
The workshop is suitable for educators, researchers, and students seeking to incorporate AI into their chemistry work. Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W340: Integrating Data Literacy and Data Science in the Chemistry Classroom
Preparing students to be critical consumers and creators of data is increasingly essential for success across scientific and technical fields. The ability to manage, analyze, and visualize data must be paired with skills in interpretation, contextualization, and communication to support meaningful understanding of molecular systems. This interactive workshop engages participants in evidence-based approaches for integrating technical and durable data science skills into chemistry and biochemistry curricula.
The session begins with a discussion of a framework connecting data literacy, durable data skills, and molecular biosciences pedagogy. Participants then explore how instructional design can be informed by learner personas and course context to support students with varying levels of quantitative and computational experience. The workshop includes hands-on practice using spreadsheet-based biochemical datasets to apply tidy data principles.
Participants will identify common data quality issues, clean and normalize datasets, and consider how these activities support understanding of data provenance, reproducibility, and ethical data use. Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
Time Slot: 08:50 AM - 10:00 AM
S56a: Experiential Learning and Community-Engaged Chemical Education Initiatives
Experiential learning and community-engaged pedagogy are powerful approaches for engaging students, deepening understanding, and fostering persistence in STEM pathways. Yet many students—particularly those in first- and second-year courses—struggle to see the relevance of chemistry beyond the classroom. This symposium highlights equity-focused initiatives that integrate experiential and community-based learning to support diverse students pursuing chemistry and STEM degrees, and is meant for educators at both two-year and four-year institutions.
This symposium invites chemical educators to share programs, curricula, and partnerships that leverage experiential and community-engaged learning. Experiential learning includes authentic, hands-on experiences like course-based projects and service-learning, while community-engaged learning connects students with partners to address locally relevant, real-world problems. Both of these pedagogical approaches help contextualize abstract chemical concepts, making the subject meaningful and accessible.
The symposium will focus on initiatives where students gain a deeper appreciation for chemistry's societal impact while developing essential skills in communication, collaboration, problem-solving, and civic responsibility, often addressing issues related to environmental justice, public health, nutrition, or sustainability. Presentations may also address strategies for successful course completion, transfer, and degree attainment; building and sustaining community partnerships; assessing student learning and engagement; and lessons learned.
S257a: Active Learning in Organic Chemistry: Instructional Innovations
Years of research consistently affirm that active learning pedagogies significantly enhance student success in STEM, leading to higher achievement, greater content retention, reduced DFW rates, and more positive attitudes towards science. This symposium highlights innovative instructional approaches that strengthen conceptual and mechanistic reasoning, problem-solving, and student belonging in organic chemistry by rethinking the full learning cycle—how class time is used, how students engage independently, and how feedback connects the two. Presentations may showcase flipped-classroom models, process-oriented guided inquiry activities, and collaborative or team-based learning environments, as well as technology used to enhance these approaches—for example interactive visualization tools, adaptive learning systems, AI-assisted feedback, or hybrid learning formats—that support metacognition, problem-solving, and knowledge transfer.
We invite presentations that report data on well-tested innovations, describe evolving classroom practices, or present emerging approaches seeking constructive feedback on early-stage projects. Contributors are encouraged to describe the learning challenges or areas of growth their work addresses, the design and implementation of their instructional approaches, any considerations related to access, scalability, or inclusivity, and the outcomes—observed or anticipated—including effects on engagement, performance, or understanding. Participants will gain practical strategies, adaptable tools, and implementation insights that can inform their own courses.
The session will also emphasize discussion and collaboration among instructors from all institutional contexts and course levels, cultivating a community of practice around active learning in organic chemistry.
Time Slot: 09:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Tuesday Morning Exhibition Open
Time Slot: 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Tuesday Bonding Break
Tuesday Bonding Break Menu
regular house brewed coffee, hot water, assorted teas, creamer, oat milk, honey, lemon, bottled juices, water, whole fruit, hard boiled eggs, and glazed croissants(subject to minor changes)
Time Slot: 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
S363a: Teaching and Learning Chemistry with Artificial Intelligence (AI): Tools, Ethics, Assessment, and Evidence-based Approaches
Artificial Intelligence is rapidly transforming chemistry education, offering new opportunities and challenges for teaching, learning, and assessment. This symposium explores the pedagogical integration of AI technologies, including generative models, adaptive learning platforms, and intelligent tutoring systems, across diverse educational contexts, from introductory chemistry courses to advanced laboratory and upper-division courses for majors and non-majors alike. We invite contributions that showcase innovative uses of AI tools to support student learning, enhance engagement, personalize instruction, and improve assessment practices at the course and instructional level.
Topics may include AI-assisted formative assessments, curriculum design and content development (e.g. reaction mechanisms, molecular visualizations, or analytical data interpretation), learning activities leveraging AI, and strategies for preparing students to critically engage with AI in scientific practice. As AI becomes increasingly accessible, educators face important questions about academic integrity, concerns about diminished critical thinking, and responsible use. This symposium provides a platform for instructors and researchers to share evidence-based insights, including successes, challenges, and lessons learned from classroom and laboratory implementations. We welcome presentations on innovative pedagogical approaches, differentiated instruction strategies, and practical applications that individual instructors or small teams have developed to integrate AI effectively into their teaching practice.
Aligned with the BCCE 2026 Conference Context of Integrating Technology Effectively, this symposium directly addresses how AI tools can be thoughtfully implemented at the instructional level to enhance teaching and learning while maintaining pedagogical rigor and ethical standards. Through data- and theory-driven presentations, attendees will gain practical tools, critical perspectives, and connections with collaborators working to integrate AI in ways that enhance student learning, maintain academic integrity, and promote inclusive, engaging chemistry education for all learners.
S203b: Improving Chemistry Learning Through Interactive Online Courseware and Shared Data Insights
Interactive online courseware is transforming not only how we teach and learn chemistry, but also how we study the learning process itself. By incorporating interactive activities with immediate feedback, these platforms support student success while generating detailed data that reveal how understanding develops over time. Modern courseware integrates concise explanations with opportunities for practice, reflection, and targeted feedback, creating conditions that promote mastery while producing fine-grained datasets for continuous improvement and research.
Aligned with the BCCE theme of Integrating Technology Effectively, this symposium highlights work that uses online chemistry courseware and the learning data it generates to enhance equity, deepen conceptual understanding, and improve instructional effectiveness. We invite work on topics such as:
- Instructional design strategies that leverage interactive courseware in diverse teaching contexts;
- Implementation challenges and lessons learned when incorporating courseware into real instructional settings;
- Analyses of learning data to identify and mitigate inequities;
- Studies linking analytics to cognitive and affective dimensions of student learning;
- Innovations in the use of AI within online learning environments; and
- Methods for monitoring how learning unfolds over time, offering richer insight than traditional pre–post measures alone.
We welcome contributions that involve using online chemistry courseware, drawing on courseware-generated data, or leveraging learning analytics approaches to promote evidence-based instructional change. We especially encourage submissions that share innovations and help build a community committed to advancing chemistry education through data-informed practice.
S200a: POGIL and The POGIL Project: A Community of Transformation
POGIL (Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning) is a student-centered, evidence-based pedagogy that has been widely adopted across secondary and post-secondary chemistry teaching. In addition to supporting student learning through structured team-based activities that follow a learning cycle of exploration, concept invention, and application, The POGIL Project sustains a vibrant community of practice that plays a central role in shaping, supporting, and refining instructors’ work. As described by Kezar (2015), The POGIL Project represents a “Community of Transformation”: a professional community that not only promotes shared pedagogical practices but also supports members’ professional development, instructional identity, and reflective cycles of improvement.
The mission of the organization is to support educators who "design, implement, assess, and study learner-centered environments." Submissions may address any of these four aspects of The POGIL Project mission and may include work from classrooms or laboratories, professional learning contexts, or collaborative research and development efforts. Presenters are encouraged to highlight how engagement in this community sustains their ongoing instructional growth and supports the collective development of learner-centered environments.
S295a: From the Desk of Lab Program Directors: Lessons Learned in the Lab
Being a lab program director requires a front-seat perspective on every aspect of the laboratory experience. This multifaceted role demands constant flexibility, problem-solving skills, and a strategic view of curriculum development, student and program assessment, and weekly logistics. This symposium will serve as a dedicated venue for leaders overseeing core chemistry labs (General, Organic, GOB, and Analytical) to foster connections and facilitate the sharing of challenges, solutions, and strategies to enrich the student laboratory experience.
The main focus will be on how directors intentionally build and maintain dynamic learning environments that foster both hands-on and fundamental "mind-on" skills. This goes beyond repeating measurements to developing chemical reasoning, understanding underlying principles, and applying methods to novel problems to truly allow students to "be like a chemist in the lab." We will explore the intersectional attributes of curriculum design, program development, and formal assessment and evaluation. Presenters are invited to share their experiences, specifically addressing three tangible areas: What tangible goals are set in their lab curriculum, and what limitations or trade-offs (resource, curricular placement, etc.) had to be overcome to set those goals?; How have these goals been implemented at their institution?; How have they delivered satisfactory student outcomes regarding both fundamental and transferable laboratory skills?
Ultimately, this symposium seeks to develop a community where we can support one another and collectively identify the most effective, sustainable, and realistic strategies for imparting the necessary laboratory and transferable skills required for student success in the lab.
S158b: Case Studies of Green Chemistry in the Classroom
The most recent ACS Guidelines for Undergraduate Chemistry Programs recognize green chemistry, sustainability, and systems thinking ideas as components of a modern chemistry curriculum. These guidelines specifically encourage the use of case studies of authentic, real-world practice to connect chemistry content to environmental, health, regulatory, and business considerations that influence chemical processes and product design. Case studies of real-world applications expose students to authentic practice, foster deeper engagement, and strengthen learning outcomes.
Case study-based teaching has a rich history in many disciplines. Although not yet widespread in chemical education, instructors increasingly draw on real-world chemical examples to prepare future scientists to consider themes of sustainability in their careers. To aid chemistry educators in adopting case study-based teaching, the ACS Green Chemistry Institute and Beyond Benign have recently developed a case study template and guide. This tool will assist instructors in developing their own case study-based lessons and innovate their curricula.
This session will highlight the diverse ways in which chemical educators at all levels have employed case study-based lessons in their classrooms. Presenters will share examples of case studies they’ve used at the high school, undergraduate, and graduate levels (as well as in teaching labs). Attendees of the session will also learn about the challenges instructors have faced in developing and implementing their lessons along with how those challenges have been overcome. A moderated discussion session will close the session to stimulate further dialogue, foster networking between presenters and attendees, encourage sharing of ideas and course materials, and build community.
S246b: Second Chances in STEM: Equitable Assessment in Large Enrollment Chemistry Courses
Traditional high-stakes assessments in large enrollment chemistry courses often reinforce systemic inequities, disproportionately affecting students from marginalized backgrounds. However, the very real challenges presented by evaluating hundreds of students can feel restrictive when considering assessment options. This symposium will feature a series of talks showcasing how faculty have implemented “second chance” assessment strategies—such as exam corrections, retakes, and alternative formats—to promote equity, mastery, and student persistence in STEM. These approaches not only reduce performance anxiety and support diverse learners but also provide a powerful incentive for students to revisit their mistakes, reflect on their understanding, and engage more deeply with the material. This turns assessment into a meaningful learning opportunity without sacrificing academic rigor.
This symposium addresses the conference context of fixing systems, not students. Rather than framing students as the issue to be addressed, these strategies aim to fix systems by rethinking rigid grading structures and implementing new assessment strategies. Second-chance assessments recognize that learning is nonlinear and that one-time evaluation of student learning rarely reflects true understanding. By offering structured opportunities for students to demonstrate mastery, instructors foster a growth mindset and support long-term retention.
Additionally, this symposium also addresses the conference context of integrating technology effectively. Speakers will present scalable models for reassessment in large chemistry courses, including implementation logistics, grading workflows, and student outcomes. Talks will highlight how these practices align with equitable grading philosophies and inclusive pedagogy, and how they can be adapted across institutional contexts.
Second chances on exams or quizzes are not about lowering standards—they are about raising support and reimagining assessment as a tool for learning. This symposium invites educators to consider how intentional reassessment practices can transform STEM education and create more inclusive pathways for student success.
S292b: Peer-mediated Chemistry Learning and Instruction
Many chemistry classes use one or multiple models of peer-mediated learning, such as Learning Assistants (LAs), Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL), or Supplemental Instruction (SI). While there are differences between these models, they all involve undergraduate students who have studied the content of the course prior to instruction and can serve as “expert learners” in order to support student learning and leverage near-peer effects. Research on near-peer instruction and peer-mediated learning has shown that near-peer instructors support students both conceptually and socioemotionally.
Near-peer instructors engage in scholarly teaching and can be a leverage to promote scholarly teaching beyond their own practice, helping build communities of practice focused on evidence-based, student-centered instruction. In this symposium, data- and theory-driven insights will advance our community’s understanding of the impact and mechanisms of near-peer instruction and peer-mediated learning. The symposium will intentionally bridge research and practice by featuring both theoretical insights and practitioner presentations on innovative learning activities and environments involving near-peer instructors.
This symposium will showcase rich educational development and research work while growing community around peer-mediated learning with the goal to deepen our collaboration and understanding of working with students as partners on improving chemistry education. Grounded in the principle of fixing systems, not people, this symposium emphasizes the critical role near-peer instructors play in reshaping classroom culture and instructional practices in a way that dismantles barriers, fosters inclusion, and ensures chemistry education reflects the diverse talents and perspectives of our students.
S255b: George R. Hague Memorial AP/IB Chemistry Symposium
In this symposium, participants will hear from the AP Chemistry Chief Reader about lessons learned from the 2026 administration of the AP Chemistry exam. A representative from the College Board may also present developments in AP Chemistry.
In addition, presenters will present pedagogical tools for successfully teaching AP and IB chemistry. Talks which present effective pedagogy centered around authentic phenomena will be prioritized.
S54c: Teaching Chemistry with Humanities-Informed Pedagogies
Humanities-informed pedagogies such as narrative, ethics, music, literature, creative writing, public humanities, foodways, or identity-centered storytelling can be incorporated into chemistry classes to help students understand chemical concepts. When implemented well, creative projects, labs and in-class activities that are grounded in human experience, creativity, cultural expression, and meaning-making can make chemistry less abstract and more relevant to the students. Classes can become more engaging and inclusive for students from diverse backgrounds and disciplines, while centering authentic human experience and encouraging students’ creativity in solving chemistry problems.
With a focus on pedagogies that use humanities to frame phenomena, rather than those centering on analyzing material artifacts, this symposium invites presentations from instructors who have creatively integrated humanities topics and activities into chemistry education. Presenters can share specific activities and learning outcomes that describe authentic phenomena such as real-world human experiences, community histories, cultural practices, and/or lived realities that students can use chemistry to make sense of. Talks in this symposium may describe an entire course, module, lab, or larger activity.
Smaller activities, early ideas, or in-progress insights are invited to be considered for distillations. This symposium will serve as an ad hoc community of practice by including time for discussion and conversation among presenters and attendees.
S157f: Bridging Pathways: Preparing Chemistry Students for Industry Careers and Graduate School Success
Theme: Aligning Curriculum with Workforce Needs.
Preparing students for life beyond the undergraduate classroom is a critical responsibility of chemistry educators and program leaders. The ACS Guidelines for Bachelor’s Degree Programs emphasize not only content knowledge but also skill development (particularly laboratory skills) alongside collaborative teamwork, problem-solving, and experiential learning. These competencies are essential for success in a wide range of post-graduate pathways, including careers in the private sector and advanced study in graduate or professional programs.
This symposium will explore strategies for embedding career and graduate school readiness into chemistry curricula and co-curricular experiences. One session of the symposium will focus on preparing students for industry careers with topics that could include highlighting evolving workforce needs, essential skills, and successful initiatives such as internships, co-ops, and partnerships with employers. The other session in this symposium will address graduate school preparation with topics showcasing approaches that integrate authentic disciplinary practices (i.e., research experiences, mentoring programs, and workshops) into course design and assessment.
We invite contributions from all institutional contexts that share student-centered strategies for helping chemistry students transition from academic training to professional and academic advancement.
S117f: Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) in Chemistry: Design, Implementation, and Assessment Across the Curriculum
Theme: CURE Assessment
Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) are
increasingly recognized as a powerful mechanism for centering authentic
scientific practices within the chemistry curriculum. By embedding
genuine, discovery-driven research into coursework, CUREs expand access
to high-impact learning opportunities and foster the development of
scientific identity, research skills, and persistence in STEM. This
symposium brings together chemistry educators, researchers, and program
leaders to showcase innovative approaches to designing, implementing,
assessing, and sustaining CUREs across the full spectrum of the
undergraduate chemistry curriculum, from introductory general and
non-major courses to advanced laboratory and capstone experiences.
The
session will highlight diverse CURE models, including modular,
semester-long, and interdisciplinary designs, with emphasis on
approaches that broaden participation across all levels, particularly in
the crucial first- and second-year courses where implementation
barriers are well-documented. Presentations will address practical and
pedagogical considerations such as scaffolding research skills, aligning
assessment with the iterative nature of research, developing
institutional support structures, and integrating programmatic
assessment to demonstrate the impact and value of CURE-based
instruction. Contributors are encouraged to share evidence-based
practices, lessons learned, challenges encountered, and strategies for
sustainable implementation in various institutional contexts, including
high schools, community colleges, four-year institutions, and research
universities.
Aligning with the mission of the Council on
Undergraduate Research (cur.org) and the BCCE 2026 Conference Context of
Centering Authentic Phenomena and Practices, this symposium emphasizes
the transformative potential of CUREs to create inclusive, inquiry-rich
learning environments. By highlighting successes and emerging efforts
across the chemistry curriculum, the session aims to build community,
support cross-institutional collaboration, and inspire educators to
adopt and adapt CUREs that expand equitable access to authentic research
experiences for all students.
S85: Chemistry Education Research Committee: New and Noteworthy - Invitation Only
This invited symposium is meant to highlight up to four exemplary evidence-driven papers that were published the preceding two years. These nominated and reviewed submissions must align with the criteria for the CER designation of the Journal of Chemical Education (https://bit.ly/CERC-guidelines-RiCE), although may have been published in other chemistry education journals.
Consideration of nominated papers is inclusive of qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods, and action research studies. This symposium is sponsored nominally by the DivCHED Chemistry Education Research Committee (CERC).
S362a: Engaging Students in Organic Chemistry – Present and Future Directions in the Laboratory
Engaging students effectively in the organic chemistry laboratory is a critical task to foster scientific thinking and developing problem-solving skills among students. With an emphasis on scholarly teaching practices, we invite presentations that highlight creative strategies that enhance student experience in the undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory. This symposium seeks to foster a discussion of innovations in course content and delivery by bringing together chemical educators who instruct undergraduate organic chemistry laboratories.
Presenters are invited to offer their perspectives on the development of innovative laboratory experiments, including those that synergize with lecture content. Novel or open-ended projects, including course-based undergraduate research experiences (CURE), the utilization of digital resources for visualization or scientific recordkeeping, and strategies to scaffolding the learning experience are encouraged. Advancements in the realization of large enrollment laboratory courses are of special interest, as are advancements that may be scalable to that environment.
S257b: Active Learning in Organic Chemistry: Instructional Innovations
Years of research consistently affirm that active learning pedagogies significantly enhance student success in STEM, leading to higher achievement, greater content retention, reduced DFW rates, and more positive attitudes towards science. This symposium highlights innovative instructional approaches that strengthen conceptual and mechanistic reasoning, problem-solving, and student belonging in organic chemistry by rethinking the full learning cycle—how class time is used, how students engage independently, and how feedback connects the two. Presentations may showcase flipped-classroom models, process-oriented guided inquiry activities, and collaborative or team-based learning environments, as well as technology used to enhance these approaches—for example interactive visualization tools, adaptive learning systems, AI-assisted feedback, or hybrid learning formats—that support metacognition, problem-solving, and knowledge transfer.
We invite presentations that report data on well-tested innovations, describe evolving classroom practices, or present emerging approaches seeking constructive feedback on early-stage projects. Contributors are encouraged to describe the learning challenges or areas of growth their work addresses, the design and implementation of their instructional approaches, any considerations related to access, scalability, or inclusivity, and the outcomes—observed or anticipated—including effects on engagement, performance, or understanding. Participants will gain practical strategies, adaptable tools, and implementation insights that can inform their own courses.
The session will also emphasize discussion and collaboration among instructors from all institutional contexts and course levels, cultivating a community of practice around active learning in organic chemistry.
S234c: General Chemistry Labs: Curriculum and Best Practices
The goal of this symposium is to provide an opportunity for general chemistry laboratory instructors to come together and share information about the structure of their lab course, current curriculum, recent redesigns or tried-and-true experiments, best practices, teaching or grading strategies, and/or exams and assessments. What assessments are you using for your general chemistry lab course? How has generative AI changed your lab assessments?
Have you been teaching for a while and found something that works well, or did you recently revamp your general chemistry lab curriculum and have results to share? What projects, units, or experiments work well at your college or university? As instructors, it is wonderful to get an idea about one new, interesting experiment, but it can also be helpful to see what others are doing as a whole picture.
S138d: Pathways to Engaging in Research and Practice with Alternative Grading Systems
Employing alternative grading systems (AGS) is revolutionizing educators’ approach to STEM education. With a shift away from conventional grading systems that reward students for quick adaptation and compliance, AGS are increasingly redefining the nature of assessments, educator-learner relationships, and accessibility of learning. AGS encompass a variety of grading approaches (e.g., specifications grading, standards-based grading) that decenter the role of points and performance on individual assignments to (re)design grading structures that embrace clearly defined standards, helpful and timely feedback, marks that indicate student progress, and opportunities for reattempts without penalty (Talbert & Clark, 2023).
This symposium will highlight the stories of educators as they reflect on their journey towards AGS across multiple subdisciplines of chemistry. Presenters are invited to share the (re)design of curricula with AGS approaches and empirical data on assessing students’ knowledge and perspectives using evidence-based teaching practices. This symposium will showcase both talks and distillations to explore AGS from multiple perspectives (i.e., research and practice).
Presenters are encouraged to contribute to the development of an AGS community of practice by sharing accessible resources that support their implementation of AGS in their courses. Attendees will explore a variety of AGS approaches with evidence-based scholarly findings to assess the “pros and cons” of AGS in chemistry education.
S289b: CER Graduate Student Symposium: Fixing Systems, Not People
This symposium is designed specifically to provide a constructive venue for graduate students to present their research. This symposium will feature projects that focus on systemic transformation rather than individual student change. We particularly encourage projects investigating data and theory-driven insights about systemic inequities or oppressions and projects that engage students or communities as partners.
This symposium will include full talks on projects that are more developed as well as projects in introductory phases to be presented as distillations. All presentations should clearly articulate the project’s research aims, include a clear discussion of how the project contributes to the literature to implement changes at the systemic level, and include empirical data, however preliminary. All presenters should expect to engage in constructive dialogue with audience members following their presentation.
Presenters can conclude by soliciting for specific types of feedback if they choose. This symposium is organized and hosted by the Early Career Chemistry Education Scholars Committee of DivCHED as part of their larger mission to foster research advancement in the next generation of chemistry education researchers.
S160a: Celebrating Cathy Middlecamp: Lessons From our Students
This symposium will celebrate Cathy Middlecamp’s more than 50 years in chemistry as a mentor, teacher, author, and colleague. As Cathy points out, “From day one, my students were my teachers.” What have you learned from your students? And what have you learned from Cathy?
We invite presentations that emphasize Cathy’s lessons in teaching, leadership, and environmental sustainability from her long career at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, teaching thousands of students in chemistry and environmental studies, serving as the editor-in-chief of the ACS textbook, Chemistry in Context, and leading workshops and community building events. Invited presentations should emphasize the broad impact of Cathy’s career on others.
W147: Adopt, Adapt, Activate: Implementing ACS GCI modules to integrate green chemistry and UNSDGs in chemistry courses
In 2023, the ACS Committee on Professional Training updated the ACS Guidelines for Bachelor’s degree programs to include green chemistry and systems thinking in the curriculum. To support this addition, the ACS Green Chemistry Institute (GCI) partnered with faculty to develop instructional modules that connect core topics from general and organic chemistry to green chemistry principles. These modules demonstrate how green chemistry advances the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and provide tools for integrating sustainability across chemistry courses. Designed with a systems-thinking approach, the modules help students connect molecular-level processes to global challenges. Each module includes assessments and activities that can replace approximately a week of lecture or be used as standalone lessons, supporting flexible implementation. In this workshop, participants will work in small groups with facilitators to adapt a module activity and develop strategies for implementing it in their own courses. Facilitators are members of the module development team and represent a range of institution types. Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W349: Harnessing AI for Chemistry Productivity
Modern artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming both scientific research and everyday life. This interactive workshop equips participants with tools and insights for integrating both deterministic and stochastic AI technologies into chemistry education and research workflows. Participants will use the Wolfram Notebook Assistant and Chat Notebooks, along with built-in large language model (LLM) functions in the Wolfram Language, within a unified computational notebook environment.
The session explores approaches to prompt engineering, the development of custom AI tools, and the integration of services from multiple LLM providers while remaining grounded in curated chemical knowledge. Strategies for reducing AI hallucinations through retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) are introduced to support the generation of reliable, data-informed outputs. Participants will also explore how to design tools aligned with specific learning goals and integrate them into a notebook environment.
The workshop is suitable for educators, researchers, and students seeking to incorporate AI into their chemistry work. Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W50: 3D Printed Analytical Instrument Kits for Engaging Students in Laboratory Learning: Inexpensive and User-Friendly Tools for STEM Educators
While low-cost instruments have been developed using everyday materials, expanded access to 3D printing through makerspaces and university fabrication centers allows educators to move beyond these limitations. Advances in computer-aided design (CAD) and 3D printing have created new opportunities for developing innovative educational tools, though barriers remain for those unfamiliar with these technologies. This workshop introduces participants to the design of simple analytical instruments, such as colorimeters and fluorimeters, using accessible CAD software.
Participants will first develop foundational design skills and then engage in a hands-on laboratory activity using 3D-printed analytical instrument kits. Each participant will receive a take-home kit, along with CAD models and stereolithography (STL) files for producing simple and inexpensive analytical instruments. Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for integrating these tools into their own teaching.
W179: Active Learning in Organic Chemistry: Backward Design 2026
Meaningful instructional change begins with a clear understanding of what students should learn and how that learning will be assessed. Before introducing new teaching strategies or active-learning techniques, both instructors and students benefit from well-articulated learning goals and aligned assessments. Grounded in the principles of backward design, this workshop guides participants through a structured process for defining and assessing learning in undergraduate organic chemistry.
Drawing on Wiggins and McTighe’s Understanding by Design, Fink’s Creating Significant Learning Experiences, Zakrajsek and Nilson’s Teaching at Its Best, and Barkley and Major’s Learning Assessment Techniques, participants will develop course- and topic-level learning outcomes, design assessments across cognitive levels, and use a Learning Goal Inventory to identify and prioritize the outcomes most essential to their teaching. Although the backward-design framework applies broadly, examples and activities emphasize the organic chemistry curriculum, and high school teachers of organic chemistry are also welcome to attend. Participants will leave with a refined set of outcomes, example assessments, and a framework for aligning course structure with desired results.
W361: A workshop for and by disciplinary STEM faculty: Learn how to design high-quality qualitative educational research!
This workshop introduces instructional and disciplinary tenure-track STEM faculty to high-quality qualitative research design so they can investigate educational phenomena that matter to them. Participants will engage with the ProQual approach, a methodologically accessible way of thinking about qualitative research design developed over the past five years as part of the NSF-funded ProQual Institute for Research Methods. Through guided activities, participants will develop the foundation for a qualitative research study by defining a Social Reality Under Investigation (SRUI).
Participants will gain knowledge of the ProQual approach and a quality framework to guide future educational research efforts, as well as access to a repository of materials and a community to support continued development of their work. Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation..
W73: Get Programming into Your Course: Free Online Teaching Modules for Chemistry Courses
The MoISSI Advancing Curricular Transformation in the Computational and Molecular Sciences (ACT-CMS) community supports educators in integrating computational thinking and coding into undergraduate courses through freely available open educational resources. This hands-on workshop introduces faculty to the ACT-CMS online portal and its collection of modules that apply computer coding to curricular activities across general and advanced chemistry courses, including analytical chemistry, physical chemistry, biochemistry, and molecular biology, where computational literacy and cyberinfrastructure skills are increasingly important. Designed for faculty with basic coding experience, including familiarity with Jupyter notebooks, loops, and variables in Python, the session guides participants in exploring MoISSI modules, examining best practices for teaching coding using live-coding strategies, and developing a plan for integrating a module into their own course or laboratory.
Participants will define student learning outcomes, identify implementation timelines, and consider how to adapt modules to fit their course goals. The workshop is highly interactive, emphasizing peer discussion, live demonstrations, and dedicated planning time. Attendees will leave with a chosen module, a strategy for implementation, and the confidence to bring computational tools into their classrooms.
W340: Integrating Data Literacy and Data Science in the Chemistry Classroom
Preparing students to be critical consumers and creators of data is increasingly essential for success across scientific and technical fields. The ability to manage, analyze, and visualize data must be paired with skills in interpretation, contextualization, and communication to support meaningful understanding of molecular systems. This interactive workshop engages participants in evidence-based approaches for integrating technical and durable data science skills into chemistry and biochemistry curricula.
The session begins with a discussion of a framework connecting data literacy, durable data skills, and molecular biosciences pedagogy. Participants then explore how instructional design can be informed by learner personas and course context to support students with varying levels of quantitative and computational experience. The workshop includes hands-on practice using spreadsheet-based biochemical datasets to apply tidy data principles.
Participants will identify common data quality issues, clean and normalize datasets, and consider how these activities support understanding of data provenance, reproducibility, and ethical data use. Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W270: Supporting 21st Century Skills Development Through beSocratic
This workshop focuses on designing formative learning and assessment tasks using beSocratic to support and evaluate the development of 21st century skills. Participants will explore how to use the platform to gather evidence of student learning, particularly in areas such as critical thinking, complex problem solving, and communication. While higher education aims to prepare students as productive citizens and critical consumers and creators of knowledge, traditional assessments and technology platforms often make it difficult to capture evidence of these skills.
beSocratic provides an approach to formative assessment that emphasizes constructed responses, allowing students to produce written and drawn explanations of increasingly complex phenomena. These activities engage students in modeling, explanation, argumentation, and prediction of mechanisms and system behavior, while also generating explicit evidence of what students know and can do. Participants will work with examples and consider how to design or adapt tasks that support the development and assessment of these skills in their own courses.
W222: WebMO Hands-On Workshop
Computational chemistry is now a requirement for ACS-approved chemistry programs, and this workshop focuses on using WebMO as a low-cost, high-performance platform for integrating computational chemistry into the curriculum. WebMO is a web-based interface to modern computational chemistry programs, including GAMESS, Gaussian, MolPro, MOPAC, NWChem, ORCA, PQS, PSI4, Q-Chem, TeraChem, Tinker, Quantum ESPRESSO, VASP, and xTB. Using a web browser, students can draw three-dimensional molecular structures, run calculations, and visualize results.
WebMO is accessible for novice users, with reasonable defaults and graphical outputs, while also offering flexibility for more advanced users through full access to input and output files. Workshop topics include an overview of WebMO features and capabilities; drawing molecules using the WebMO editor; running a range of computational job types; visualizing results; and importing and exporting molecular structures and calculations. Participants will explore how these tools can be incorporated into high school and undergraduate courses to support student learning in computational chemistry.
Time Slot: 10:30 AM - 11:40 AM
S176b: Student Engagement & Curriculum Development in Large Classes
Gateway chemistry courses serve as critical junctures in students' academic journeys, yet large-enrollment formats in these courses present persistent challenges to creating effective learning environments: shifts in student preparation, remote/hybrid learning legacies, increased diversity of learner backgrounds, and renewed urgency for inclusive, active, and scalable pedagogies. A key challenge is helping students develop these skills while covering essential content in large enrollment lectures. This symposium explores how to create highly effective learning environments in large-enrollment settings that support student engagement, problem-solving proficiency, and retention.
This symposium brings together chemistry educators and researchers to address fundamental questions: (1) How can we foster meaningful engagement and deeper learning when teaching hundreds of students? (2) What practices translate effectively to large-enrollment settings? Presenters will share how they have used critical reflection, research on teaching and learning, and/or data from their classrooms, to develop practical solutions for large-enrollment courses.
Topics will span curriculum design/redesign that incorporates active learning at scale, innovative learning activities that promote student engagement, and assessment strategies that provide meaningful feedback while remaining sustainable in large enrollment formats. Also welcomed are talks that discuss how AI technology can facilitate these goals. This symposium aims to support a community of educators facing similar challenges, to advance our collective understanding of what works in large-enrollment gateway courses, and to foster partnerships that bridge theory, research, and practice.
Attendees will discover new approaches to learning, engagement, and course design to enhance their teaching.
S56b: Experiential Learning and Community-Engaged Chemical Education Initiatives
Experiential learning and community-engaged pedagogy are powerful approaches for engaging students, deepening understanding, and fostering persistence in STEM pathways. Yet many students—particularly those in first- and second-year courses—struggle to see the relevance of chemistry beyond the classroom. This symposium highlights equity-focused initiatives that integrate experiential and community-based learning to support diverse students pursuing chemistry and STEM degrees, and is meant for educators at both two-year and four-year institutions.
This symposium invites chemical educators to share programs, curricula, and partnerships that leverage experiential and community-engaged learning. Experiential learning includes authentic, hands-on experiences like course-based projects and service-learning, while community-engaged learning connects students with partners to address locally relevant, real-world problems. Both of these pedagogical approaches help contextualize abstract chemical concepts, making the subject meaningful and accessible.
The symposium will focus on initiatives where students gain a deeper appreciation for chemistry's societal impact while developing essential skills in communication, collaboration, problem-solving, and civic responsibility, often addressing issues related to environmental justice, public health, nutrition, or sustainability. Presentations may also address strategies for successful course completion, transfer, and degree attainment; building and sustaining community partnerships; assessing student learning and engagement; and lessons learned.
Time Slot: 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM
Tuesday Tours of UW–Madison’s New Teaching Facilities
The Department of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison recently completed a major building project that reimagines undergraduate chemistry teaching and learning. Decades-old instructional spaces no longer aligned with contemporary safety standards, enrollment demands, or evidence-based teaching practices. The new instructional tower and renovated spaces were designed to address these challenges while creating a more modern, flexible, and student-centered learning environment.
This will be a guided tour of the updated instructional facilities, including modern teaching laboratories that meet modern safety expectations, flexible lecture halls and classrooms designed for active and collaborative learning, and accessible student-support spaces that promote community and academic success.
The session will also create space for discussion about the design principles that shaped the project, including lab modernization, safety infrastructure, active-learning classroom design, and strategies for supporting high-enrollment chemistry programs.
This session will be of interest to colleagues considering facilities renovations, new construction, lab redesign, or other efforts to align physical space with contemporary chemistry education goals.
B467: Impact of Departmental Staff Roles on Chemistry PhD Student Education, Wellness, and Professional Development
Chemistry graduate programs offer a variety of avenues of support for the graduate student experience overall and for promoting wellness in particular, but very few have a formalized staff role dedicated to the professional development and wellness of all graduate students. The proposed “Birds of a Feather” session will begin with a panel of representative staff from 3 major institutions in Chemistry: Miriam Krause is the Director of Graduate Professional & Career Development for the University of Minnesota Department of Chemistry, Raylene Bentlin is the Assistant Director for Student Wellness and Advocacy for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Departments of Chemistry and Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, and Joshua Cox is the Assistant Director of Graduate Studies for the Harvard University Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.
Panelists will present an exploration of the similarities and differences between the contrasting roles that exist within the same realm of student wellness and advocacy, including brief overviews of their individual functioning within each department, programming and initiatives proposed for structural and community improvement, and impacts on graduate student communities through education, training and climate monitoring. The remainder of the session will be dedicated to discussion with the audience, including networking for others who are doing similar work within their own departments and answering questions for those who are interested in launching graduate student support initiatives and establishing future staff roles dedicated to this work.
B785: In Search of Engaging and Valuable Introductory Organic Chemistry Lab Experiences
Introductory organic chemistry laboratory courses play a critical role in shaping students’ scientific identity, yet traditional “cookbook-style” experiments often fail to foster genuine engagement and conceptual understanding of chemistry principles. This discussion will focus on brainstorming strategies for developing and implementing more meaningful, student-centered laboratory experiences.
Attendees will be guided to focus on examples of experiments that utilize various frameworks that increase students' engagement, provide opportunities for building stronger problem-solving skills and deeper conceptual understanding: active learning, small-molecule synthesis connected to real-world applications, experiments that encourage critical thinking through authentic spectroscopic analysis (IR, NMR, GC–MS), short research-like modules and CUREs, and green chemistry applications.
B1263: Non-tenure Track Career Paths in Chemistry
Non-tenure track faculty now constitute nearly half of the academic workforce. These types of positions face unique challenges regarding job security, compensation, and inclusion both at the institutional and national level. This BOaF session invites all contingent and non-tenured faculty to exchange their experiences, discuss strategies for navigating this chemical education career path, and share resources.
We will discuss institutional titles, shared governance roles, mentorship (formal and informal), professional development, review structures, external funding paths, networking opportunities and more!
Time Slot: 12:00 PM - 03:30 PM
Tuesday Afternoon Exhibition Prime Time
Time Slot: 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
B417: How We Share Chemistry Labs
Chemistry lab instructors and coordinators frequently design or redesign experiments, even when similar labs are freely available through colleagues, repositories, or OER collections. Why does this keep happening?
This Birds-of-a-Feather session invites lab instructors and coordinators to compare experiences and unpack the practical reasons why writing a new experiment or lab is easier than adopting an existing one.
The structured conversation will be facilitated by instructors involved in chemistry lab curriculum development and cross-institution resource sharing, using a few guiding questions:
- What information do you usually wish you had when looking at a “ready-to-use” lab?
- Which constraints (stockroom, safety, scale, modality, assessment) most often require a lab redesign?
- How did you actually adopt or adapt a shared lab?
B1399: When Teaching Necessitates Managing TAs
"Teaching" multiple sections of a large course mandates that instructors shift into the role of manager. From mentoring TAs as new teachers and young professionals to working to ensure that all students in all sections have a uniform experience, managing multiple sections of a course requires deliberate effort and decision making.
This Birds of a Feather will be a time to exchange tips and strategies for effectively managing TAs.
B976: Navigating Burnout and Supporting Mental Health in Graduate School
This session is aimed to be an informal, safe, and inclusive space for current students enrolled in graduate programs of study to discuss experiences with burnout and mental health challenges. We will discuss factors that contribute to or exacerbate feelings of burnout, as well as those that help reduce them.
We will also share coping strategies that have been effective in managing or alleviating burnout and mental health challenges.
B442: Introducing the ACS Two-Year College Recognition Program
Since the 1960’s, the American Chemical Society (ACS) has developed programming that supports two-year colleges. More recently, we responded to two-year faculty requests for a recognition system that would prepare transfer students for four-year college chemistry programs and strengthen articulation agreements between two-year and four-year institutions. The resulting ACS 2YC Recognition for programs that support transfer students is the focus of this Birds of a Feather session.
During this session, we will introduce and describe the new program for faculty and administrators at two-year college chemistry programs. Specifically, we’ll discuss the newly modified ACS Two-Year Guidelines, the benefits of ACS recognition, and an overview of the recognition process. We will also invite faculty and administrators to consider applying for the program, which is expected to launch in January 2027. Finally, we will collect feedback and answer questions from participants in an open discussion session.
B808: Lessons in (Teaching College) Chemistry
The intent of this discussion is to guide new or returning college professors (and those in charge of them) through the sometimes-harrowing early years of college-level teaching. We will focus on the mechanics of teaching to a college audience and create a clearinghouse of anecdotes and ideas related to teaching science at the college level. Topics may include generational differences, accommodating different learning styles in the same classroom, incorporating innovative and not-so-innovative teaching methods, smaller v.
larger class dynamics, remote v. in-person instruction, and promotion and tenure issues. Experienced and less experienced professors are welcome to join the conversation.
Time Slot: 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM
Tuesday Data & Dessert
Tuesday Data & Dessert Menu
- fruit, cheese, and meat platters
- water
- soda
- sparkling water
(subject to minor changes)
Poster Session: Tripp Commons (Interactive)
This poster session provides a dedicated opportunity for presenters and attendees to engage in extended, in-depth conversation. During the scheduled session time, presenters are expected to be at their posters to discuss their work, answer questions, and interact with participants.
Attendees are encouraged to move freely among posters and locations, explore a range of topics, and engage directly with presenters. This format supports rich dialogue, networking, and the exchange of ideas within the community.
Poster Session: Main Lounge (Interactive)
This poster session provides a dedicated opportunity for presenters and attendees to engage in extended, in-depth conversation. During the scheduled session time, presenters are expected to be at their posters to discuss their work, answer questions, and interact with participants.
Attendees are encouraged to move freely among posters and locations, explore a range of topics, and engage directly with presenters. This format supports rich dialogue, networking, and the exchange of ideas within the community.
Poster Session: Great Hall (Interactive)
This poster session provides a dedicated opportunity for presenters and attendees to engage in extended, in-depth conversation. During the scheduled session time, presenters are expected to be at their posters to discuss their work, answer questions, and interact with participants.
Attendees are encouraged to move freely among posters and locations, explore a range of topics, and engage directly with presenters. This format supports rich dialogue, networking, and the exchange of ideas within the community.
Poster Session: Multicultural Greek Council (Interactive)
This poster session provides a dedicated opportunity for presenters and attendees to engage in extended, in-depth conversation. During the scheduled session time, presenters are expected to be at their posters to discuss their work, answer questions, and interact with participants.
Attendees are encouraged to move freely among posters and locations, explore a range of topics, and engage directly with presenters. This format supports rich dialogue, networking, and the exchange of ideas within the community.
Time Slot: 03:30 PM - 05:30 PM
Tuesday Afternoon Exhibition Open
Time Slot: 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
S363b: Teaching and Learning Chemistry with Artificial Intelligence (AI): Tools, Ethics, Assessment, and Evidence-based Approaches
Artificial Intelligence is rapidly transforming chemistry education, offering new opportunities and challenges for teaching, learning, and assessment. This symposium explores the pedagogical integration of AI technologies, including generative models, adaptive learning platforms, and intelligent tutoring systems, across diverse educational contexts, from introductory chemistry courses to advanced laboratory and upper-division courses for majors and non-majors alike. We invite contributions that showcase innovative uses of AI tools to support student learning, enhance engagement, personalize instruction, and improve assessment practices at the course and instructional level.
Topics may include AI-assisted formative assessments, curriculum design and content development (e.g. reaction mechanisms, molecular visualizations, or analytical data interpretation), learning activities leveraging AI, and strategies for preparing students to critically engage with AI in scientific practice. As AI becomes increasingly accessible, educators face important questions about academic integrity, concerns about diminished critical thinking, and responsible use. This symposium provides a platform for instructors and researchers to share evidence-based insights, including successes, challenges, and lessons learned from classroom and laboratory implementations. We welcome presentations on innovative pedagogical approaches, differentiated instruction strategies, and practical applications that individual instructors or small teams have developed to integrate AI effectively into their teaching practice.
Aligned with the BCCE 2026 Conference Context of Integrating Technology Effectively, this symposium directly addresses how AI tools can be thoughtfully implemented at the instructional level to enhance teaching and learning while maintaining pedagogical rigor and ethical standards. Through data- and theory-driven presentations, attendees will gain practical tools, critical perspectives, and connections with collaborators working to integrate AI in ways that enhance student learning, maintain academic integrity, and promote inclusive, engaging chemistry education for all learners.
S203c: Improving Chemistry Learning Through Interactive Online Courseware and Shared Data Insights
Interactive online courseware is transforming not only how we teach and learn chemistry, but also how we study the learning process itself. By incorporating interactive activities with immediate feedback, these platforms support student success while generating detailed data that reveal how understanding develops over time. Modern courseware integrates concise explanations with opportunities for practice, reflection, and targeted feedback, creating conditions that promote mastery while producing fine-grained datasets for continuous improvement and research.
Aligned with the BCCE theme of Integrating Technology Effectively, this symposium highlights work that uses online chemistry courseware and the learning data it generates to enhance equity, deepen conceptual understanding, and improve instructional effectiveness. We invite work on topics such as:
- Instructional design strategies that leverage interactive courseware in diverse teaching contexts;
- Implementation challenges and lessons learned when incorporating courseware into real instructional settings;
- Analyses of learning data to identify and mitigate inequities;
- Studies linking analytics to cognitive and affective dimensions of student learning;
- Innovations in the use of AI within online learning environments; and
- Methods for monitoring how learning unfolds over time, offering richer insight than traditional pre–post measures alone.
We welcome contributions that involve using online chemistry courseware, drawing on courseware-generated data, or leveraging learning analytics approaches to promote evidence-based instructional change. We especially encourage submissions that share innovations and help build a community committed to advancing chemistry education through data-informed practice.
S200b: POGIL and The POGIL Project: A Community of Transformation
POGIL (Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning) is a student-centered, evidence-based pedagogy that has been widely adopted across secondary and post-secondary chemistry teaching. In addition to supporting student learning through structured team-based activities that follow a learning cycle of exploration, concept invention, and application, The POGIL Project sustains a vibrant community of practice that plays a central role in shaping, supporting, and refining instructors’ work. As described by Kezar (2015), The POGIL Project represents a “Community of Transformation”: a professional community that not only promotes shared pedagogical practices but also supports members’ professional development, instructional identity, and reflective cycles of improvement.
The mission of the organization is to support educators who "design, implement, assess, and study learner-centered environments." Submissions may address any of these four aspects of The POGIL Project mission and may include work from classrooms or laboratories, professional learning contexts, or collaborative research and development efforts. Presenters are encouraged to highlight how engagement in this community sustains their ongoing instructional growth and supports the collective development of learner-centered environments.
S295b: From the Desk of Lab Program Directors: Lessons Learned in the Lab
Being a lab program director requires a front-seat perspective on every aspect of the laboratory experience. This multifaceted role demands constant flexibility, problem-solving skills, and a strategic view of curriculum development, student and program assessment, and weekly logistics. This symposium will serve as a dedicated venue for leaders overseeing core chemistry labs (General, Organic, GOB, and Analytical) to foster connections and facilitate the sharing of challenges, solutions, and strategies to enrich the student laboratory experience.
The main focus will be on how directors intentionally build and maintain dynamic learning environments that foster both hands-on and fundamental "mind-on" skills. This goes beyond repeating measurements to developing chemical reasoning, understanding underlying principles, and applying methods to novel problems to truly allow students to "be like a chemist in the lab." We will explore the intersectional attributes of curriculum design, program development, and formal assessment and evaluation. Presenters are invited to share their experiences, specifically addressing three tangible areas: What tangible goals are set in their lab curriculum, and what limitations or trade-offs (resource, curricular placement, etc.) had to be overcome to set those goals?; How have these goals been implemented at their institution?; How have they delivered satisfactory student outcomes regarding both fundamental and transferable laboratory skills?
Ultimately, this symposium seeks to develop a community where we can support one another and collectively identify the most effective, sustainable, and realistic strategies for imparting the necessary laboratory and transferable skills required for student success in the lab.
S133a: Advances in Research and Practice on Sustainability in the Lab
This symposium invites qualitative and quantitative research, as well as teaching-focused contributions, centered on undergraduate chemistry laboratory courses with a focus on green chemistry and sustainability, systems thinking, and safety. In alignment with updated ACS Guidelines, we welcome studies on lab curriculum and experiment design, instructional strategies at the bench, and student engagement that integrate these themes. While introductory labs are of interest, we especially encourage submissions related to advanced laboratories such as organic, analytical, physical, and biochemistry.
Relevant topics include instructor practices, student learning in the lab, pre-lab preparation, waste and energy reduction, assessments of laboratory skills and attitudes, and course- or program-wide initiatives, including CUREs. Submissions should highlight efforts that enhance chemistry education and support meaningful student learning and more sustainable laboratory practice.
S246c: Second Chances in STEM: Equitable Assessment in Large Enrollment Chemistry Courses
Traditional high-stakes assessments in large enrollment chemistry courses often reinforce systemic inequities, disproportionately affecting students from marginalized backgrounds. However, the very real challenges presented by evaluating hundreds of students can feel restrictive when considering assessment options. This symposium will feature a series of talks showcasing how faculty have implemented “second chance” assessment strategies—such as exam corrections, retakes, and alternative formats—to promote equity, mastery, and student persistence in STEM. These approaches not only reduce performance anxiety and support diverse learners but also provide a powerful incentive for students to revisit their mistakes, reflect on their understanding, and engage more deeply with the material. This turns assessment into a meaningful learning opportunity without sacrificing academic rigor.
This symposium addresses the conference context of fixing systems, not students. Rather than framing students as the issue to be addressed, these strategies aim to fix systems by rethinking rigid grading structures and implementing new assessment strategies. Second-chance assessments recognize that learning is nonlinear and that one-time evaluation of student learning rarely reflects true understanding. By offering structured opportunities for students to demonstrate mastery, instructors foster a growth mindset and support long-term retention.
Additionally, this symposium also addresses the conference context of integrating technology effectively. Speakers will present scalable models for reassessment in large chemistry courses, including implementation logistics, grading workflows, and student outcomes. Talks will highlight how these practices align with equitable grading philosophies and inclusive pedagogy, and how they can be adapted across institutional contexts.
Second chances on exams or quizzes are not about lowering standards—they are about raising support and reimagining assessment as a tool for learning. This symposium invites educators to consider how intentional reassessment practices can transform STEM education and create more inclusive pathways for student success.
S292c: Peer-mediated Chemistry Learning and Instruction
Many chemistry classes use one or multiple models of peer-mediated learning, such as Learning Assistants (LAs), Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL), or Supplemental Instruction (SI). While there are differences between these models, they all involve undergraduate students who have studied the content of the course prior to instruction and can serve as “expert learners” in order to support student learning and leverage near-peer effects. Research on near-peer instruction and peer-mediated learning has shown that near-peer instructors support students both conceptually and socioemotionally.
Near-peer instructors engage in scholarly teaching and can be a leverage to promote scholarly teaching beyond their own practice, helping build communities of practice focused on evidence-based, student-centered instruction. In this symposium, data- and theory-driven insights will advance our community’s understanding of the impact and mechanisms of near-peer instruction and peer-mediated learning. The symposium will intentionally bridge research and practice by featuring both theoretical insights and practitioner presentations on innovative learning activities and environments involving near-peer instructors.
This symposium will showcase rich educational development and research work while growing community around peer-mediated learning with the goal to deepen our collaboration and understanding of working with students as partners on improving chemistry education. Grounded in the principle of fixing systems, not people, this symposium emphasizes the critical role near-peer instructors play in reshaping classroom culture and instructional practices in a way that dismantles barriers, fosters inclusion, and ensures chemistry education reflects the diverse talents and perspectives of our students.
S255c: George R. Hague Memorial AP/IB Chemistry Symposium
In this symposium, participants will hear from the AP Chemistry Chief Reader about lessons learned from the 2026 administration of the AP Chemistry exam. A representative from the College Board may also present developments in AP Chemistry.
In addition, presenters will present pedagogical tools for successfully teaching AP and IB chemistry. Talks which present effective pedagogy centered around authentic phenomena will be prioritized.
S151a: Modeling Competence in Undergraduate Chemistry
Models are central tools for both communicating knowledge within scientific disciplines and deriving hypotheses about unknown phenomena. Recognizing the importance of engaging learners in these authentic scientific practices, educational frameworks emphasize modeling as a key scientific practice that should be explicitly addressed. Consequently, instructors and learners at all levels need to develop modeling competence. This includes the skills to practically use models as well as actively reflect on models and modeling processes at an epistemic level, often referred to as meta-modeling knowledge.
In chemistry, models play a central role. Almost every observable phenomenon at the macroscopic level requires submicroscopic or symbolic representations or models to describe, explain, or predict particle-level interactions. However, modeling in chemistry often takes place with limited connections to the macroscopic scale, and students often are not prompted to reflect on the type or purpose of the models they use. Thus, students’ modeling processes can often be fragmented. Yet, modeling activities in chemistry have seldom been examined through the lens of modeling competence, though such perspectives could give insights into the interplay between conceptual knowledge and meta-modeling knowledge.
This symposium will bring together perspectives from different contexts of chemistry that use modeling competence as an analytical framework to investigate student activities. It will provide space for discussions on how meta-modeling knowledge relates to conceptual understanding, modeling-in-action, representational competence, and how it can contribute to broader scientific literacy. The symposium aligns with the conference theme “centering authentic phenomena” by highlighting how modeling is an integral part of disciplinary practices and how the lens of modeling competence can be used to investigate those activities. The following intersectional attributes “learning activities and environments” and “professional development” will also be addressed through discussions on how to engage students in meta-modeling development and ways to support instructors in implementing these practices.
S142a: Chemistry for a General Education Audience
Many undergraduate institutions require students to take one or more science courses to fulfill general education requirements. While students can fulfill these requirements by taking courses targeted toward those majoring in STEM fields, many take courses that are designed specifically for the general education audience. This symposium focuses on courses specifically designed to fulfill general education requirements that do not meet requirements for science majors.
These courses best serve our general education students when they are grounded in authentic phenomena that can foster students’ interest in chemistry and help them see the relevance to their lives and interests. We welcome talks about the full range of chemistry for general education students, from chemistry courses with labs, to exploring related fields through the lens of chemistry, to single chemistry focused lessons or units within a broader science course. Talks may focus on course design, challenges faced in teaching these courses (and how they have been overcome), or individual lessons that have been particularly effective.
S157g: Bridging Pathways: Preparing Chemistry Students for Industry Careers and Graduate School Success
Theme: Aligning Curriculum with Workforce Needs.
Preparing students for life beyond the undergraduate classroom is a critical responsibility of chemistry educators and program leaders. The ACS Guidelines for Bachelor’s Degree Programs emphasize not only content knowledge but also skill development (particularly laboratory skills) alongside collaborative teamwork, problem-solving, and experiential learning. These competencies are essential for success in a wide range of post-graduate pathways, including careers in the private sector and advanced study in graduate or professional programs.
This symposium will explore strategies for embedding career and graduate school readiness into chemistry curricula and co-curricular experiences. One session of the symposium will focus on preparing students for industry careers with topics that could include highlighting evolving workforce needs, essential skills, and successful initiatives such as internships, co-ops, and partnerships with employers. The other session in this symposium will address graduate school preparation with topics showcasing approaches that integrate authentic disciplinary practices (i.e., research experiences, mentoring programs, and workshops) into course design and assessment.
We invite contributions from all institutional contexts that share student-centered strategies for helping chemistry students transition from academic training to professional and academic advancement.
S117g: Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) in Chemistry: Design, Implementation, and Assessment Across the Curriculum
Theme: CURE Best-practiceCourse-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) are
increasingly recognized as a powerful mechanism for centering authentic
scientific practices within the chemistry curriculum. By embedding
genuine, discovery-driven research into coursework, CUREs expand access
to high-impact learning opportunities and foster the development of
scientific identity, research skills, and persistence in STEM. This
symposium brings together chemistry educators, researchers, and program
leaders to showcase innovative approaches to designing, implementing,
assessing, and sustaining CUREs across the full spectrum of the
undergraduate chemistry curriculum, from introductory general and
non-major courses to advanced laboratory and capstone experiences.
The
session will highlight diverse CURE models, including modular,
semester-long, and interdisciplinary designs, with emphasis on
approaches that broaden participation across all levels, particularly in
the crucial first- and second-year courses where implementation
barriers are well-documented. Presentations will address practical and
pedagogical considerations such as scaffolding research skills, aligning
assessment with the iterative nature of research, developing
institutional support structures, and integrating programmatic
assessment to demonstrate the impact and value of CURE-based
instruction. Contributors are encouraged to share evidence-based
practices, lessons learned, challenges encountered, and strategies for
sustainable implementation in various institutional contexts, including
high schools, community colleges, four-year institutions, and research
universities.
Aligning with the mission of the Council on
Undergraduate Research (cur.org) and the BCCE 2026 Conference Context of
Centering Authentic Phenomena and Practices, this symposium emphasizes
the transformative potential of CUREs to create inclusive, inquiry-rich
learning environments. By highlighting successes and emerging efforts
across the chemistry curriculum, the session aims to build community,
support cross-institutional collaboration, and inspire educators to
adopt and adapt CUREs that expand equitable access to authentic research
experiences for all students.
S362b: Engaging Students in Organic Chemistry – Present and Future Directions in the Laboratory
Engaging students effectively in the organic chemistry laboratory is a critical task to foster scientific thinking and developing problem-solving skills among students. With an emphasis on scholarly teaching practices, we invite presentations that highlight creative strategies that enhance student experience in the undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory. This symposium seeks to foster a discussion of innovations in course content and delivery by bringing together chemical educators who instruct undergraduate organic chemistry laboratories.
Presenters are invited to offer their perspectives on the development of innovative laboratory experiments, including those that synergize with lecture content. Novel or open-ended projects, including course-based undergraduate research experiences (CURE), the utilization of digital resources for visualization or scientific recordkeeping, and strategies to scaffolding the learning experience are encouraged. Advancements in the realization of large enrollment laboratory courses are of special interest, as are advancements that may be scalable to that environment.
S257c: Active Learning in Organic Chemistry: Instructional Innovations
Years of research consistently affirm that active learning pedagogies significantly enhance student success in STEM, leading to higher achievement, greater content retention, reduced DFW rates, and more positive attitudes towards science. This symposium highlights innovative instructional approaches that strengthen conceptual and mechanistic reasoning, problem-solving, and student belonging in organic chemistry by rethinking the full learning cycle—how class time is used, how students engage independently, and how feedback connects the two. Presentations may showcase flipped-classroom models, process-oriented guided inquiry activities, and collaborative or team-based learning environments, as well as technology used to enhance these approaches—for example interactive visualization tools, adaptive learning systems, AI-assisted feedback, or hybrid learning formats—that support metacognition, problem-solving, and knowledge transfer.
We invite presentations that report data on well-tested innovations, describe evolving classroom practices, or present emerging approaches seeking constructive feedback on early-stage projects. Contributors are encouraged to describe the learning challenges or areas of growth their work addresses, the design and implementation of their instructional approaches, any considerations related to access, scalability, or inclusivity, and the outcomes—observed or anticipated—including effects on engagement, performance, or understanding. Participants will gain practical strategies, adaptable tools, and implementation insights that can inform their own courses.
The session will also emphasize discussion and collaboration among instructors from all institutional contexts and course levels, cultivating a community of practice around active learning in organic chemistry.
S234d: General Chemistry Labs: Curriculum and Best Practices
The goal of this symposium is to provide an opportunity for general chemistry laboratory instructors to come together and share information about the structure of their lab course, current curriculum, recent redesigns or tried-and-true experiments, best practices, teaching or grading strategies, and/or exams and assessments. What assessments are you using for your general chemistry lab course? How has generative AI changed your lab assessments?
Have you been teaching for a while and found something that works well, or did you recently revamp your general chemistry lab curriculum and have results to share? What projects, units, or experiments work well at your college or university? As instructors, it is wonderful to get an idea about one new, interesting experiment, but it can also be helpful to see what others are doing as a whole picture.
S124a: Assessment and Measurement in Research and Practice: Design, Development, Use, and Evaluation
Assessments are a critical component of research and practice in chemistry education to evaluate what students know, gauge the impacts of curricular change, and understand the relations among student-specific characteristics and course outcomes. The process of designing and developing assessments and the information obtained from these assessments is beneficial to both researchers and practitioners. As educators and education researchers rely on assessment data to evaluate the teaching and learning of chemistry, assessments must be carefully developed with aspects of validity and reliability of the data being generated in mind.
This symposium will provide a forum for bringing
together chemistry education researchers and chemistry educators to share evidence-based methods in assessment development and measurement practices that have been used for both research and practice. Presentations on the development and evaluation of assessment instruments, novel methods of classroom, laboratory, and/or programmatic assessment, and evidence that supports the validity and reliability of the data generated using assessments are welcome. Presentations are not restricted to any one sub-discipline of chemistry.
Presentations are also welcome from international speakers and student speakers at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral levels.
S289c: CER Graduate Student Symposium: Fixing Systems, Not People
This symposium is designed specifically to provide a constructive venue for graduate students to present their research. This symposium will feature projects that focus on systemic transformation rather than individual student change. We particularly encourage projects investigating data and theory-driven insights about systemic inequities or oppressions and projects that engage students or communities as partners.
This symposium will include full talks on projects that are more developed as well as projects in introductory phases to be presented as distillations. All presentations should clearly articulate the project’s research aims, include a clear discussion of how the project contributes to the literature to implement changes at the systemic level, and include empirical data, however preliminary. All presenters should expect to engage in constructive dialogue with audience members following their presentation.
Presenters can conclude by soliciting for specific types of feedback if they choose. This symposium is organized and hosted by the Early Career Chemistry Education Scholars Committee of DivCHED as part of their larger mission to foster research advancement in the next generation of chemistry education researchers.
W147: Adopt, Adapt, Activate: Implementing ACS GCI modules to integrate green chemistry and UNSDGs in chemistry courses
In 2023, the ACS Committee on Professional Training updated the ACS Guidelines for Bachelor’s degree programs to include green chemistry and systems thinking in the curriculum. To support this addition, the ACS Green Chemistry Institute (GCI) partnered with faculty to develop instructional modules that connect core topics from general and organic chemistry to green chemistry principles. These modules demonstrate how green chemistry advances the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and provide tools for integrating sustainability across chemistry courses.
Designed with a systems-thinking approach, the modules help students connect molecular-level processes to global challenges. Each module includes assessments and activities that can replace approximately a week of lecture or be used as standalone lessons, supporting flexible implementation. In this workshop, participants will work in small groups with facilitators to adapt a module activity and develop strategies for implementing it in their own courses.
Facilitators are members of the module development team and represent a range of institution types. Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W250: Molecular Modeling Across Lecture, Lab, and Assignments with State-of-the-Art Software
This workshop introduces two recently updated molecular modeling programs (Spartan Student Edition and Odyssey Molecular Explorer) hat mirror research-level software while being adapted for chemistry instruction. Spartan Student Edition supports molecular mechanics and quantum chemistry calculations and incorporates machine learning to enable rapid access to high-quality electronic structure results. Odyssey Molecular Explorer has been redesigned to facilitate the integration of molecular modeling into general chemistry curricula at both the college and secondary levels.
Both programs provide interactive 3D visualization tools that support exploration of molecular structure and chemical phenomena. Participants will work through practical examples drawn from the general, organic, and physical chemistry curriculum, illustrating how molecular modeling can be incorporated across lectures, laboratory activities, and assignments. Attendees will gain experience using these tools and consider strategies for integrating molecular modeling into their own teaching.
W50: 3D Printed Analytical Instrument Kits for Engaging Students in Laboratory Learning: Inexpensive and User-Friendly Tools for STEM Educators
While low-cost instruments have been developed using everyday materials, expanded access to 3D printing through makerspaces and university fabrication centers allows educators to move beyond these limitations. Advances in computer-aided design (CAD) and 3D printing have created new opportunities for developing innovative educational tools, though barriers remain for those unfamiliar with these technologies. This workshop introduces participants to the design of simple analytical instruments, such as colorimeters and fluorimeters, using accessible CAD software.
Participants will first develop foundational design skills and then engage in a hands-on laboratory activity using 3D-printed analytical instrument kits. Each participant will receive a take-home kit, along with CAD models and stereolithography (STL) files for producing simple and inexpensive analytical instruments. Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for integrating these tools into their own teaching.
W361: A workshop for and by disciplinary STEM faculty: Learn how to design high-quality qualitative educational research!
This workshop introduces instructional and disciplinary tenure-track STEM faculty to high-quality qualitative research design so they can investigate educational phenomena that matter to them. Participants will engage with the ProQual approach, a methodologically accessible way of thinking about qualitative research design developed over the past five years as part of the NSF-funded ProQual Institute for Research Methods. Through guided activities, participants will develop the foundation for a qualitative research study by defining a Social Reality Under Investigation (SRUI).
Participants will gain knowledge of the ProQual approach and a quality framework to guide future educational research efforts, as well as access to a repository of materials and a community to support continued development of their work. Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation..
W73: Get Programming into Your Course: Free Online Teaching Modules for Chemistry Courses
The MoISSI Advancing Curricular Transformation in the Computational and Molecular Sciences (ACT-CMS) community supports educators in integrating computational thinking and coding into undergraduate courses through freely available open educational resources. This hands-on workshop introduces faculty to the ACT-CMS online portal and its collection of modules that apply computer coding to curricular activities across general and advanced chemistry courses, including analytical chemistry, physical chemistry, biochemistry, and molecular biology, where computational literacy and cyberinfrastructure skills are increasingly important. Designed for faculty with basic coding experience, including familiarity with Jupyter notebooks, loops, and variables in Python, the session guides participants in exploring MoISSI modules, examining best practices for teaching coding using live-coding strategies, and developing a plan for integrating a module into their own course or laboratory.
Participants will define student learning outcomes, identify implementation timelines, and consider how to adapt modules to fit their course goals. The workshop is highly interactive, emphasizing peer discussion, live demonstrations, and dedicated planning time. Attendees will leave with a chosen module, a strategy for implementation, and the confidence to bring computational tools into their classrooms.
W270: Supporting 21st Century Skills Development Through beSocratic
This workshop focuses on designing formative learning and assessment tasks using beSocratic to support and evaluate the development of 21st century skills. Participants will explore how to use the platform to gather evidence of student learning, particularly in areas such as critical thinking, complex problem solving, and communication. While higher education aims to prepare students as productive citizens and critical consumers and creators of knowledge, traditional assessments and technology platforms often make it difficult to capture evidence of these skills.
beSocratic provides an approach to formative assessment that emphasizes constructed responses, allowing students to produce written and drawn explanations of increasingly complex phenomena. These activities engage students in modeling, explanation, argumentation, and prediction of mechanisms and system behavior, while also generating explicit evidence of what students know and can do. Participants will work with examples and consider how to design or adapt tasks that support the development and assessment of these skills in their own courses.
W222: WebMO Hands-On Workshop
Computational chemistry is now a requirement for ACS-approved chemistry programs, and this workshop focuses on using WebMO as a low-cost, high-performance platform for integrating computational chemistry into the curriculum. WebMO is a web-based interface to modern computational chemistry programs, including GAMESS, Gaussian, MolPro, MOPAC, NWChem, ORCA, PQS, PSI4, Q-Chem, TeraChem, Tinker, Quantum ESPRESSO, VASP, and xTB. Using a web browser, students can draw three-dimensional molecular structures, run calculations, and visualize results.
WebMO is accessible for novice users, with reasonable defaults and graphical outputs, while also offering flexibility for more advanced users through full access to input and output files. Workshop topics include an overview of WebMO features and capabilities; drawing molecules using the WebMO editor; running a range of computational job types; visualizing results; and importing and exporting molecular structures and calculations. Participants will explore how these tools can be incorporated into high school and undergraduate courses to support student learning in computational chemistry.
Time Slot: 03:30 PM - 04:40 PM
S176c: Student Engagement & Curriculum Development in Large Classes
Gateway chemistry courses serve as critical junctures in students' academic journeys, yet large-enrollment formats in these courses present persistent challenges to creating effective learning environments: shifts in student preparation, remote/hybrid learning legacies, increased diversity of learner backgrounds, and renewed urgency for inclusive, active, and scalable pedagogies. A key challenge is helping students develop these skills while covering essential content in large enrollment lectures. This symposium explores how to create highly effective learning environments in large-enrollment settings that support student engagement, problem-solving proficiency, and retention.
This symposium brings together chemistry educators and researchers to address fundamental questions: (1) How can we foster meaningful engagement and deeper learning when teaching hundreds of students? (2) What practices translate effectively to large-enrollment settings? Presenters will share how they have used critical reflection, research on teaching and learning, and/or data from their classrooms, to develop practical solutions for large-enrollment courses.
Topics will span curriculum design/redesign that incorporates active learning at scale, innovative learning activities that promote student engagement, and assessment strategies that provide meaningful feedback while remaining sustainable in large enrollment formats. Also welcomed are talks that discuss how AI technology can facilitate these goals. This symposium aims to support a community of educators facing similar challenges, to advance our collective understanding of what works in large-enrollment gateway courses, and to foster partnerships that bridge theory, research, and practice.
Attendees will discover new approaches to learning, engagement, and course design to enhance their teaching.
S1642a: Cross Contexts Chemistry Education - General Papers
This symposium is a collection of talks across the conference contexts.
Time Slot: 03:30 PM - 05:15 PM
S160b: Celebrating Cathy Middlecamp: Lessons From our Students
This symposium will celebrate Cathy Middlecamp’s more than 50 years in chemistry as a mentor, teacher, author, and colleague. As Cathy points out, “From day one, my students were my teachers.” What have you learned from your students? And what have you learned from Cathy?
We invite presentations that emphasize Cathy’s lessons in teaching, leadership, and environmental sustainability from her long career at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, teaching thousands of students in chemistry and environmental studies, serving as the editor-in-chief of the ACS textbook, Chemistry in Context, and leading workshops and community building events. Invited presentations should emphasize the broad impact of Cathy’s career on others.
Time Slot: 05:00 PM - 05:30 PM
Tuesday Periodic Pick-Me-Up
Tuesday Periodic Pick-Me-Up Menu
regular house brewed coffee, hot water, assorted teas, creamer, oat milk, honey, lemon, canned soda, water, whole fruit, assorted individual bags of chips, pretzels, popcorn, and assorted health granola and protein bars (subject to minor changes)
Time Slot: 05:15 PM - 05:45 PM
A Toast in Honor of Catherine Middlecamp
Time Slot: 05:30 PM - 08:30 PM
Tuesday Evening Exhibition Prime Time
Poster Session: Tripp Commons (Open Viewing)
This poster session is designed for flexible, self-guided exploration of contributions. Posters will be displayed for viewing throughout the designated time period, but presenters are not required to be present at a specific time.
Attendees are invited to browse posters at their own pace and engage with the work independently. This format allows for broad visibility of contributions while accommodating varying schedules and levels of participation.
Poster Session: Main Lounge (Open Viewing)
This poster session is designed for flexible, self-guided exploration of contributions. Posters will be displayed for viewing throughout the designated time period, but presenters are not required to be present at a specific time.
Attendees are invited to browse posters at their own pace and engage with the work independently. This format allows for broad visibility of contributions while accommodating varying schedules and levels of participation.
Poster Session: Great Hall (Open Viewing)
This poster session is designed for flexible, self-guided exploration of contributions. Posters will be displayed for viewing throughout the designated time period, but presenters are not required to be present at a specific time.
Attendees are invited to browse posters at their own pace and engage with the work independently. This format allows for broad visibility of contributions while accommodating varying schedules and levels of participation.
Poster Session: Multicultural Greek Council (Open Viewing)
This poster session is designed for flexible, self-guided exploration of contributions. Posters will be displayed for viewing throughout the designated time period, but presenters are not required to be present at a specific time.
Attendees are invited to browse posters at their own pace and engage with the work independently. This format allows for broad visibility of contributions while accommodating varying schedules and levels of participation.
Time Slot: 05:30 PM - 06:30 PM
B495: Getting to Know Your Pre-College Committee
The Division of Chemical Education has a committee specifically created to serve the Division members who are educators in the K-12 grade, with emphasis on our high school chemistry educators
If you would like to know what we do, how to participate in many activities within this committee, this event is for you!
We are a group of college and high school chemistry educators who would like to gather ideas on how to serve you and your colleagues better. There will be a raffle at the end of the discussion.
We are looking forward to seeing you there!
B1033: Stitching Community: A Crochet Chemistry Social Hour
This Birds-of-a-Feather session is an informal, creative networking space for chemistry educators and professionals interested in crochet, crafting, and community building. The session builds on the success of a “Crochet Chemistry Social Hour” hosted by the NSF-funded Center for Synthetic Organic Electrochemistry (CSOE) at the ACS Fall 2025 National Meeting, which attracted strong participation and received highly positive attendee feedback.
Feedback from the ACS session highlighted the value of crafting as a low-pressure and accessible way to connect with colleagues. Participants described the experience as refreshing and engaging, particularly alongside more traditional conference networking formats, and noted that having a shared, hands-on activity made conversations feel more natural and welcoming across different communication styles and comfort levels.
Rather than a structured discussion or formal presentation, this meet-and-greet is designed to foster relaxed interaction through craft-making. Yarn, crochet hooks, and beginner-friendly, chemistry-themed crochet patterns will be provided, and participants are welcome to bring their own projects or simply try something new. No prior crochet experience is required.
In addition to networking, participants might find themselves exchanging ideas about using crafting as a teaching and connection tool for students. This could be through tactile models of chemical concepts, creative outreach activities, or low-stakes classroom practices that foster belonging. These organic conversations will provide inspiration without the pressure of a formal session.
This session highlights how creative, hands-on social spaces can complement traditional conference networking and create welcoming environments that support connection, belonging, and community across a wide range of participation styles.
B1577: Tabletop Games and RPGs
Meet and greet to discuss and coordinate a tabletop game night during the conference. Bring your favorite games to play!
B805: LGBTQIA+ Networking
This event is for BCCE attendees who are part of the LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual) community and those who identify as allies to the LGBTQIA+ community. This is an opportunity to network with colleagues within the community and join the discussion of what it means to be an ally/advocate of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Everyone is welcome!
Time Slot: 06:00 PM - 09:00 PM
Tuesday Night Flamingle
Tuesday Night Flamingle Menu
- pan fried pork pot stickers with teriyaki sauce
- vegetarian potstickers with sweet chili sauce
- gochujang meatballs
- fried vegetable spring rolls
Beverages
- local Wisconsin microbrews
- house wines
- hard seltzers
- assorted sodas and bottled waters
(subject to minor changes)
Time Slot: 06:00 PM - 07:00 PM
CC186: Shifting the Equilibrium: Chemistry Education at a Crossroads of Change
Chemistry education is at a critical moment of transformation. This community conversation brings together participants to examine the policies, pedagogies, and institutional structures that shape participation in the chemical sciences. Moving beyond deficit-oriented perspectives, the discussion will focus on rethinking how success is defined and supported within educational systems.
Participants will explore frameworks for accountability, curriculum design, and assessment that center inclusion, belonging, and societal impact. The session aims to critically examine existing practices while identifying opportunities for systemic change that expand access and support diverse pathways into chemistry. Through dialogue and shared perspectives, this conversation seeks to catalyze meaningful transformation across institutional contexts, emphasizing the importance of addressing structural barriers rather than placing responsibility solely on students.
CC339: Bridging Academia and Industry: Defining Green and Sustainable Chemistry Skills for the Future Workforce
As demand grows for chemists trained in green and sustainable chemistry (GSC), collaboration between academia and industry is essential for preparing the future workforce. This community conversation explores how educational programs can align with evolving industry needs and sustainability goals. Panelists from both industry and academia will share perspectives on workforce expectations, skills gaps, and strategies for integrating GSC into undergraduate curricula and experiential learning. Discussion will include how institutions are embedding sustainability competencies into programs and responding to guidance such as the ACS Guidelines for Bachelor’s Degree Programs. Participants will engage in dialogue about curriculum design, professional development, and available resources to support implementation. The session aims to highlight actionable approaches for equipping students with the knowledge and skills needed to contribute to more sustainable chemical practices.
Time Slot: 07:00 PM - 08:00 PM
CC130: Building Community, Curiosity, and Innovation through Technology in Chemistry Education
Technology continues to shape how chemistry is taught and learned, influencing how students explore ideas, how instructors design learning experiences, and how communities form around teaching and learning. This community conversation invites educators, researchers, and designers to consider how a range of digital tools—from learning management systems to artificial intelligence—can support student-centered, inquiry-driven environments. Discussion will focus on how technology can foster curiosity, encourage experimentation, and support iterative learning processes where students refine their understanding over time.
Panelists will offer brief provocations highlighting innovative uses of technology, followed by facilitated dialogue among participants. Together, the group will explore strategies for integrating digital tools in ways that enhance engagement, support reflective teaching, and build inclusive learning communities. The session emphasizes thoughtful implementation, recognizing that meaningful innovation often emerges through small, intentional changes as well as broader shifts in instructional practice.
The Mole 2026: Organic Frameworks for Chemistry Education
The Mole is BACK! Beginning in 2018 at BCCE Notre Dame, The Mole has become a beloved and cherished tradition at ChemEd and BCCE conferences. Modeled after "The Moth Storytelling Hour", The Mole is a collection of stories, told by attendees and guests around a theme of chemistry education. Past years' The Mole talks have ranged from growing through understanding challenging students, inspiring and being inspired by others, unlikely pathways to become chemical educators, and more. Sometimes powerful, other times hilarious, and always insightful and enjoyable, The Mole is a great way to hear about the stories and experiences that make our profession such a rich, fulfilling path to celebrating and exploring chemistry. See you at The Mole!
B1644: Green Chemistry Education for a Sustainable Future: Sharing Ideas and Building Community
This Birds-of-a-Feather session will bring together BCCE attendees who are interested in advancing green chemistry education in their courses, programs, and institutions. Co-hosted by Beyond Benign and the ACS Green Chemistry Institute, this will be a lightly facilitated conversation focused on sharing ideas, challenges, and practical approaches.
We’ll also create space for participants to share specific resources examples—from small changes in a single lab or lesson to broader program-level efforts—and to learn from what others are trying in different contexts (community colleges, primarily undergraduate institutions, R1s, K–12, etc.). A key part of the conversation will be around how we can better support one another and make use of existing resources and communities to avoid reinventing the wheel. We don’t want anyone to feel isolated; this is a community, so let’s come together to talk and celebrate!
This session is open to anyone—from those just getting started to those who have been doing this work for a while. The goal is to create a welcoming space to connect, exchange ideas and resources, and think collectively about how we continue to grow this work and support each other in moving it forward.
Date: Wednesday, 29th July
Time Slot: 06:30 AM - 07:15 AM
"“Get Ready for the Day” movement class
Orange Shoe Personal Fitness offers complimentary morning “Get Ready for the Day” movement classes. Each 45-minute class will include movement preparation focused on mobility, stability, and safely warming up for the conference day.
Please register at least 12 hours in advance.
Time Slot: 08:00 AM - 06:00 PM
Conference Registration and Information Desk
Time Slot: 08:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Exhibits Take-Down
Time Slot: 08:30 AM - 10:00 AM
S98a: Reimagining the Undergraduate Chemistry Curriculum with Artificial Intelligence (AI): Systemic Change from Development to Assessment
This symposium explores the transformative roles of artificial intelligence in fundamentally reshaping the undergraduate chemistry curriculum at all levels, including courses for majors, other STEM majors, and non-STEM majors. As AI technologies rapidly evolve, chemistry educators have unprecedented opportunities to rethink curricular structures, learning outcomes, and pedagogical frameworks beyond simply adding new tools to existing courses.
We welcome presentations showcasing program-level curriculum redesign efforts, new course sequences, development of AI literacy competencies as core learning outcomes, and institutional frameworks supporting large-scale transformation. Topics may include AI-enhanced content development across multiple courses, adaptive learning pathways, innovative assessment structures, chemical concept integration, and varied delivery modalities. Presenters are encouraged to share both successful implementations and emerging initiatives that demonstrate department- or institution-wide commitment to curricular innovation with attention to inclusivity.
Aligned with the BCCE 2026 Conference Context of Integrating Technology Effectively, this symposium emphasizes evidence-based approaches to systemic curriculum transformation. Attendees will gain insights into strategic planning, implementation challenges, and student-centered curricular innovations that maintain scientific rigor while creating sustainable, personalized learning experiences for all chemistry learners.
S188a: Harnessing and Integrating Emerging Technology to Support Student Mastery of Chemistry Concepts
As technology continues to reshape chemistry education, instructors are seeking flexible, data-informed tools that enhance learning while maintaining quantitative rigor. Platforms such as WebAssign can empower instructors to design engaging, technology-driven courses adaptable to a wide range of students throughout the chemistry curriculum. This symposium highlights faculty experiences integrating WebAssign and other adaptive platforms to promote student mastery, problem-solving, and critical thinking across diverse instructional settings.
Presenters will share how they leverage these programs’ customizable assignments, interactive learning tools, and real-time analytics to support differentiated instruction and improve learning outcomes. Attendees will leave with practical strategies for incorporating technology that is always emerging in ways that deepen conceptual understanding, streamline course management, and foster self-sufficient learners in the chemistry classroom. This symposium is sponsored by Cengage Learning.
S183a: How Do You Integrate Chemistry Core Ideas and Scientific Practices?
Entry-level STEM courses are often seen as “weed-out” courses, designed to allow only some students through to a variety of course programs and degree fields. Students often view general chemistry with a similar mentality – that the course has been designed for the success of only a specific cohort of students – and in fact, the research bears that out. Much effort has been made in the field of chemistry education to change this paradigm by using evidence-based practices to help students learn and provide an equitable and cooperative learning environment for a diverse group of students.
A number of strategies have been developed to increase accessibility to general chemistry, including specific curricular transformations (like CLUE or Chemical Thinking). These approaches focus on the ideas of deeply connected learning and the integration of core ideas and scientific practices and represent the foundation of a robust field of chemical education research.
Our goal is to build and foster a community of chemistry instructors using these integrated approaches to improve student outcomes. This symposium is for everyone – folks who already use and study integrated chemistry curricula, are thinking about it, or just want to learn more! We invite those who employ these integrated approaches to share more about what these strategies look like in their classrooms, challenges with and strategies for implementation, and their best practices. We also invite researchers to share their studies and findings about deeply connected learning, core ideas, and scientific practices, and their role in our classrooms.
S176d: Student Engagement & Curriculum Development in Large Classes
Gateway chemistry courses serve as critical junctures in students' academic journeys, yet large-enrollment formats in these courses present persistent challenges to creating effective learning environments: shifts in student preparation, remote/hybrid learning legacies, increased diversity of learner backgrounds, and renewed urgency for inclusive, active, and scalable pedagogies. A key challenge is helping students develop these skills while covering essential content in large enrollment lectures. This symposium explores how to create highly effective learning environments in large-enrollment settings that support student engagement, problem-solving proficiency, and retention.
This symposium brings together chemistry educators and researchers to address fundamental questions: (1) How can we foster meaningful engagement and deeper learning when teaching hundreds of students? (2) What practices translate effectively to large-enrollment settings? Presenters will share how they have used critical reflection, research on teaching and learning, and/or data from their classrooms, to develop practical solutions for large-enrollment courses.
Topics will span curriculum design/redesign that incorporates active learning at scale, innovative learning activities that promote student engagement, and assessment strategies that provide meaningful feedback while remaining sustainable in large enrollment formats. Also welcomed are talks that discuss how AI technology can facilitate these goals. This symposium aims to support a community of educators facing similar challenges, to advance our collective understanding of what works in large-enrollment gateway courses, and to foster partnerships that bridge theory, research, and practice.
Attendees will discover new approaches to learning, engagement, and course design to enhance their teaching.
S133b: Advances in Research and Practice on Sustainability in the Lab
This symposium invites qualitative and quantitative research, as well as teaching-focused contributions, centered on undergraduate chemistry laboratory courses with a focus on green chemistry and sustainability, systems thinking, and safety. In alignment with updated ACS Guidelines, we welcome studies on lab curriculum and experiment design, instructional strategies at the bench, and student engagement that integrate these themes. While introductory labs are of interest, we especially encourage submissions related to advanced laboratories such as organic, analytical, physical, and biochemistry.
Relevant topics include instructor practices, student learning in the lab, pre-lab preparation, waste and energy reduction, assessments of laboratory skills and attitudes, and course- or program-wide initiatives, including CUREs. Submissions should highlight efforts that enhance chemistry education and support meaningful student learning and more sustainable laboratory practice.
S302a: Chemistry that Connects: Student-Relatable Pedagogy in ChemEd
This symposium invites chemistry instructors who are actively weaving students’ cultures, backgrounds, and lived experiences into their courses. Attendees will explore innovative teaching strategies that bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and student-relatable pedagogy, enhancing student engagement and understanding.
Presenters are invited to share lesson ideas, activities, assessment tools, or program initiatives that connect chemistry content to students’ real-world interests and community issues, foster a sense of belonging, and empower students as thinkers and problem-solvers. Whether it’s integrating real-life applications into the chemistry curriculum or demonstrating how practical experiences in teaching labs and culturally relevant assignments can foster deeper connections to course material, all are encouraged to bring what works—and what they’re still figuring out—to a session focused on building supportive networks and bridging theory to authentic learning experiences that resonate with students.
S247a: Beyond Usage Data: Assessing Effectiveness and Equity of Academic Support Programs
How do we measure the effectiveness of academic support programming provided outside of the regular classroom, and how do we ensure that our academic support systems provide fair and effective learning environments for all students? Academic support programming provided outside of the regular classroom includes (but is not limited to) tutoring services and Supplemental Instruction. These programs commonly track student usage by counting the numbers of student visits and unique students utilizing services, but this mode of assessment does not provide insights regarding impact.
Impact is often measured through metrics like student grade outcomes, but how do you control for the effects of self-selection if students are choosing to participate in the programming? To get a clearer picture of outcomes, academic support program assessment must go beyond counting the total number of student visits and making comparisons between the grade outcomes of students who did and did not utilize the program. Have you made data-driven decisions to remove barriers limiting participation in your academic support programming?
Have you attempted to measure the impact of your programming on students with data that makes a stronger argument for causation? Have you conducted a demographic analysis to learn whether your programming is accessible and effective for all? This symposium provides a venue for sharing metrics and processes you are using to measure the effectiveness and/or equity of academic support programs taking place outside of the classroom.
S341a: Beyond the Bang: Using Chemistry Demonstrations to Engage Students in 3-Dimensional Learning
Chemical demo shows have long captivated audiences with color changes, flames, smoke, sound, and sense of “magic”. However, both in and outside the classroom, demonstrations have the potential to do far more than entertain. Demonstrations can provide motivating examples of phenomena to anchor learning about core chemistry concepts while engaging learners in scientific practices like doing investigations, constructing explanations, developing and using models, and analyzing and interpreting data.
The Framework for K-12 Education and NGSS are built on the idea that students should use science practices to make sense of phenomena. They highlight the importance of integrating the core ideas and science practices we want students to use to develop deep, conceptual understanding. Further, we know that one of the things that makes understanding chemistry challenging is that it happens at the particulate level, and it is described largely at the symbolic level.
Deep conceptual understanding of chemistry requires transitions between the particle level, symbolic level, and the macroscopic level. Developing fluency in moving between these levels requires explicit practice in making the macro to symbolic and macro to particulate connections. Demonstrations can serve as the critical macroscopic phenomena that instructors can use to support students in making connections to the other levels of Johnstone’s Triangle.
Symposium presenters will share how they integrate demonstrations into the teaching of core chemistry concepts by engaging students in science practices and supporting students in making connections between the macroscopic level and particulate or symbolic representations. Presenters will highlight the core learning outcome guiding their instruction, how they engage students in science practices, and how they assess student learning either formatively or summatively. This directly aligns with engaging learners in using core ideas and science practices authentic to our discipline to explain phenomena.
This symposium is sponsored by Carolina Biological Supply Company.
S151b: Modeling Competence in Undergraduate Chemistry
Models are central tools for both communicating knowledge within scientific disciplines and deriving hypotheses about unknown phenomena. Recognizing the importance of engaging learners in these authentic scientific practices, educational frameworks emphasize modeling as a key scientific practice that should be explicitly addressed. Consequently, instructors and learners at all levels need to develop modeling competence. This includes the skills to practically use models as well as actively reflect on models and modeling processes at an epistemic level, often referred to as meta-modeling knowledge.
In chemistry, models play a central role. Almost every observable phenomenon at the macroscopic level requires submicroscopic or symbolic representations or models to describe, explain, or predict particle-level interactions. However, modeling in chemistry often takes place with limited connections to the macroscopic scale, and students often are not prompted to reflect on the type or purpose of the models they use. Thus, students’ modeling processes can often be fragmented. Yet, modeling activities in chemistry have seldom been examined through the lens of modeling competence, though such perspectives could give insights into the interplay between conceptual knowledge and meta-modeling knowledge.
This symposium will bring together perspectives from different contexts of chemistry that use modeling competence as an analytical framework to investigate student activities. It will provide space for discussions on how meta-modeling knowledge relates to conceptual understanding, modeling-in-action, representational competence, and how it can contribute to broader scientific literacy. The symposium aligns with the conference theme “centering authentic phenomena” by highlighting how modeling is an integral part of disciplinary practices and how the lens of modeling competence can be used to investigate those activities. The following intersectional attributes “learning activities and environments” and “professional development” will also be addressed through discussions on how to engage students in meta-modeling development and ways to support instructors in implementing these practices.
S142b: Chemistry for a General Education Audience
Many undergraduate institutions require students to take one or more science courses to fulfill general education requirements. While students can fulfill these requirements by taking courses targeted toward those majoring in STEM fields, many take courses that are designed specifically for the general education audience. This symposium focuses on courses specifically designed to fulfill general education requirements that do not meet requirements for science majors.
These courses best serve our general education students when they are grounded in authentic phenomena that can foster students’ interest in chemistry and help them see the relevance to their lives and interests. We welcome talks about the full range of chemistry for general education students, from chemistry courses with labs, to exploring related fields through the lens of chemistry, to single chemistry focused lessons or units within a broader science course. Talks may focus on course design, challenges faced in teaching these courses (and how they have been overcome), or individual lessons that have been particularly effective.
S84a: Designing Organic Chemistry Courses that Engage Students in Authentic Scientific Practices
Traditionally, learning objectives in organic chemistry courses have reflected an emphasis on gaining the canonical knowledge and skills expected of an introductory student. There is a growing movement, however, to restructure our goals for student outcomes around application of scientific practices and core ideas to rationalize authentic chemical phenomena.
Recent research is shedding new light on how curricular emphasis, instructional practices, and assessment strategies can best support students in applying scientific practices such as developing, refining, and using models, using mechanistic reasoning to construct explanations with structure-energy relationships, and making arguments from evidence. Researchers and practitioners who have investigated or developed curricula, learning activities, and assessments that promote engagement in authentic scientific practice in organic chemistry are encouraged to submit abstracts.
S324a: Beyond Confirmatory: Teaching in the Chemistry Laboratory
This symposium looks at innovative and effective experiments conducted at all levels of the college chemistry curriculum. Presentations will describe labs, projects, or curricular structures that seek to give students experiences that model the practice of chemical research.
Moving past labs that describe chemical behavior (and confirm known results), these projects might engage students in the following: formation of research questions, experimental design, collection and interpretation of data, and dissemination of results.
S53a: Advances in Chemistry Education: Diverse Perspectives from the RSC Book Series
This symposium brings together authors and editors from the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Advances in Chemistry Education series to showcase recent volumes that address key challenges and innovations in chemistry teaching and learning. The series offers scholarly yet accessible books aimed at educators, teacher educators, and researchers who wish to deepen their knowledge of current thinking and best practices in chemistry education.
In this session, contributors will present the goals, themes, and educational significance of their volumes. Topics include:
Chemistry Education for a Sustainable Future, which equips educators with practical strategies for integrating sustainability into the chemistry curriculum, promoting both planetary and human health.
Reasoning in Chemistry, which examines how students think in chemistry and how instructors can support their conceptual understanding.
Professional Development of Chemistry Teachers, which explores models and strategies for preparing and supporting chemistry teachers across their careers.
Teaching and Learning in the Laboratory, which addresses the unique pedagogical opportunities and challenges of lab instruction, with an emphasis on active learning and safety.
Together, these books reflect the breadth of contemporary chemistry education scholarship, from curriculum reform to instructional design and teacher learning. The session will include brief overviews of each volume, followed by discussions of how these books are being used by educators internationally to inform teaching, design courses, and support professional development.
Attendees will gain insight into emerging themes across the series, learn about new resources for enhancing their own practice, and connect with a community of authors shaping the future of chemistry education.
S362c: Engaging Students in Organic Chemistry – Present and Future Directions in the Laboratory
Engaging students effectively in the organic chemistry laboratory is a critical task to foster scientific thinking and developing problem-solving skills among students. With an emphasis on scholarly teaching practices, we invite presentations that highlight creative strategies that enhance student experience in the undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory. This symposium seeks to foster a discussion of innovations in course content and delivery by bringing together chemical educators who instruct undergraduate organic chemistry laboratories.
Presenters are invited to offer their perspectives on the development of innovative laboratory experiments, including those that synergize with lecture content. Novel or open-ended projects, including course-based undergraduate research experiences (CURE), the utilization of digital resources for visualization or scientific recordkeeping, and strategies to scaffolding the learning experience are encouraged. Advancements in the realization of large enrollment laboratory courses are of special interest, as are advancements that may be scalable to that environment.
S342a: Engaging Students in Physical Chemistry
Presentations in this symposium focus on learning and teaching physical chemistry. We welcome presentations on a range of topics, including but not limited to new classroom or lab activities; integration of computation, programming, or technology; innovative structures of the physical chemistry curriculum; increasing engagement among traditionally marginalized students; scholarly approaches to teaching physical chemistry; distinctive instructional approaches; and much more.
Presentations will focus on one or more of the following: student engagement with physical chemistry material, student engagement with each other as they learn physical chemistry, and student engagement with their physical chemistry instructors.
This long-running symposium will be a venue for interacting with and expanding the communities of practice in teaching physical chemistry. Presenters and attendees alike will be encouraged to make new connections with others and engage in reflection regarding students’ experiences and our key goals in teaching physical chemistry courses. We expect everyone to leave the symposium with at least one concrete idea they may wish to try with their own students.
S145a: Small Teaching - Strategies for Improving Student Learning With Small but Powerful Changes That Make a Big Difference
We all want to be better teachers and to improve student learning in our classes. However, few of us have the time or resources needed to make radical changes to our classes.
In his book Small Teaching, James Lang presents a strategy for improving student learning with a series of modest but powerful changes that make a big difference—many of which can be put into practice in a single class period. In this symposium, teachers will share small, research-based changes they have made in their college or university class that have made an impact on student learning.
S124b: Assessment and Measurement in Research and Practice: Design, Development, Use, and Evaluation
Assessments are a critical component of research and practice in chemistry education to evaluate what students know, gauge the impacts of curricular change, and understand the relations among student-specific characteristics and course outcomes. The process of designing and developing assessments and the information obtained from these assessments is beneficial to both researchers and practitioners. As educators and education researchers rely on assessment data to evaluate the teaching and learning of chemistry, assessments must be carefully developed with aspects of validity and reliability of the data being generated in mind.
This symposium will provide a forum for bringing
together chemistry education researchers and chemistry educators to share evidence-based methods in assessment development and measurement practices that have been used for both research and practice. Presentations on the development and evaluation of assessment instruments, novel methods of classroom, laboratory, and/or programmatic assessment, and evidence that supports the validity and reliability of the data generated using assessments are welcome. Presentations are not restricted to any one sub-discipline of chemistry.
Presentations are also welcome from international speakers and student speakers at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral levels.
S288a: CER Graduate Student Symposium: Engaging in Scholarly Teaching
This symposium is designed specifically to provide a constructive venue for graduate students to present their research related to engaging in scholarly teaching. We particularly encourage projects that discuss evidence-based approaches to assessment and program development and evaluation. This symposium will include full talks on projects that are more developed as well as projects in introductory phases to be presented as distillations.
All presentations should clearly articulate the project’s research aims, include a clear discussion of how the project connects to and extends evidence-based approaches to teaching or assessment, and include empirical data, however preliminary. All presenters should expect to engage in constructive dialogue with audience members following their presentation. Presenters can conclude by soliciting for specific types of feedback if they choose.
This symposium is organized and hosted by the Early Career Chemistry Education Scholars Committee of DivCHED as part of their larger mission to foster research advancement in the next generation of chemistry education researchers.
W61: Engaging students in chemistry, art, and archaeology activities and labs
This workshop introduces participants to applications of chemistry in the fields of art and archaeology through activities adaptable to classrooms and laboratories at a range of levels. The session is organized around three main areas: pigments, dyes, and cultural heritage object analysis. The pigments component includes an overview of pigment chemistry and history, hands-on paint- and crayon-making activities, and case studies in painting analysis using spectroscopy and imaging techniques.
The dyes component focuses on the chemistry and history of indigo, introduces resist-dyeing techniques, and provides opportunities for participants to dye their own object. The cultural heritage analysis component includes techniques for artifact analysis, including arsenic analysis of museum taxidermy. The chemistry in art and archaeology community of practice, active for over half a century, supports the development of contextualized learning activities across diverse instructional settings.
This workshop shares approaches that engage students in science practices through chemistry and art/archaeology and highlights opportunities for incorporating authentic discovery through the analysis of cultural heritage objects from teaching collections. Participants will leave with materials they can immediately implement in their teaching contexts.
W259: Active Learning in Organic Chemistry: Transforming AI Challenges into Skill-Based Opportunities
Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping chemistry education, presenting both opportunities and challenges for instructors and students. This interactive workshop explores how AI can be deliberately incorporated into organic chemistry teaching to enhance active learning, promote its ethical use, and support the development of skill-based competencies. Participants of all experience levels will engage in discussions, reflections, and hands-on activities focused on designing assignments and assessments that leverage AI effectively or remain robust to unintended use, modeling AI as a tool for ethical, skill-focused engagement, and considering how AI informs course goals and policies.
The session begins with a collaborative overview of the current state of AI in chemistry education and available resources. Participants will then work in small groups to examine applied examples, brainstorm strategies for AI-informed active-learning activities, and develop draft course materials, including assignments, assessment approaches, and policy recommendations. Facilitators will guide reflection on instructional goals, equity, and student engagement across diverse institutional contexts.
Participants will leave with practical frameworks, materials, and strategies for integrating or managing AI in organic chemistry courses, as well as connections with colleagues for ongoing collaboration.
W148: Chemistry in Blue: Cyanotyping
This hands-on workshop explores the October 2024 ChemMatters issue on photography, with a focus on the article “Cyanotypes: Chemistry in Blue” by Victoria Russell. Cyanotyping, an iron-based photographic process developed in the 1800s, offers a simpler, cheaper, and more durable alternative to traditional silver-based methods. Participants will start by reading and discussing the article from the October 2024 issue of ChemMatters while considering effective approaches for presenting the material and identifying where it fits within the high school chemistry curriculum.
Participants will then create their own cyanotype prints using pre-prepared paper and prepare photoactive cyanotype paper using ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide, with stock solutions provided. Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W193: Integrating RAMP®-Based Chemical Safety Education Across the Chemistry Curriculum
This workshop focuses on integrating chemical safety education across undergraduate chemistry curricula using the RAMP® framework. Aligned with the ACS Guidelines for Bachelor’s Degree Programs, the session emphasizes systemic change through curriculum design—fixing systems, not people—and supports the development of consistent and sustained safety education within academic institutions. The workshop also reflects broader ACS efforts to advance a culture of safety and foster a community of practice among institutions of higher education.
Participants will complete a self-assessment of departmental safety culture and educational practices using a tool based on the ACS Guidelines and will discuss potential impediments to implementing recommended changes in small groups. The session includes hands-on work with adaptable RAMP® templates designed for student use, which support the integration of safety learning into laboratory and research courses and encourage students to think critically about hazards and risk mitigation throughout their academic experiences. Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W214: The μCURE Network - Empowering Faculty to Implement a Low-Cost, Adaptable CURE into Analytical Chemistry Courses
This hands-on workshop introduces faculty to a National Science Foundation-funded course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) in analytical chemistry in which students adapt solution-phase colorimetric assays into microfluidic paper analytical devices (μPADs). The session supports the development of a community of practice by engaging participants in the μCURE network and preparing a new cohort of instructors to implement this approach. This CURE is distinctive in its use of μPADs and represents the first networked CURE designed for the analytical chemistry curriculum.
μPADs require very small (< μg) quantities of reagents, making them safe and feasible for use in standard teaching laboratories, while also supporting efforts toward sustainability through low resource demands. Instructional resources for the CURE are freely available in a recently published Journal of Chemical Education article, and the workshop emphasizes hands-on experience with the μPAD platform to support effective implementation in participants’ courses. Participants will engage with the μPAD approach and consider how it can be incorporated into their own instructional contexts.
W113: IONiC VIPEr: An Introduction to Using and Sharing Inorganic Chemistry Education Resources
This workshop introduces participants to the VIPEr (Virtual Inorganic Pedagogical Electronic Resource) website and the IONiC (Interactive Online Network of Inorganic Chemists) community. Participants will explore how to find, adapt, and design “learning objects,” including in-class activities, literature discussions, and laboratory experiments, for use in general and inorganic chemistry courses. The session also highlights how VIPEr’s social networking features can support teaching and research.
Participants are encouraged to develop and publish a learning object on VIPEr, and the workshop is designed to support both new and experienced users. Attendees will leave with experience navigating VIPEr resources and contributing materials to the community.
W168: Using your Community to Anchor Student Learning - A trip down the drain
Engaging with community partners in a mutually beneficial way strengthens ties to the community, builds trust, and provides meaningful contexts for students to understand why chemistry learning is central to our lives, whether or not they pursue STEM careers. Communities wrestle with chemistry problems every day, making them a natural context for anchoring student learning. This workshop explores connections between chemistry and water treatment in Madison, including how community partners are addressing relevant water issues and how the University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of Chemistry has worked to build relationships that support student learning.
Participants will hear from community partners, highlighted by taking a trip to the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District where they will discover the role chemistry plays in helping anticipate problems and develop solutions. Participants will also spend time brainstorming potential partners in their own communities and leave with examples of relevant projects, plans for next steps in integrating these into their courses, and connections with like-minded educators.
W156: Writing Green Chemistry Case Studies
The new ACS Guidelines for Undergraduate Chemistry Programs include expectations for introducing students to green chemistry, sustainability, and systems thinking. These guidelines specifically highlight the use of case studies to connect chemistry content to environmental, health, regulatory, and business considerations that influence chemical processes and product design. Educating for a sustainable future is also a central goal for many chemistry educators.
This workshop introduces a recently developed and published Case Study Template designed to guide instructors through the process of creating their own green chemistry case studies. The template supports instructors in identifying appropriate contexts, making connections between chemistry and real-world considerations, writing effective learning objectives, and developing instructional materials such as presentations, classroom activities, and assessments. It also includes guidance for sharing materials through the Green Chemistry Teaching and Learning Community (GCTLC), supporting broader collaboration and resource sharing.
In this interactive session, participants will work collaboratively through elements of the template and begin developing a case study for use in their own courses or for sharing with others in the community.
Time Slot: 08:50 AM - 10:00 AM
S165a: Celebrating Fifty Years of Timberlake GOB: Chemistry For the Health Professions
As early as the 1970s, chemistry faculty realized that students in allied health programs need a selection of chemistry topics applicable to their profession. In 1976, the first edition of Chemistry: An Introduction to General, Organic and Biological Chemistry by Karen Timberlake was published. As we celebrate its 50th year, this symposium invites submissions from the GOB community of practice on new learning activities or program development inspired by a GOB context.
This session incorporates both talks on your educational advancements and a series of invited distillations on effect Timberlake made on this chemistry sub-discipline. We conclude with a talk by Karen Timberlake where she describes her fifty year journey publishing this enduring textbook.
Time Slot: 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Wednesday Bonding Break
Wednesday Bonding Break Menu
regular house brewed coffee, hot water, assorted teas, creamer, oat milk, honey, lemon, bottled juices, water, whole fruit, cinnamon rolls, bagels and cream cheese(subject to minor changes)
Time Slot: 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
S98b: Reimagining the Undergraduate Chemistry Curriculum with Artificial Intelligence (AI): Systemic Change from Development to Assessment
This symposium explores the transformative roles of artificial intelligence in fundamentally reshaping the undergraduate chemistry curriculum at all levels, including courses for majors, other STEM majors, and non-STEM majors. As AI technologies rapidly evolve, chemistry educators have unprecedented opportunities to rethink curricular structures, learning outcomes, and pedagogical frameworks beyond simply adding new tools to existing courses.
We welcome presentations showcasing program-level curriculum redesign efforts, new course sequences, development of AI literacy competencies as core learning outcomes, and institutional frameworks supporting large-scale transformation. Topics may include AI-enhanced content development across multiple courses, adaptive learning pathways, innovative assessment structures, chemical concept integration, and varied delivery modalities. Presenters are encouraged to share both successful implementations and emerging initiatives that demonstrate department- or institution-wide commitment to curricular innovation with attention to inclusivity.
Aligned with the BCCE 2026 Conference Context of Integrating Technology Effectively, this symposium emphasizes evidence-based approaches to systemic curriculum transformation. Attendees will gain insights into strategic planning, implementation challenges, and student-centered curricular innovations that maintain scientific rigor while creating sustainable, personalized learning experiences for all chemistry learners.
S188b: Harnessing and Integrating Emerging Technology to Support Student Mastery of Chemistry Concepts
As technology continues to reshape chemistry education, instructors are seeking flexible, data-informed tools that enhance learning while maintaining quantitative rigor. Platforms such as WebAssign can empower instructors to design engaging, technology-driven courses adaptable to a wide range of students throughout the chemistry curriculum. This symposium highlights faculty experiences integrating WebAssign and other adaptive platforms to promote student mastery, problem-solving, and critical thinking across diverse instructional settings.
Presenters will share how they leverage these programs’ customizable assignments, interactive learning tools, and real-time analytics to support differentiated instruction and improve learning outcomes. Attendees will leave with practical strategies for incorporating technology that is always emerging in ways that deepen conceptual understanding, streamline course management, and foster self-sufficient learners in the chemistry classroom. This symposium is sponsored by Cengage Learning.
S183b: How Do You Integrate Chemistry Core Ideas and Scientific Practices?
Entry-level STEM courses are often seen as “weed-out” courses, designed to allow only some students through to a variety of course programs and degree fields. Students often view general chemistry with a similar mentality – that the course has been designed for the success of only a specific cohort of students – and in fact, the research bears that out. Much effort has been made in the field of chemistry education to change this paradigm by using evidence-based practices to help students learn and provide an equitable and cooperative learning environment for a diverse group of students.
A number of strategies have been developed to increase accessibility to general chemistry, including specific curricular transformations (like CLUE or Chemical Thinking). These approaches focus on the ideas of deeply connected learning and the integration of core ideas and scientific practices and represent the foundation of a robust field of chemical education research.
Our goal is to build and foster a community of chemistry instructors using these integrated approaches to improve student outcomes. This symposium is for everyone – folks who already use and study integrated chemistry curricula, are thinking about it, or just want to learn more! We invite those who employ these integrated approaches to share more about what these strategies look like in their classrooms, challenges with and strategies for implementation, and their best practices. We also invite researchers to share their studies and findings about deeply connected learning, core ideas, and scientific practices, and their role in our classrooms.
S176e: Student Engagement & Curriculum Development in Large Classes
Gateway chemistry courses serve as critical junctures in students' academic journeys, yet large-enrollment formats in these courses present persistent challenges to creating effective learning environments: shifts in student preparation, remote/hybrid learning legacies, increased diversity of learner backgrounds, and renewed urgency for inclusive, active, and scalable pedagogies. A key challenge is helping students develop these skills while covering essential content in large enrollment lectures. This symposium explores how to create highly effective learning environments in large-enrollment settings that support student engagement, problem-solving proficiency, and retention.
This symposium brings together chemistry educators and researchers to address fundamental questions: (1) How can we foster meaningful engagement and deeper learning when teaching hundreds of students? (2) What practices translate effectively to large-enrollment settings? Presenters will share how they have used critical reflection, research on teaching and learning, and/or data from their classrooms, to develop practical solutions for large-enrollment courses.
Topics will span curriculum design/redesign that incorporates active learning at scale, innovative learning activities that promote student engagement, and assessment strategies that provide meaningful feedback while remaining sustainable in large enrollment formats. Also welcomed are talks that discuss how AI technology can facilitate these goals. This symposium aims to support a community of educators facing similar challenges, to advance our collective understanding of what works in large-enrollment gateway courses, and to foster partnerships that bridge theory, research, and practice.
Attendees will discover new approaches to learning, engagement, and course design to enhance their teaching.
S371a: Educating for Sustainability in a Climate-Challenged World
In an era defined by climate disruption, resource insecurity, and global inequities, chemistry education must equip learners with the scientific knowledge, and the skills necessary to build sustainable, resilient communities. This symposium, Educating for Sustainability in a Climate-Challenged World, will explore how chemistry educators can embed sustainability principles into teaching, learning, and community engagement to prepare students for an uncertain future. Sessions will highlight innovative curriculum design, laboratory transformations, and interdisciplinary collaborations that integrate sustainability into chemistry instruction.
Presenters are encouraged to share approaches that connect chemistry education to real-world challenges, particularly in regions vulnerable to climate change, conflict, or social and economic disadvantage. The symposium will provide a platform for chemistry educators to discuss how sustainability can be taught as both a scientific framework and a pathway for global citizenship, empowering students to understand the human and environmental contexts of chemical science. Together, we will reimagine chemistry classrooms as catalysts for hope, problem-solving, and equitable change.
S302b: Chemistry that Connects: Student-Relatable Pedagogy in ChemEd
This symposium invites chemistry instructors who are actively weaving students’ cultures, backgrounds, and lived experiences into their courses. Attendees will explore innovative teaching strategies that bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and student-relatable pedagogy, enhancing student engagement and understanding.
Presenters are invited to share lesson ideas, activities, assessment tools, or program initiatives that connect chemistry content to students’ real-world interests and community issues, foster a sense of belonging, and empower students as thinkers and problem-solvers. Whether it’s integrating real-life applications into the chemistry curriculum or demonstrating how practical experiences in teaching labs and culturally relevant assignments can foster deeper connections to course material, all are encouraged to bring what works—and what they’re still figuring out—to a session focused on building supportive networks and bridging theory to authentic learning experiences that resonate with students.
S247b: Beyond Usage Data: Assessing Effectiveness and Equity of Academic Support Programs
How do we measure the effectiveness of academic support programming provided outside of the regular classroom, and how do we ensure that our academic support systems provide fair and effective learning environments for all students? Academic support programming provided outside of the regular classroom includes (but is not limited to) tutoring services and Supplemental Instruction. These programs commonly track student usage by counting the numbers of student visits and unique students utilizing services, but this mode of assessment does not provide insights regarding impact.
Impact is often measured through metrics like student grade outcomes, but how do you control for the effects of self-selection if students are choosing to participate in the programming? To get a clearer picture of outcomes, academic support program assessment must go beyond counting the total number of student visits and making comparisons between the grade outcomes of students who did and did not utilize the program. Have you made data-driven decisions to remove barriers limiting participation in your academic support programming?
Have you attempted to measure the impact of your programming on students with data that makes a stronger argument for causation? Have you conducted a demographic analysis to learn whether your programming is accessible and effective for all? This symposium provides a venue for sharing metrics and processes you are using to measure the effectiveness and/or equity of academic support programs taking place outside of the classroom.
S341b: Beyond the Bang: Using Chemistry Demonstrations to Engage Students in 3-Dimensional Learning
Chemical demo shows have long captivated audiences with color changes, flames, smoke, sound, and sense of “magic”. However, both in and outside the classroom, demonstrations have the potential to do far more than entertain. Demonstrations can provide motivating examples of phenomena to anchor learning about core chemistry concepts while engaging learners in scientific practices like doing investigations, constructing explanations, developing and using models, and analyzing and interpreting data.
The Framework for K-12 Education and NGSS are built on the idea that students should use science practices to make sense of phenomena. They highlight the importance of integrating the core ideas and science practices we want students to use to develop deep, conceptual understanding. Further, we know that one of the things that makes understanding chemistry challenging is that it happens at the particulate level, and it is described largely at the symbolic level.
Deep conceptual understanding of chemistry requires transitions between the particle level, symbolic level, and the macroscopic level. Developing fluency in moving between these levels requires explicit practice in making the macro to symbolic and macro to particulate connections. Demonstrations can serve as the critical macroscopic phenomena that instructors can use to support students in making connections to the other levels of Johnstone’s Triangle.
Symposium presenters will share how they integrate demonstrations into the teaching of core chemistry concepts by engaging students in science practices and supporting students in making connections between the macroscopic level and particulate or symbolic representations. Presenters will highlight the core learning outcome guiding their instruction, how they engage students in science practices, and how they assess student learning either formatively or summatively. This directly aligns with engaging learners in using core ideas and science practices authentic to our discipline to explain phenomena.
This symposium is sponsored by Carolina Biological Supply Company.
S261a: Authentic Writing Assignments for Chemistry Classes
From high school to professional practice, chemistry students write in many contexts: industry, public relations, entertainment, and more. However, most writing traditionally associated with chemistry consists of lab reports—a technical document intended for an audience of one. In reality, chemists need to communicate to broader audiences using diverse genres, including grants, proposals, pitches, editorials, scripts, advertising, social media posts, blogs, comics, and others. Preparing students for this range of rhetorical situations is essential for authentic scientific communication.
Co-hosted by a chemist and a writing professor interested in interdisciplinary approaches to teaching scientific writing, this symposium seeks talks and distillations from all levels of instruction (high school, college, and beyond) that employ various genres to help students communicate chemistry knowledge. These can be assignments or activities at any stage of development (brainstorming, drafting, revising, refining) that explore, foster, and encourage writing for authentic audiences.
We invite presenters to reflect on questions like:
- How does the assignment take into account different audiences, contexts, and purposes?
- How does this assignment help students move beyond formulaic lab reports?
- What authentic audiences are students writing for, and why?
- How do you scaffold genre awareness and rhetorical flexibility in your course?
- How do you assess writing in genres that are less traditional for chemistry?
- What interdisciplinary strategies or collaborations inform your approach?
- How does the activity connect chemistry concepts to societal or cultural contexts?
- How do you incorporate multimodal elements (visuals, audio, interactive media)?
- What challenges do students face when writing for non-technical audiences, and how do you address them?
- How do you prepare students for writing in professional or public-facing roles?
- How do you balance scientific accuracy with creativity or accessibility?
Presentations will be accepted for both talk and distillation formats with time set aside for discussion with the presenters, facilitators, and attendees.
S142c: Chemistry for a General Education Audience
Many undergraduate institutions require students to take one or more science courses to fulfill general education requirements. While students can fulfill these requirements by taking courses targeted toward those majoring in STEM fields, many take courses that are designed specifically for the general education audience. This symposium focuses on courses specifically designed to fulfill general education requirements that do not meet requirements for science majors.
These courses best serve our general education students when they are grounded in authentic phenomena that can foster students’ interest in chemistry and help them see the relevance to their lives and interests. We welcome talks about the full range of chemistry for general education students, from chemistry courses with labs, to exploring related fields through the lens of chemistry, to single chemistry focused lessons or units within a broader science course. Talks may focus on course design, challenges faced in teaching these courses (and how they have been overcome), or individual lessons that have been particularly effective.
S84b: Designing Organic Chemistry Courses that Engage Students in Authentic Scientific Practices
Traditionally, learning objectives in organic chemistry courses have reflected an emphasis on gaining the canonical knowledge and skills expected of an introductory student. There is a growing movement, however, to restructure our goals for student outcomes around application of scientific practices and core ideas to rationalize authentic chemical phenomena.
Recent research is shedding new light on how curricular emphasis, instructional practices, and assessment strategies can best support students in applying scientific practices such as developing, refining, and using models, using mechanistic reasoning to construct explanations with structure-energy relationships, and making arguments from evidence. Researchers and practitioners who have investigated or developed curricula, learning activities, and assessments that promote engagement in authentic scientific practice in organic chemistry are encouraged to submit abstracts.
S324b: Beyond Confirmatory: Teaching in the Chemistry Laboratory
This symposium looks at innovative and effective experiments conducted at all levels of the college chemistry curriculum. Presentations will describe labs, projects, or curricular structures that seek to give students experiences that model the practice of chemical research.
Moving past labs that describe chemical behavior (and confirm known results), these projects might engage students in the following: formation of research questions, experimental design, collection and interpretation of data, and dissemination of results.
S53b: Advances in Chemistry Education: Diverse Perspectives from the RSC Book Series
This symposium brings together authors and editors from the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Advances in Chemistry Education series to showcase recent volumes that address key challenges and innovations in chemistry teaching and learning. The series offers scholarly yet accessible books aimed at educators, teacher educators, and researchers who wish to deepen their knowledge of current thinking and best practices in chemistry education.
In this session, contributors will present the goals, themes, and educational significance of their volumes. Topics include:
Chemistry Education for a Sustainable Future, which equips educators with practical strategies for integrating sustainability into the chemistry curriculum, promoting both planetary and human health.
Reasoning in Chemistry, which examines how students think in chemistry and how instructors can support their conceptual understanding.
Professional Development of Chemistry Teachers, which explores models and strategies for preparing and supporting chemistry teachers across their careers.
Teaching and Learning in the Laboratory, which addresses the unique pedagogical opportunities and challenges of lab instruction, with an emphasis on active learning and safety.
Together, these books reflect the breadth of contemporary chemistry education scholarship, from curriculum reform to instructional design and teacher learning. The session will include brief overviews of each volume, followed by discussions of how these books are being used by educators internationally to inform teaching, design courses, and support professional development.
Attendees will gain insight into emerging themes across the series, learn about new resources for enhancing their own practice, and connect with a community of authors shaping the future of chemistry education.
S362d: Engaging Students in Organic Chemistry – Present and Future Directions in the Laboratory
Engaging students effectively in the organic chemistry laboratory is a critical task to foster scientific thinking and developing problem-solving skills among students. With an emphasis on scholarly teaching practices, we invite presentations that highlight creative strategies that enhance student experience in the undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory. This symposium seeks to foster a discussion of innovations in course content and delivery by bringing together chemical educators who instruct undergraduate organic chemistry laboratories.
Presenters are invited to offer their perspectives on the development of innovative laboratory experiments, including those that synergize with lecture content. Novel or open-ended projects, including course-based undergraduate research experiences (CURE), the utilization of digital resources for visualization or scientific recordkeeping, and strategies to scaffolding the learning experience are encouraged. Advancements in the realization of large enrollment laboratory courses are of special interest, as are advancements that may be scalable to that environment.
S145b: Small Teaching - Strategies for Improving Student Learning With Small but Powerful Changes That Make a Big Difference
We all want to be better teachers and to improve student learning in our classes. However, few of us have the time or resources needed to make radical changes to our classes.
In his book Small Teaching, James Lang presents a strategy for improving student learning with a series of modest but powerful changes that make a big difference—many of which can be put into practice in a single class period. In this symposium, teachers will share small, research-based changes they have made in their college or university class that have made an impact on student learning.
S124c: Assessment and Measurement in Research and Practice: Design, Development, Use, and Evaluation
Assessments are a critical component of research and practice in chemistry education to evaluate what students know, gauge the impacts of curricular change, and understand the relations among student-specific characteristics and course outcomes. The process of designing and developing assessments and the information obtained from these assessments is beneficial to both researchers and practitioners. As educators and education researchers rely on assessment data to evaluate the teaching and learning of chemistry, assessments must be carefully developed with aspects of validity and reliability of the data being generated in mind.
This symposium will provide a forum for bringing
together chemistry education researchers and chemistry educators to share evidence-based methods in assessment development and measurement practices that have been used for both research and practice. Presentations on the development and evaluation of assessment instruments, novel methods of classroom, laboratory, and/or programmatic assessment, and evidence that supports the validity and reliability of the data generated using assessments are welcome. Presentations are not restricted to any one sub-discipline of chemistry.
Presentations are also welcome from international speakers and student speakers at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral levels.
S288b: CER Graduate Student Symposium: Engaging in Scholarly Teaching
This symposium is designed specifically to provide a constructive venue for graduate students to present their research related to engaging in scholarly teaching. We particularly encourage projects that discuss evidence-based approaches to assessment and program development and evaluation. This symposium will include full talks on projects that are more developed as well as projects in introductory phases to be presented as distillations.
All presentations should clearly articulate the project’s research aims, include a clear discussion of how the project connects to and extends evidence-based approaches to teaching or assessment, and include empirical data, however preliminary. All presenters should expect to engage in constructive dialogue with audience members following their presentation. Presenters can conclude by soliciting for specific types of feedback if they choose.
This symposium is organized and hosted by the Early Career Chemistry Education Scholars Committee of DivCHED as part of their larger mission to foster research advancement in the next generation of chemistry education researchers.
W61: Engaging students in chemistry, art, and archaeology activities and labs
This workshop introduces participants to applications of chemistry in the fields of art and archaeology through activities adaptable to classrooms and laboratories at a range of levels. The session is organized around three main areas: pigments, dyes, and cultural heritage object analysis. The pigments component includes an overview of pigment chemistry and history, hands-on paint- and crayon-making activities, and case studies in painting analysis using spectroscopy and imaging techniques.
The dyes component focuses on the chemistry and history of indigo, introduces resist-dyeing techniques, and provides opportunities for participants to dye their own object. The cultural heritage analysis component includes techniques for artifact analysis, including arsenic analysis of museum taxidermy. The chemistry in art and archaeology community of practice, active for over half a century, supports the development of contextualized learning activities across diverse instructional settings.
This workshop shares approaches that engage students in science practices through chemistry and art/archaeology and highlights opportunities for incorporating authentic discovery through the analysis of cultural heritage objects from teaching collections. Participants will leave with materials they can immediately implement in their teaching contexts.
W259: Active Learning in Organic Chemistry: Transforming AI Challenges into Skill-Based Opportunities
Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping chemistry education, presenting both opportunities and challenges for instructors and students. This interactive workshop explores how AI can be deliberately incorporated into organic chemistry teaching to enhance active learning, promote its ethical use, and support the development of skill-based competencies. Participants of all experience levels will engage in discussions, reflections, and hands-on activities focused on designing assignments and assessments that leverage AI effectively or remain robust to unintended use, modeling AI as a tool for ethical, skill-focused engagement, and considering how AI informs course goals and policies.
The session begins with a collaborative overview of the current state of AI in chemistry education and available resources. Participants will then work in small groups to examine applied examples, brainstorm strategies for AI-informed active-learning activities, and develop draft course materials, including assignments, assessment approaches, and policy recommendations. Facilitators will guide reflection on instructional goals, equity, and student engagement across diverse institutional contexts.
Participants will leave with practical frameworks, materials, and strategies for integrating or managing AI in organic chemistry courses, as well as connections with colleagues for ongoing collaboration.
W148: Chemistry in Blue: Cyanotyping
This hands-on workshop explores the October 2024 ChemMatters issue on photography, with a focus on the article “Cyanotypes: Chemistry in Blue” by Victoria Russell. Cyanotyping, an iron-based photographic process developed in the 1800s, offers a simpler, cheaper, and more durable alternative to traditional silver-based methods. Participants will start by reading and discussing the article from the October 2024 issue of ChemMatters while considering effective approaches for presenting the material and identifying where it fits within the high school chemistry curriculum.
Participants will then create their own cyanotype prints using pre-prepared paper and prepare photoactive cyanotype paper using ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide, with stock solutions provided. Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W193: Integrating RAMP®-Based Chemical Safety Education Across the Chemistry Curriculum
This workshop focuses on integrating chemical safety education across undergraduate chemistry curricula using the RAMP® framework. Aligned with the ACS Guidelines for Bachelor’s Degree Programs, the session emphasizes systemic change through curriculum design—fixing systems, not people—and supports the development of consistent and sustained safety education within academic institutions. The workshop also reflects broader ACS efforts to advance a culture of safety and foster a community of practice among institutions of higher education.
Participants will complete a self-assessment of departmental safety culture and educational practices using a tool based on the ACS Guidelines and will discuss potential impediments to implementing recommended changes in small groups. The session includes hands-on work with adaptable RAMP® templates designed for student use, which support the integration of safety learning into laboratory and research courses and encourage students to think critically about hazards and risk mitigation throughout their academic experiences. Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
W214: The μCURE Network - Empowering Faculty to Implement a Low-Cost, Adaptable CURE into Analytical Chemistry Courses
This hands-on workshop introduces faculty to a National Science Foundation-funded course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) in analytical chemistry in which students adapt solution-phase colorimetric assays into microfluidic paper analytical devices (μPADs). The session supports the development of a community of practice by engaging participants in the μCURE network and preparing a new cohort of instructors to implement this approach. This CURE is distinctive in its use of μPADs and represents the first networked CURE designed for the analytical chemistry curriculum.
μPADs require very small (< μg) quantities of reagents, making them safe and feasible for use in standard teaching laboratories, while also supporting efforts toward sustainability through low resource demands. Instructional resources for the CURE are freely available in a recently published Journal of Chemical Education article, and the workshop emphasizes hands-on experience with the μPAD platform to support effective implementation in participants’ courses. Participants will engage with the μPAD approach and consider how it can be incorporated into their own instructional contexts.
W113: IONiC VIPEr: An Introduction to Using and Sharing Inorganic Chemistry Education Resources
This workshop introduces participants to the VIPEr (Virtual Inorganic Pedagogical Electronic Resource) website and the IONiC (Interactive Online Network of Inorganic Chemists) community. Participants will explore how to find, adapt, and design “learning objects,” including in-class activities, literature discussions, and laboratory experiments, for use in general and inorganic chemistry courses. The session also highlights how VIPEr’s social networking features can support teaching and research.
Participants are encouraged to develop and publish a learning object on VIPEr, and the workshop is designed to support both new and experienced users. Attendees will leave with experience navigating VIPEr resources and contributing materials to the community.
W168: Using your Community to Anchor Student Learning - A trip down the drain
Engaging with community partners in a mutually beneficial way strengthens ties to the community, builds trust, and provides meaningful contexts for students to understand why chemistry learning is central to our lives, whether or not they pursue STEM careers. Communities wrestle with chemistry problems every day, making them a natural context for anchoring student learning. This workshop explores connections between chemistry and water treatment in Madison, including how community partners are addressing relevant water issues and how the University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of Chemistry has worked to build relationships that support student learning.
Participants will hear from community partners, highlighted by taking a trip to the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District where they will discover the role chemistry plays in helping anticipate problems and develop solutions. Participants will also spend time brainstorming potential partners in their own communities and leave with examples of relevant projects, plans for next steps in integrating these into their courses, and connections with like-minded educators.
W156: Writing Green Chemistry Case Studies
The new ACS Guidelines for Undergraduate Chemistry Programs include expectations for introducing students to green chemistry, sustainability, and systems thinking. These guidelines specifically highlight the use of case studies to connect chemistry content to environmental, health, regulatory, and business considerations that influence chemical processes and product design. Educating for a sustainable future is also a central goal for many chemistry educators.
This workshop introduces a recently developed and published Case Study Template designed to guide instructors through the process of creating their own green chemistry case studies. The template supports instructors in identifying appropriate contexts, making connections between chemistry and real-world considerations, writing effective learning objectives, and developing instructional materials such as presentations, classroom activities, and assessments. It also includes guidance for sharing materials through the Green Chemistry Teaching and Learning Community (GCTLC), supporting broader collaboration and resource sharing.
In this interactive session, participants will work collaboratively through elements of the template and begin developing a case study for use in their own courses or for sharing with others in the community.
Time Slot: 10:30 AM - 11:40 AM
S165b: Celebrating Fifty Years of Timberlake GOB: Chemistry For the Health Professions
As early as the 1970s, chemistry faculty realized that students in allied health programs need a selection of chemistry topics applicable to their profession. In 1976, the first edition of Chemistry: An Introduction to General, Organic and Biological Chemistry by Karen Timberlake was published. As we celebrate its 50th year, this symposium invites submissions from the GOB community of practice on new learning activities or program development inspired by a GOB context.
This session incorporates both talks on your educational advancements and a series of invited distillations on effect Timberlake made on this chemistry sub-discipline. We conclude with a talk by Karen Timberlake where she describes her fifty year journey publishing this enduring textbook.
S342b: Engaging Students in Physical Chemistry
Presentations in this symposium focus on learning and teaching physical chemistry. We welcome presentations on a range of topics, including but not limited to new classroom or lab activities; integration of computation, programming, or technology; innovative structures of the physical chemistry curriculum; increasing engagement among traditionally marginalized students; scholarly approaches to teaching physical chemistry; distinctive instructional approaches; and much more.
Presentations will focus on one or more of the following: student engagement with physical chemistry material, student engagement with each other as they learn physical chemistry, and student engagement with their physical chemistry instructors.
This long-running symposium will be a venue for interacting with and expanding the communities of practice in teaching physical chemistry. Presenters and attendees alike will be encouraged to make new connections with others and engage in reflection regarding students’ experiences and our key goals in teaching physical chemistry courses. We expect everyone to leave the symposium with at least one concrete idea they may wish to try with their own students.
Time Slot: 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM
B1128: Metabolism Topics in First Semester Biochemistry: How Far Should We Go?
Deciding which topics to cover in a first-semester biochemistry course can be daunting, especially when it may be the only biochemistry course that a majority of the student body will ever take. Metabolism topics seem to be the main focus of the end of first semester biochemistry, but should we slow down and focus mainly on metabolic principles? Cover through glycolysis thoroughly but save the citric acid cycle and electron transport chain for future semesters?
Or cover everything more quickly so students can be prepared for standardized exams like ACS and the MCAT? The goal of this session is to bring together biochemistry instructors so we can share our perspectives and experiences to help us make informed decisions on the extent and depth with which we cover metabolism in first semester biochemistry. Anyone who has every taught, plans to teach, or is interested in biochemistry in the future is invited to come share ideas and learn from one another as we try to find balance in drawing the (potentially quite muddy) line between first and second semester biochemistry topics.
B1120: Flipped Chemistry Post-Pandemic: A Community Conversation on Evolving Practices
Flipped instruction in undergraduate chemistry courses remains a widely adopted, evidence-based instructional practice for actively supporting students’ chemical thinking. However, the post-pandemic learning environment has shifted student preparedness and engagement, creating new instructional demands. This Birds of a Feather session invites educators who are interested in flipped instruction to engage in a practice-focused, structured conversation.
All levels of experience are welcome—from seasoned practitioners and researchers to those exploring their first flipped course. We will discuss what is working now and what aspects of flipped courses may need to evolve in response to changing student needs. The agenda will include guided discussions around: (i) current effective strategies, (ii) emerging needs for engaging students meaningfully and supporting a wide range of learners, (iii) fostering student accountability, and (iv) assessing student learning across pre-, in-, and post-class components.
Attendees will also exchange approaches for evaluating the impact of their course design choices. Through whole and small group discussions, participants will leave with practical ideas they can implement, as well as new connections with educators and researchers who share their commitment to advancing flipped instructional practices that work for all students.
B1274: Addressing Quantitative Reasoning Gaps in Students Entering Collegiate Chemistry Curricula
The level of math proficiency demonstrated by US high school graduates is declining. Increasingly, students are entering college without the foundational quantitative reasoning skills that are essential for the successful completion of undergraduate STEM degrees. By design or otherwise, General Chemistry courses are frequently the first major stumbling block encountered by students in STEM majors.
The successful completion of these courses requires basic mathematical skills, especially algebra, logical reasoning, and problem-solving. Students lacking these skills frequently have to retake the course and/or reevaluate their choice of major, which often contributes to lack of retention. Most collegiate chemistry courses and their instructors do not have the capacity or ability to adequately address these deep knowledge gaps within the framework of the chemistry curriculum, so creative approaches are often necessary to encourage student success.
In this Birds of a Feather, it is hoped that undergraduate chemistry faculty will share experiences and resources used to address these deficits in quantitative reasoning, including, but not limited to peer learning communities, remedial math courses, pre-course math assessments, and online resources.
B537: Refresh Your Approach to Safety Education
Using guiding questions and prompts, participants will be asked to reflect on their approaches to undergraduate safety education. The RAMP® Risk Management framework and the free Laboratory Safety for Chemistry Students (LSCS) e-Textbook will be introduced as resources to support effective undergraduate safety programs.
This session will be particularly relevant for individuals who are interested in strengthening safety instruction.
B1634: So You Think You Want to Host a BCCE?
Have you ever wondered what it takes to host the Biennial Conference on Chemical Education (BCCE)? This Birds of a Feather session will provide an informal opportunity for anyone interested in hosting a future BCCE to learn more about the process and ask questions.
We will discuss what hosting involves, how proposals are developed, and the kinds of planning and partnerships that support a successful conference. The session will be conversational and open, giving participants a chance to hear from individuals with experience organizing a BCCE and to explore whether hosting might be a good fit for their institution or community.
Time Slot: 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Wednesday Tours of UW–Madison’s New Teaching Facilities
The Department of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison recently completed a major building project that reimagines undergraduate chemistry teaching and learning. Decades-old instructional spaces no longer aligned with contemporary safety standards, enrollment demands, or evidence-based teaching practices. The new instructional tower and renovated spaces were designed to address these challenges while creating a more modern, flexible, and student-centered learning environment.
This will be a guided tour of the updated instructional facilities, including modern teaching laboratories that meet modern safety expectations, flexible lecture halls and classrooms designed for active and collaborative learning, and accessible student-support spaces that promote community and academic success.
The session will also create space for discussion about the design principles that shaped the project, including lab modernization, safety infrastructure, active-learning classroom design, and strategies for supporting high-enrollment chemistry programs.
This session will be of interest to colleagues considering facilities renovations, new construction, lab redesign, or other efforts to align physical space with contemporary chemistry education goals.
B1574: Active Learning Techniques in Large Enrollment Organic Chemistry Lectures
Active learning techniques might feel time consuming when it comes to a large enrollment class and many times, we end up going back to the start point of teaching a traditional lecture due to time constraints. I am interested in sharing with one another what has worked for their organic chemistry class.
B1636: Digital Accessibility in Chemistry: Navigating Updates to Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act
This Birds of a Feather session will convene chemistry educators and researchers to discuss the opportunities and challenges of implementing the new digital accessibility rules and regularizations of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act across the chemistry curriculum. As accessibility expectations rapidly evolve, chemistry faces distinct challenges—particularly in representing equations, mechanisms, and complex visuals in inclusive ways. This moment presents a critical opportunity for leadership and community input as we collectively work to broaden participation in chemistry.
The session will center on the emerging work of the Title II Accessibility Working Group, whose ambition is to position ACS as a clear leader in accessible chemistry education—not only in principle, but in everyday practice. Rather than emphasizing enforcement, the group focuses on empowering members through practical guidance, shared tools, and community-driven standards tailored to chemistry-specific needs. Participants will share experiences, identify barriers, and co-develop actionable strategies to advance accessibility across teaching, publishing, and professional engagement. By expanding access, we strengthen the chemistry community and enhance our educational impact.
B552: Committee on Computing in Chemical Education (Open Meeting)
The Division of Chemical Education Committee on Computing in Chemical Education (CCCE) will host an open meeting at BCCE 2026 for anyone interested in providing input to the Committee, learning more about the activities of the Committee or contributing to the efforts of the Committee. The committee seeks to encourage and support the development, implementation, and assessment of computing technologies in chemical education.
Time Slot: 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM
Wednesday Data & Dessert
Wednesday Data & Dessert Menu
- cupcakes
- macarons
- petit fours
- soda
- water
- sparking water
(subject to minor changes)
Time Slot: 03:30 PM - 04:40 PM
S98c: Reimagining the Undergraduate Chemistry Curriculum with Artificial Intelligence (AI): Systemic Change from Development to Assessment
This symposium explores the transformative roles of artificial intelligence in fundamentally reshaping the undergraduate chemistry curriculum at all levels, including courses for majors, other STEM majors, and non-STEM majors. As AI technologies rapidly evolve, chemistry educators have unprecedented opportunities to rethink curricular structures, learning outcomes, and pedagogical frameworks beyond simply adding new tools to existing courses.
We welcome presentations showcasing program-level curriculum redesign efforts, new course sequences, development of AI literacy competencies as core learning outcomes, and institutional frameworks supporting large-scale transformation. Topics may include AI-enhanced content development across multiple courses, adaptive learning pathways, innovative assessment structures, chemical concept integration, and varied delivery modalities. Presenters are encouraged to share both successful implementations and emerging initiatives that demonstrate department- or institution-wide commitment to curricular innovation with attention to inclusivity.
Aligned with the BCCE 2026 Conference Context of Integrating Technology Effectively, this symposium emphasizes evidence-based approaches to systemic curriculum transformation. Attendees will gain insights into strategic planning, implementation challenges, and student-centered curricular innovations that maintain scientific rigor while creating sustainable, personalized learning experiences for all chemistry learners.
S371b: Educating for Sustainability in a Climate-Challenged World
In an era defined by climate disruption, resource insecurity, and global inequities, chemistry education must equip learners with the scientific knowledge and the skills necessary to build sustainable, resilient communities. This symposium, Educating for Sustainability in a Climate-Challenged World, will explore how chemistry educators can embed sustainability principles into teaching, learning, and community engagement to prepare students for an uncertain future. Sessions will highlight innovative curriculum design, laboratory transformations, and interdisciplinary collaborations that integrate sustainability into chemistry instruction.
Presenters are encouraged to share approaches that connect chemistry education to real-world challenges, particularly in regions vulnerable to climate change, conflict, or social and economic disadvantage. The symposium will provide a platform for chemistry educators to discuss how sustainability can be taught as both a scientific framework and a pathway for global citizenship, empowering students to understand the human and environmental contexts of chemical science. Together, we will reimagine chemistry classrooms as catalysts for hope, problem-solving, and equitable change.
Time Slot: 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
S132: Grading in Chemistry Using Technology
Creating assessments is possible by various means, but grading short answer questions or lab reports is time consuming and repetitive. Our learning management systems provide various ways of creating assignments and self-grading. Many publishers provide adaptive learning and keeping a gradebook.
There are several online tools and apps to create questions but what is available for grading? As professors we want to provide feedback in a timely manner so students can learn from their errors going forward. What is your solution to grading effectively and providing good feedback for written exam questions?
What about lab reports? Have you found software for grading that makes your grading faster? Have you used AI for grading?
This symposium will cover ideas on how to make written work easier to grade.
S165c: Celebrating Fifty Years of Timberlake GOB: Chemistry For the Health Professions
As early as the 1970s, chemistry faculty realized that students in allied health programs need a selection of chemistry topics applicable to their profession. In 1976, the first edition of Chemistry: An Introduction to General, Organic and Biological Chemistry by Karen Timberlake was published. As we celebrate its 50th year, this symposium invites submissions from the GOB community of practice on new learning activities or program development inspired by a GOB context.
This session incorporates both talks on your educational advancements and a series of invited distillations on effect Timberlake made on this chemistry sub-discipline. We conclude with a talk by Karen Timberlake where she describes her fifty year journey publishing this enduring textbook.
S183c: How Do You Integrate Chemistry Core Ideas and Scientific Practices?
Entry-level STEM courses are often seen as “weed-out” courses, designed to allow only some students through to a variety of course programs and degree fields. Students often view general chemistry with a similar mentality – that the course has been designed for the success of only a specific cohort of students – and in fact, the research bears that out. Much effort has been made in the field of chemistry education to change this paradigm by using evidence-based practices to help students learn and provide an equitable and cooperative learning environment for a diverse group of students.
A number of strategies have been developed to increase accessibility to general chemistry, including specific curricular transformations (like CLUE or Chemical Thinking). These approaches focus on the ideas of deeply connected learning and the integration of core ideas and scientific practices and represent the foundation of a robust field of chemical education research.
Our goal is to build and foster a community of chemistry instructors using these integrated approaches to improve student outcomes. This symposium is for everyone – folks who already use and study integrated chemistry curricula, are thinking about it, or just want to learn more! We invite those who employ these integrated approaches to share more about what these strategies look like in their classrooms, challenges with and strategies for implementation, and their best practices. We also invite researchers to share their studies and findings about deeply connected learning, core ideas, and scientific practices, and their role in our classrooms.
S176f: Student Engagement & Curriculum Development in Large Classes
Gateway chemistry courses serve as critical junctures in students' academic journeys, yet large-enrollment formats in these courses present persistent challenges to creating effective learning environments: shifts in student preparation, remote/hybrid learning legacies, increased diversity of learner backgrounds, and renewed urgency for inclusive, active, and scalable pedagogies. A key challenge is helping students develop these skills while covering essential content in large enrollment lectures. This symposium explores how to create highly effective learning environments in large-enrollment settings that support student engagement, problem-solving proficiency, and retention.
This symposium brings together chemistry educators and researchers to address fundamental questions: (1) How can we foster meaningful engagement and deeper learning when teaching hundreds of students? (2) What practices translate effectively to large-enrollment settings? Presenters will share how they have used critical reflection, research on teaching and learning, and/or data from their classrooms, to develop practical solutions for large-enrollment courses.
Topics will span curriculum design/redesign that incorporates active learning at scale, innovative learning activities that promote student engagement, and assessment strategies that provide meaningful feedback while remaining sustainable in large enrollment formats. Also welcomed are talks that discuss how AI technology can facilitate these goals. This symposium aims to support a community of educators facing similar challenges, to advance our collective understanding of what works in large-enrollment gateway courses, and to foster partnerships that bridge theory, research, and practice.
Attendees will discover new approaches to learning, engagement, and course design to enhance their teaching.
S302c: Chemistry that Connects: Student-Relatable Pedagogy in ChemEd
This symposium invites chemistry instructors who are actively weaving students’ cultures, backgrounds, and lived experiences into their courses. Attendees will explore innovative teaching strategies that bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and student-relatable pedagogy, enhancing student engagement and understanding.
Presenters are invited to share lesson ideas, activities, assessment tools, or program initiatives that connect chemistry content to students’ real-world interests and community issues, foster a sense of belonging, and empower students as thinkers and problem-solvers. Whether it’s integrating real-life applications into the chemistry curriculum or demonstrating how practical experiences in teaching labs and culturally relevant assignments can foster deeper connections to course material, all are encouraged to bring what works—and what they’re still figuring out—to a session focused on building supportive networks and bridging theory to authentic learning experiences that resonate with students.
S360a: Navigating the Political Climate While Advancing Systemic Equity in Chemistry Education
Researchers and educators whose work focuses on advancing equity in chemistry education face a great deal of uncertainty in the current climate. Rapidly shifting governmental priorities and unpredictable policy changes have affected agencies that fund research and other educational programs. Schools and universities have responded in different ways depending on their institutional priorities and leadership, as well as the impacts of state and local government.
This symposium will focus on how individuals and communities are navigating this challenging and constantly changing landscape while continuing to do impactful equity-focused work. We welcome empirical studies, theoretical explorations, and praxis-oriented contributions that illuminate the lived realities of navigating and reshaping these systems at all levels. We are particularly interested in stories of HOW people carried on with this work and where they found support, in addition to creative approaches to navigating unexpected obstacles and changes.
We also intend this symposium as a resource for people who are navigating these challenges to connect with others and find support.
S210a: Art, Practice, and Joy of Engaging and Educating the Public through Scientific Demonstrations: Celebrating the Legacy of Bassam Shakhashiri
For more than half a century, Bassam Z. Shakhashiri has inspired and educated countless teachers, students, and the general public through the power of science demonstrations — vivid, memorable, and human ways of connecting with chemistry. This symposium reflects the broad scope and influence of his work.
Presenters will share demonstrations that promote engagement; innovative uses of demonstrations to foster conceptual understanding and curiosity; and strategies for safely and effectively incorporating demonstrations into teaching and outreach. Analyses of the pedagogy of demonstrations and reflections on their role in shaping public attitudes toward science will be explored. When approached through the lens of demystifying the magic, demonstrations can entertain while also educating the public and inspiring future scientists, aligning with the conference context of centering authentic phenomena and the intersectional attribute of public engagement and science literacy.
In honoring Professor Shakhashiri’s legacy, this symposium celebrates not only the joy of participating in chemistry, but also the belief that science is best learned—and loved—when it is seen, heard, experienced, and most of all, shared.
S261b: Authentic Writing Assignments for Chemistry Classes
From high school to professional practice, chemistry students write in many contexts: industry, public relations, entertainment, and more. However, most writing traditionally associated with chemistry consists of lab reports—a technical document intended for an audience of one. In reality, chemists need to communicate to broader audiences using diverse genres, including grants, proposals, pitches, editorials, scripts, advertising, social media posts, blogs, comics, and others. Preparing students for this range of rhetorical situations is essential for authentic scientific communication.
Co-hosted by a chemist and a writing professor interested in interdisciplinary approaches to teaching scientific writing, this symposium seeks talks and distillations from all levels of instruction (high school, college, and beyond) that employ various genres to help students communicate chemistry knowledge. These can be assignments or activities at any stage of development (brainstorming, drafting, revising, refining) that explore, foster, and encourage writing for authentic audiences.
We invite presenters to reflect on questions like:
- How does the assignment take into account different audiences, contexts, and purposes?
- How does this assignment help students move beyond formulaic lab reports?
- What authentic audiences are students writing for, and why?
- How do you scaffold genre awareness and rhetorical flexibility in your course?
- How do you assess writing in genres that are less traditional for chemistry?
- What interdisciplinary strategies or collaborations inform your approach?
- How does the activity connect chemistry concepts to societal or cultural contexts?
- How do you incorporate multimodal elements (visuals, audio, interactive media)?
- What challenges do students face when writing for non-technical audiences, and how do you address them?
- How do you prepare students for writing in professional or public-facing roles?
- How do you balance scientific accuracy with creativity or accessibility?
Presentations will be accepted for both talk and distillation formats with time set aside for discussion with the presenters, facilitators, and attendees.
S142d Chemistry for a General Education Audience
Many undergraduate institutions require students to take one or more science courses to fulfill general education requirements. While students can fulfill these requirements by taking courses targeted toward those majoring in STEM fields, many take courses that are designed specifically for the general education audience. This symposium focuses on courses specifically designed to fulfill general education requirements that do not meet requirements for science majors.
These courses best serve our general education students when they are grounded in authentic phenomena that can foster students’ interest in chemistry and help them see the relevance to their lives and interests. We welcome talks about the full range of chemistry for general education students, from chemistry courses with labs, to exploring related fields through the lens of chemistry, to single chemistry focused lessons or units within a broader science course. Talks may focus on course design, challenges faced in teaching these courses (and how they have been overcome), or individual lessons that have been particularly effective.
S84c: Designing Organic Chemistry Courses that Engage Students in Authentic Scientific Practices
Traditionally, learning objectives in organic chemistry courses have reflected an emphasis on gaining the canonical knowledge and skills expected of an introductory student. There is a growing movement, however, to restructure our goals for student outcomes around application of scientific practices and core ideas to rationalize authentic chemical phenomena.
Recent research is shedding new light on how curricular emphasis, instructional practices, and assessment strategies can best support students in applying scientific practices such as developing, refining, and using models, using mechanistic reasoning to construct explanations with structure-energy relationships, and making arguments from evidence. Researchers and practitioners who have investigated or developed curricula, learning activities, and assessments that promote engagement in authentic scientific practice in organic chemistry are encouraged to submit abstracts.
S324c: Beyond Confirmatory: Teaching in the Chemistry Laboratory
This symposium looks at innovative and effective experiments conducted at all levels of the college chemistry curriculum. Presentations will describe labs, projects, or curricular structures that seek to give students experiences that model the practice of chemical research.
Moving past labs that describe chemical behavior (and confirm known results), these projects might engage students in the following: formation of research questions, experimental design, collection and interpretation of data, and dissemination of results.
S53c: Advances in Chemistry Education: Diverse Perspectives from the RSC Book Series
This symposium brings together authors and editors from the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Advances in Chemistry Education series to showcase recent volumes that address key challenges and innovations in chemistry teaching and learning. The series offers scholarly yet accessible books aimed at educators, teacher educators, and researchers who wish to deepen their knowledge of current thinking and best practices in chemistry education.
In this session, contributors will present the goals, themes, and educational significance of their volumes. Topics include:
Chemistry Education for a Sustainable Future, which equips educators with practical strategies for integrating sustainability into the chemistry curriculum, promoting both planetary and human health.
Reasoning in Chemistry, which examines how students think in chemistry and how instructors can support their conceptual understanding.
Professional Development of Chemistry Teachers, which explores models and strategies for preparing and supporting chemistry teachers across their careers.
Teaching and Learning in the Laboratory, which addresses the unique pedagogical opportunities and challenges of lab instruction, with an emphasis on active learning and safety.
Together, these books reflect the breadth of contemporary chemistry education scholarship, from curriculum reform to instructional design and teacher learning. The session will include brief overviews of each volume, followed by discussions of how these books are being used by educators internationally to inform teaching, design courses, and support professional development.
Attendees will gain insight into emerging themes across the series, learn about new resources for enhancing their own practice, and connect with a community of authors shaping the future of chemistry education.
S362e: Engaging Students in Organic Chemistry – Present and Future Directions in the Laboratory
Engaging students effectively in the organic chemistry laboratory is a critical task to foster scientific thinking and developing problem-solving skills among students. With an emphasis on scholarly teaching practices, we invite presentations that highlight creative strategies that enhance student experience in the undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory. This symposium seeks to foster a discussion of innovations in course content and delivery by bringing together chemical educators who instruct undergraduate organic chemistry laboratories.
Presenters are invited to offer their perspectives on the development of innovative laboratory experiments, including those that synergize with lecture content. Novel or open-ended projects, including course-based undergraduate research experiences (CURE), the utilization of digital resources for visualization or scientific recordkeeping, and strategies to scaffolding the learning experience are encouraged. Advancements in the realization of large enrollment laboratory courses are of special interest, as are advancements that may be scalable to that environment.
S342c: Engaging Students in Physical Chemistry
Presentations in this symposium focus on learning and teaching physical chemistry. We welcome presentations on a range of topics, including but not limited to new classroom or lab activities; integration of computation, programming, or technology; innovative structures of the physical chemistry curriculum; increasing engagement among traditionally marginalized students; scholarly approaches to teaching physical chemistry; distinctive instructional approaches; and much more.
Presentations will focus on one or more of the following: student engagement with physical chemistry material, student engagement with each other as they learn physical chemistry, and student engagement with their physical chemistry instructors.
This long-running symposium will be a venue for interacting with and expanding the communities of practice in teaching physical chemistry. Presenters and attendees alike will be encouraged to make new connections with others and engage in reflection regarding students’ experiences and our key goals in teaching physical chemistry courses. We expect everyone to leave the symposium with at least one concrete idea they may wish to try with their own students.
S145c: Small Teaching - Strategies for Improving Student Learning With Small but Powerful Changes That Make a Big Difference
We all want to be better teachers and to improve student learning in our classes. However, few of us have the time or resources needed to make radical changes to our classes.
In his book Small Teaching, James Lang presents a strategy for improving student learning with a series of modest but powerful changes that make a big difference—many of which can be put into practice in a single class period. In this symposium, teachers will share small, research-based changes they have made in their college or university class that have made an impact on student learning.
S124d: Assessment and Measurement in Research and Practice: Design, Development, Use, and Evaluation
Assessments are a critical component of research and practice in chemistry education to evaluate what students know, gauge the impacts of curricular change, and understand the relations among student-specific characteristics and course outcomes. The process of designing and developing assessments and the information obtained from these assessments is beneficial to both researchers and practitioners. As educators and education researchers rely on assessment data to evaluate the teaching and learning of chemistry, assessments must be carefully developed with aspects of validity and reliability of the data being generated in mind.
This symposium will provide a forum for bringing
together chemistry education researchers and chemistry educators to share evidence-based methods in assessment development and measurement practices that have been used for both research and practice. Presentations on the development and evaluation of assessment instruments, novel methods of classroom, laboratory, and/or programmatic assessment, and evidence that supports the validity and reliability of the data generated using assessments are welcome. Presentations are not restricted to any one sub-discipline of chemistry.
Presentations are also welcome from international speakers and student speakers at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral levels.
S288c: CER Graduate Student Symposium: Engaging in Scholarly Teaching
This symposium is designed specifically to provide a constructive venue for graduate students to present their research related to engaging in scholarly teaching. We particularly encourage projects that discuss evidence-based approaches to assessment and program development and evaluation. This symposium will include full talks on projects that are more developed as well as projects in introductory phases to be presented as distillations.
All presentations should clearly articulate the project’s research aims, include a clear discussion of how the project connects to and extends evidence-based approaches to teaching or assessment, and include empirical data, however preliminary. All presenters should expect to engage in constructive dialogue with audience members following their presentation. Presenters can conclude by soliciting for specific types of feedback if they choose.
This symposium is organized and hosted by the Early Career Chemistry Education Scholars Committee of DivCHED as part of their larger mission to foster research advancement in the next generation of chemistry education researchers.
W61: Engaging students in chemistry, art, and archaeology activities and labs
This workshop introduces participants to applications of chemistry in the fields of art and archaeology through activities adaptable to classrooms and laboratories at a range of levels. The session is organized around three main areas: pigments, dyes, and cultural heritage object analysis. The pigments component includes an overview of pigment chemistry and history, hands-on paint- and crayon-making activities, and case studies in painting analysis using spectroscopy and imaging techniques.
The dyes component focuses on the chemistry and history of indigo, introduces resist-dyeing techniques, and provides opportunities for participants to dye their own object. The cultural heritage analysis component includes techniques for artifact analysis, including arsenic analysis of museum taxidermy. The chemistry in art and archaeology community of practice, active for over half a century, supports the development of contextualized learning activities across diverse instructional settings.
This workshop shares approaches that engage students in science practices through chemistry and art/archaeology and highlights opportunities for incorporating authentic discovery through the analysis of cultural heritage objects from teaching collections. Participants will leave with materials they can immediately implement in their teaching contexts.
W190: Navigating the Publication Process: Journals, Writing, and Peer Review
This workshop, led by members of the Early-Career Chemistry Education Scholars (ECCES) community in collaboration with editors from chemistry education journals, introduces participants to the process of publishing in the field. Participants will gain practical insights into manuscript preparation, effective writing strategies, and navigating peer review. The session also emphasizes the broader role of peer review in the discipline, supporting participants in developing skills for providing constructive feedback and engaging as reviewers.
Attendees will consider strategies for strengthening their writing and improving their manuscripts while building confidence as both authors and peer reviewers within the chemistry education community. To support broad participation, the ECCES committee is offering the workshop at a reduced cost of $5; participants may use the promo code ECCES2026 to access this rate.
Time Slot: 05:00 PM - 05:30 PM
Wednesday Periodic Pick-Me-Up
Wednesday Periodic Pick-Me-Up Menuregular house brewed coffee, hot water, assorted teas, creamer, oat milk, honey, lemon, canned soda, water, whole fruit, assorted individual bags of chips, pretzels, popcorn, and assorted health granola and protein bars (subject to minor changes)
Time Slot: 05:30 PM - 07:30 PM
Flamboyance: The Warm-Up
Flamboyance: The Warm-Up Menu
- fire braised salsa verde chicken
- Brazilian black beans, nacho cheese
- salsa, sour cream, jalapeños
- pineapple pico de gallo
- house-fried corn tortilla chips
Beverages
- local Wisconsin microbrews
- house wines
- hard seltzers
- assorted sodas and bottled waters
(subject to minor changes)
Time Slot: 05:30 PM - 06:30 PM
B720: Alpha Chi Sigma Meet and Greet
Alpha Chi Sigma invites all members attending BCCE to join us for a Meet & Greet to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood. The nation’s only professional chemistry fraternity, Alpha Chi Sigma was founded here at the University of Wisconsin over 123 years ago. Our diverse, gender-inclusive membership now includes more than 80,000 members initiated by our collegiate chapters across the country.
Alpha Chi Sigma is guided by the Three Objects: To bind its members with a tie of true and lasting friendship, to strive for the advancement of chemistry, both as a science and as a profession, and to aid its members by every honorable means in the attainment of their ambitions as chemists throughout their mortal lives. Our 501(c)3 non-profit organization has long been committed to advancing the chemical sciences and supporting its members throughout their careers.
Whether you attended Biennial Conclave last week or haven’t attended a fraternity event since graduation, brotherhood is for life. We look forward to coming together with brothers to rekindle old connections and to make new ones. Currently, we have opportunities around the country to get involved. You can join one of our professional groups and chapters – or start one if there isn’t one in your area. We always need volunteers to guide the members of our collegiate branch. We’re also looking for ideas to expand our professional branch by finding new ways for our professional members to connect and advance the Objects.
If you’re not a member, our collegiate chapters are always looking for faculty who want to get involved. We have chapters at more than fifty institutions around the country, but if your campus isn’t one of them, please contact the organizer and he'll be happy to meet to discuss how you and your students can establish one.
B1629: Teachers, Alumni, and Friends of Minnesota Higher Ed
During this meet-and-greet BoaF, we look forward to connecting with folks who have a connection to higher ed in Minnesota. Through informal conversations, folks who are working in higher ed in MN can chat about projects that they’re working on and make connections across fields and schools.
Alumni can connect with one another and share how they’re applying their Minnesota training out in the world. Students, collaborators, and friends of higher ed in the Land of 10,000 Lakes are also welcome to join!
B957: Alternative Grading in Undergraduate Labs
alternative grading systems in undergraduate laboratory courses. The goal is to connect instructors who are experimenting with, or considering, shifts away from traditional points-based grading toward models. The conversation will provide space for participants to briefly share their institutional contexts, goals, successes, and challenges. Light facilitation and guiding questions will help identify common themes, barriers to implementation, and potential collaborations.
This session is intended for practitioners exploring grading reform or seeking a supportive community to exchange ideas, strategies, and resources.
Time Slot: 06:00 PM - 07:00 PM
CC95: Chemistry is More than Content: It’s a Way of Thinking About and Acting on the World
As chemistry education moves beyond rote memorization and isolated skills, instructors are reimagining teaching to center authentic phenomena and disciplinary practices that reflect the true nature of the field. This community conversation brings together secondary and postsecondary educators to explore how we can support students as knowers, doers, and users of chemistry. Panelists will share perspectives on designing instruction that connects chemistry to meaningful, real-world problems while affirming student identities.
Drawing on A Framework for K–12 Science Education and related scholarship, participants will reflect on shared challenges and opportunities for making chemistry instruction more authentic, inclusive, and relevant across contexts—from secondary classrooms to introductory college courses. Attendees are encouraged to share experiences, pose questions, and collaboratively envision approaches that position chemistry as a meaningful way of understanding and acting on the world.
CC126: Teaching Track Faculty and Sabbaticals
Sabbaticals or professional leave provide educators with dedicated time for growth, reflection, and renewal. While these opportunities often support research productivity among tenure-track faculty, teaching-track and non-tenure-track (NTT) faculty—who frequently teach high-enrollment, foundational courses—face distinct demands that make access to such leave equally important. These roles involve not only significant instructional responsibilities but also sustained attention to student motivation and the socio-emotional transition into higher education.
Despite policies that suggest eligibility, NTT faculty are often implicitly excluded or discouraged from pursuing sabbaticals. This conversation will examine how professional leave can support pedagogical innovation, prevent burnout, and recognize the intellectual contributions of teaching-focused faculty, including classroom-based research. Participants will explore examples of successful NTT sabbaticals and discuss strategies for advocating more equitable and inclusive policies across institutional contexts.
The session is open to educators at all career stages, with particular relevance for those in leadership or policy-influencing roles.
Time Slot: 07:30 PM - 10:00 PM
Flamboyance: The Main Event
Flamboyance: The Main Event Menu
- All-beef Nathan’s hot dog sliders (vegan Beyond Brats available)
- Varsity Meats pulled pork with slaw, pickles, mustards, buns
- Fresh popped popcorn
- Potato chips
- UW–Madison's Babcock ice cream cups
Beverages
- local Wisconsin microbrews
- house wines
- hard seltzers
- assorted sodas and bottled waters
(subject to minor changes)
Date: Thursday, 30th July
Time Slot: 06:30 AM - 07:15 AM
“Get Ready for the Day” movement class
Orange Shoe Personal Fitness offers complimentary morning “Get Ready for the Day” movement classes. Each 45-minute class will include movement preparation focused on mobility, stability, and safely warming up for the conference day.
Please register at least 12 hours in advance.
Time Slot: 08:00 AM - 05:00 PM
Badger Bus Transfers from Memorial Union to MSN: Buses will leave Memorial Union at the top of each hour.
Time Slot: 08:00 AM - 01:00 PM
Conference Registration and Information Desk
Time Slot: 08:30 AM - 10:00 AM
S300a: Instructional Innovation in the Chemistry Laboratory: The CLC Innovators Project
Presenters in this symposium will share chemistry laboratories designed through the Chemistry Laboratory Curriculum (CLC) Innovators program, funded by the National Science Foundation’s Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) program as a Community Transformation project (DUE 2337027 & 2337028). The CLC Innovators program supports college-level chemistry educators in creating new inquiry-based laboratory experiences using evidence-based curricular reform principles, including backward design, inquiry, scientific practices, and student-centered pedagogy. To date, 18 institutional teams from across the United States have participated in two cohorts of the CLC program, representing various institutional types (R1, R2, Master’s, PUI, and community colleges) and subdisciplines of chemistry.
Symposium presentations will highlight both the curriculum design process and the inquiry-based laboratories created through the program. This collective work, from an emerging national community of practice, is aligned with the Building and Maintaining Communities of Practice and Engaging in Scholarly Teaching conference contexts of the BCCE. This alignment is evident in: 1) the collaborative development process that is a hallmark of the CLC program and its ever-growing community, and 2) the theory-driven design/redesign of chemistry laboratories into inquiry-based and student-centered learning experiences.
S337a: Sustainability in Practice: Institutional Approaches to Advancing Green Chemistry Education
As the demand for sustainable chemical solutions continues to grow and new sets of guidelines for chemistry programs approval or accreditation emerge, higher-education institutions worldwide are seeking effective ways to integrate green chemistry principles into their teaching, research, and departmental practices. This symposium invites faculty and educators who are integrating or expanding green chemistry in their programs to share strategies for driving systemic and institutional change—through curriculum design, laboratory transformation, and research-led teaching. Framed around institutional approaches and the core competencies that prepare students to apply chemistry for sustainability, the session will highlight practices aligned with the ACS Guidelines for Bachelor’s Degree Programs and Beyond Benign’s Green Chemistry Commitment.
Key competencies include understanding the principles of green chemistry, connecting toxicology and human health, developing greener laboratory and design skills, and applying sustainable chemistry thinking to real-world contexts.
S365a: Driving Systemic Change and Scalability: Evidence-Based, Low-Cost Curricula in Gateway Courses
To the detriment of our teaching mission, the costs of tuition, room and board, textbooks, homework, and other associated expenses are steadily increasing. The growing institutional and student costs for educational materials present a significant systemic barrier, impacting access and success in high-enrollment General and Organic Chemistry courses. This symposium invites presentations that detail the development, implementation, and rigorous evaluation of low-cost or cost-neutral curricular strategies designed to mitigate these financial burdens while maintaining or improving student learning outcomes. The focus will be on the use of not-for-profit solutions, Open Education Resources (OER) and Open Source technologies, that are transferable across institutions.
We seek contributions that clearly articulate not only how costs have been reduced, but also how these practices align with established Chemical Education Research (CER) principles. Crucially, special attention will be given to proposals that demonstrate a framework for successful replication and provide evidence of active adoption or scaling across different institutional settings (e.g., community colleges, large R1 universities, or high schools). Topics may include assessment of OER effectiveness and dissemination, low-cost lab instrumentation and accompanying documentation, and sustainable digital tool alternatives. We hope to include contributions from General Chemistry and Lab, Organic Chemistry and Lab, as well as GOB/Health Science Chemistry. The goal will be alternating two Talks, followed by four Distillations cyclically.
This symposium will focus on practical, innovative, and scalable solutions, aligned primarily with the Conference Context of Fixing Systems, Not People, by shifting focus from student deficits to institutional structures that perpetuate high costs. The work presented aligns with the Intersectional Attributes of Curriculum and program development, and Data- and theory-driven insights, ensuring that proposed solutions are both fiscally responsible and pedagogically sound.
S360b: Navigating the Political Climate While Advancing Systemic Equity in Chemistry Education
Researchers and educators whose work focuses on advancing equity in chemistry education face a great deal of uncertainty in the current climate. Rapidly shifting governmental priorities and unpredictable policy changes have affected agencies that fund research and other educational programs. Schools and universities have responded in different ways depending on their institutional priorities and leadership, as well as the impacts of state and local government.
This symposium will focus on how individuals and communities are navigating this challenging and constantly changing landscape while continuing to do impactful equity-focused work. We welcome empirical studies, theoretical explorations, and praxis-oriented contributions that illuminate the lived realities of navigating and reshaping these systems at all levels. We are particularly interested in stories of HOW people carried on with this work and where they found support, in addition to creative approaches to navigating unexpected obstacles and changes.
We also intend this symposium as a resource for people who are navigating these challenges to connect with others and find support.
S210b: Art, Practice, and Joy of Engaging and Educating the Public through Scientific Demonstrations: Celebrating the Legacy of Bassam Shakhashiri
For more than half a century, Bassam Z. Shakhashiri has inspired and educated countless teachers, students, and the general public through the power of science demonstrations — vivid, memorable, and human ways of connecting with chemistry. This symposium reflects the broad scope and influence of his work.
Presenters will share demonstrations that promote engagement; innovative uses of demonstrations to foster conceptual understanding and curiosity; and strategies for safely and effectively incorporating demonstrations into teaching and outreach. Analyses of the pedagogy of demonstrations and reflections on their role in shaping public attitudes toward science will be explored. When approached through the lens of demystifying the magic, demonstrations can entertain while also educating the public and inspiring future scientists, aligning with the conference context of centering authentic phenomena and the intersectional attribute of public engagement and science literacy.
In honoring Professor Shakhashiri’s legacy, this symposium celebrates not only the joy of participating in chemistry, but also the belief that science is best learned—and loved—when it is seen, heard, experienced, and most of all, shared.
S261c: Authentic Writing Assignments for Chemistry Classes
From high school to professional practice, chemistry students write in many contexts: industry, public relations, entertainment, and more. However, most writing traditionally associated with chemistry consists of lab reports—a technical document intended for an audience of one. In reality, chemists need to communicate to broader audiences using diverse genres, including grants, proposals, pitches, editorials, scripts, advertising, social media posts, blogs, comics, and others. Preparing students for this range of rhetorical situations is essential for authentic scientific communication.
Co-hosted by a chemist and a writing professor interested in interdisciplinary approaches to teaching scientific writing, this symposium seeks talks and distillations from all levels of instruction (high school, college, and beyond) that employ various genres to help students communicate chemistry knowledge. These can be assignments or activities at any stage of development (brainstorming, drafting, revising, refining) that explore, foster, and encourage writing for authentic audiences.
We invite presenters to reflect on questions like:
- How does the assignment take into account different audiences, contexts, and purposes?
- How does this assignment help students move beyond formulaic lab reports?
- What authentic audiences are students writing for, and why?
- How do you scaffold genre awareness and rhetorical flexibility in your course?
- How do you assess writing in genres that are less traditional for chemistry?
- What interdisciplinary strategies or collaborations inform your approach?
- How does the activity connect chemistry concepts to societal or cultural contexts?
- How do you incorporate multimodal elements (visuals, audio, interactive media)?
- What challenges do students face when writing for non-technical audiences, and how do you address them?
- How do you prepare students for writing in professional or public-facing roles?
- How do you balance scientific accuracy with creativity or accessibility?
Presentations will be accepted for both talk and distillation formats with time set aside for discussion with the presenters, facilitators, and attendees.
S199a: How do we Teach Chemical Safety to Students?
Chemical safety is a required consideration in industry, in our teaching classrooms and laboratories, and in our outreach events. Working safely with chemicals and equipment is a core practice of our discipline and we have protocols designed to ensure that proper safety precautions are being taken across a variety of different situations. In the US, the ACS Committee on Chemical Safety (CCS) has been in existence since 1963, working to develop resources and create a culture of chemical safety.
But how do we teach our students about the importance of safety and instill in them this culture? Through work between CCS and the Committee on Professional Training (CPT), the 2023 ACS Guidelines for Undergraduate Chemistry Programs includes a section on establishing a safety culture and educating our students to work safely in our profession. This symposium looks to explore how we are implementing these practices in our institutions along with the ways we are educating our students and teaching assistants to prepare for emergencies and recognize, assess, and minimize the risks of hazards.
What innovative approaches are being adopted in integrating chemical safety education in the teaching laboratories? How are students being taught to develop safety practices in their research experiences? These are just a few of the questions we hope to explore in this symposium.
S325a: CER Grad Students Centering Authentic Phenomena
This symposium is designed specifically to provide a constructive venue for graduate students to present their research related to centering authentic phenomena in teaching and research contexts. We particularly encourage projects investigating authentic phenomena in learning activities and environments, and projects that involve students as partners in developing and grappling with authentic phenomena in teaching and research. Projects can focus on the K-12 or higher education levels and span classroom, laboratory, or community contexts.
This symposium will include full talks on projects that are more developed as well as projects in introductory phases to be presented as distillations. All presentations should clearly articulate the project’s research aims, include a clear discussion of how phenomena are centered in the research, and include empirical data, however preliminary. All presenters should expect to engage in constructive dialogue with audience members following their presentation.
Presenters can conclude by soliciting for specific types of feedback if they choose. This symposium is organized and hosted by the Early Career Chemistry Education Scholars Committee of DivCHED as part of their larger mission to foster research advancement in the next generation of chemistry education researchers.
S324d: Beyond Confirmatory: Teaching in the Chemistry Laboratory
This symposium looks at innovative and effective experiments conducted at all levels of the college chemistry curriculum. Presentations will describe labs, projects, or curricular structures that seek to give students experiences that model the practice of chemical research.
Moving past labs that describe chemical behavior (and confirm known results), these projects might engage students in the following: formation of research questions, experimental design, collection and interpretation of data, and dissemination of results.
S342d: Engaging Students in Physical Chemistry
Presentations in this symposium focus on learning and teaching physical chemistry. We welcome presentations on a range of topics, including but not limited to new classroom or lab activities; integration of computation, programming, or technology; innovative structures of the physical chemistry curriculum; increasing engagement among traditionally marginalized students; scholarly approaches to teaching physical chemistry; distinctive instructional approaches; and much more.
Presentations will focus on one or more of the following: student engagement with physical chemistry material, student engagement with each other as they learn physical chemistry, and student engagement with their physical chemistry instructors.
This long-running symposium will be a venue for interacting with and expanding the communities of practice in teaching physical chemistry. Presenters and attendees alike will be encouraged to make new connections with others and engage in reflection regarding students’ experiences and our key goals in teaching physical chemistry courses. We expect everyone to leave the symposium with at least one concrete idea they may wish to try with their own students.
S251a: Topic-Focused Mentorship: Authentic Practices and Student-Centered Approaches
Mentorship is impactful at all stages of a learner's development. Mentoring that focuses on topic-specific content and conceptual understanding has proven particularly effective. Topic-specific mentoring focuses on developing specific skills, knowledge, and competencies. Often, this mentoring approach centers on a defined area of inquiry that is targeted at helping the mentee to reach a specific goal, such as improving academic performance in a specific course, guiding students on a specific scholarship or fellowship opportunity, building methodological skills, etc. (Schenk et al., 2021). Numerous programs at the K-12 and collegiate levels provide structured topic-specific mentoring opportunities that allow students to gain confidence, deepen their understanding, and receive guidance and support from experts (Schmidt et al, 2024). There is a growing need to understand how mentoring should be structured for different populations and how to engage students as knowers and doers while strengthening their identity as scientists. Although a rich body of research on mentoring exists, the theoretical framework and design of mentorship constructs, especially those related to topic-focused mentoring, has not been well described in the literature. Nevertheless, some work suggests that topic-focused mentoring may be an effective method to support the development of novice learners and researchers and help them to gain access to meaningful mentoring relationships (Karcher & Nakkula, 2010).
This symposium will solicit presentations from K-12 and higher education educators who engage in structured topic-specific mentoring. Presenters will focus on novel and innovative ways they are incorporating or designing topic-focused mentoring in a variety of contexts, i.e., undergraduate research programs, novel courses, informal education activities, etc. Attendees will learn about mentoring frameworks and discover successful models that they can use to foster more impactful learning environments. Allowing educators to center authentic practices in mentoring to enhance learning activities for students, while including students as partners in their learning.
S124e: Assessment and Measurement in Research and Practice: Design, Development, Use, and Evaluation
Assessments are a critical component of research and practice in chemistry education to evaluate what students know, gauge the impacts of curricular change, and understand the relations among student-specific characteristics and course outcomes. The process of designing and developing assessments and the information obtained from these assessments is beneficial to both researchers and practitioners. As educators and education researchers rely on assessment data to evaluate the teaching and learning of chemistry, assessments must be carefully developed with aspects of validity and reliability of the data being generated in mind.
This symposium will provide a forum for bringing
together chemistry education researchers and chemistry educators to share evidence-based methods in assessment development and measurement practices that have been used for both research and practice. Presentations on the development and evaluation of assessment instruments, novel methods of classroom, laboratory, and/or programmatic assessment, and evidence that supports the validity and reliability of the data generated using assessments are welcome. Presentations are not restricted to any one sub-discipline of chemistry.
Presentations are also welcome from international speakers and student speakers at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral levels.
S83a: Reimagining the Preparation of Chemistry Graduate Students for Careers: Research, Reform, and Innovation
Graduate education in chemistry has long been a focal point for national organizations such as the American Chemical Society, the National Academies, and the Council of Graduate Schools. The current doctoral training model in chemistry does not provide students with the necessary training or experience to help them select and prepare for an academic career, especially outside of R1 environments. In parallel, the emergence of chemistry education research as a distinct and growing field has led to the development of graduate programs that incorporate novel pedagogical approaches and curricular structures. This symposium aims to create an inclusive and forward-thinking space for sharing foundational research and work that is being done to change this systemic professional development shortcoming. We welcome contributions in three key areas:
1. Research on Graduate Education Practices: Studies evaluating the effectiveness of existing components (e.g. coursework, seminars, research group dynamics, and mentoring) are encouraged. We are particularly interested in data-driven insights and outcomes from reformed practices across traditional chemistry disciplines (biochemistry, organic, inorganic, physical, and analytical).
2. Advancements in Chemistry Education Research Training: We invite presentations that explore new models, strategies, and experiences designed to prepare graduate students for impactful careers in chemistry education research or to utilize chemical education research knowledge and practices as a foundation in related careers.
3. Innovations in Professional Development: We seek presentations on work that broadly supports graduate student and postdoctoral scholar professional development, particularly for academic positions focused on undergraduate education. This includes leading workshops for graduate students/postdoctoral scholars to develop high-impact teaching practices, mentoring graduate students/postdoctoral scholars in preparing applications to faculty positions, leading future faculty training programs, etc.
By bringing together varying perspectives and evidence-based approaches, this symposium seeks to advance our collective understanding of best practices in graduate education and support the development of highly skilled chemists and educators.
W287: How Can I Assess the Impacts of the Green Chemistry Curriculum?
In alignment with the ACS Guidelines for Bachelor’s Degree Programs, which call for the integration of green chemistry (GC) throughout the curriculum, this workshop focuses on designing assessments that directly reflect GC learning goals and signal their importance to students. Participants will explore the development and use of assessment probes, including multiple-choice, open-ended, and case-comparison prompts, to measure students’ understanding and reasoning about green chemistry concepts. The workshop also introduces theory-based instruments for assessing student motivation and other affective outcomes associated with GC instruction.
Core topics include principles of measurement, research design (e.g., pre-/post-test, treatment/control, and multiple-group designs), alignment between assessment tools and constructs of interest, data collection practices, data analysis, and reporting. Participants will receive templates for administering assessment instruments. The session begins with an introduction to backward design and then examines approaches for capturing changes in student knowledge through both multiple-choice and open-ended questions.
Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.
Time Slot: 08:30 AM - 09:40 AM
S1642b: Cross Contexts Chemistry Education - General Papers
This symposium is a collection of talks across the conference contexts.
Time Slot: 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Thursday Bonding Break
Thursday Bonding Break Menu
house brewed coffee, hot water, assorted teas, creamer, oat milk, honey, lemon, bottled juices, water, whole fruit, assorted scones, hard boiled eggs
(subject to minor changes)
Time Slot: 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
S300b: Instructional Innovation in the Chemistry Laboratory: The CLC Innovators Project
Presenters in this symposium will share chemistry laboratories designed through the Chemistry Laboratory Curriculum (CLC) Innovators program, funded by the National Science Foundation’s Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) program as a Community Transformation project (DUE 2337027 & 2337028). The CLC Innovators program supports college-level chemistry educators in creating new inquiry-based laboratory experiences using evidence-based curricular reform principles, including backward design, inquiry, scientific practices, and student-centered pedagogy. To date, 18 institutional teams from across the United States have participated in two cohorts of the CLC program, representing various institutional types (R1, R2, Master’s, PUI, and community colleges) and subdisciplines of chemistry.
Symposium presentations will highlight both the curriculum design process and the inquiry-based laboratories created through the program. This collective work, from an emerging national community of practice, is aligned with the Building and Maintaining Communities of Practice and Engaging in Scholarly Teaching conference contexts of the BCCE. This alignment is evident in: 1) the collaborative development process that is a hallmark of the CLC program and its ever-growing community, and 2) the theory-driven design/redesign of chemistry laboratories into inquiry-based and student-centered learning experiences.
S337b: Sustainability in Practice: Institutional Approaches to Advancing Green Chemistry Education
As the demand for sustainable chemical solutions continues to grow and new sets of guidelines for chemistry programs approval or accreditation emerge, higher-education institutions worldwide are seeking effective ways to integrate green chemistry principles into their teaching, research, and departmental practices. This symposium invites faculty and educators who are integrating or expanding green chemistry in their programs to share strategies for driving systemic and institutional change—through curriculum design, laboratory transformation, and research-led teaching. Framed around institutional approaches and the core competencies that prepare students to apply chemistry for sustainability, the session will highlight practices aligned with the ACS Guidelines for Bachelor’s Degree Programs and Beyond Benign’s Green Chemistry Commitment.
Key competencies include understanding the principles of green chemistry, connecting toxicology and human health, developing greener laboratory and design skills, and applying sustainable chemistry thinking to real-world contexts.
S365b: Driving Systemic Change and Scalability: Evidence-Based, Low-Cost Curricula in Gateway Courses
To the detriment of our teaching mission, the costs of tuition, room and board, textbooks, homework, and other associated expenses are steadily increasing. The growing institutional and student costs for educational materials present a significant systemic barrier, impacting access and success in high-enrollment General and Organic Chemistry courses. This symposium invites presentations that detail the development, implementation, and rigorous evaluation of low-cost or cost-neutral curricular strategies designed to mitigate these financial burdens while maintaining or improving student learning outcomes. The focus will be on the use of not-for-profit solutions, Open Education Resources (OER) and Open Source technologies, that are transferable across institutions.
We seek contributions that clearly articulate not only how costs have been reduced, but also how these practices align with established Chemical Education Research (CER) principles. Crucially, special attention will be given to proposals that demonstrate a framework for successful replication and provide evidence of active adoption or scaling across different institutional settings (e.g., community colleges, large R1 universities, or high schools). Topics may include assessment of OER effectiveness and dissemination, low-cost lab instrumentation and accompanying documentation, and sustainable digital tool alternatives. We hope to include contributions from General Chemistry and Lab, Organic Chemistry and Lab, as well as GOB/Health Science Chemistry. The goal will be alternating two Talks, followed by four Distillations cyclically.
This symposium will focus on practical, innovative, and scalable solutions, aligned primarily with the Conference Context of Fixing Systems, Not People, by shifting focus from student deficits to institutional structures that perpetuate high costs. The work presented aligns with the Intersectional Attributes of Curriculum and program development, and Data- and theory-driven insights, ensuring that proposed solutions are both fiscally responsible and pedagogically sound.
S360c: Navigating the Political Climate while Advancing Systemic Equity in Chemistry Education
Researchers and educators whose work focuses on advancing equity in chemistry education face a great deal of uncertainty in the current climate. Rapidly shifting governmental priorities and unpredictable policy changes have affected agencies that fund research and other educational programs. Schools and universities have responded in different ways depending on their institutional priorities and leadership, as well as the impacts of state and local government.
This symposium will focus on how individuals and communities are navigating this challenging and constantly changing landscape while continuing to do impactful equity-focused work. We welcome empirical studies, theoretical explorations, and praxis-oriented contributions that illuminate the lived realities of navigating and reshaping these systems at all levels. We are particularly interested in stories of HOW people carried on with this work and where they found support, in addition to creative approaches to navigating unexpected obstacles and changes.
We also intend this symposium as a resource for people who are navigating these challenges to connect with others and find support.
S210c: Art, Practice, and Joy of Engaging and Educating the Public through Scientific Demonstrations: Celebrating the Legacy of Bassam Shakhashiri
For more than half a century, Bassam Z. Shakhashiri has inspired and educated countless teachers, students, and the general public through the power of science demonstrations — vivid, memorable, and human ways of connecting with chemistry. This symposium reflects the broad scope and influence of his work.
Presenters will share demonstrations that promote engagement; innovative uses of demonstrations to foster conceptual understanding and curiosity; and strategies for safely and effectively incorporating demonstrations into teaching and outreach. Analyses of the pedagogy of demonstrations and reflections on their role in shaping public attitudes toward science will be explored. When approached through the lens of demystifying the magic, demonstrations can entertain while also educating the public and inspiring future scientists, aligning with the conference context of centering authentic phenomena and the intersectional attribute of public engagement and science literacy.
In honoring Professor Shakhashiri’s legacy, this symposium celebrates not only the joy of participating in chemistry, but also the belief that science is best learned—and loved—when it is seen, heard, experienced, and most of all, shared.
S199b: How do we Teach Chemical Safety to Students?
Chemical safety is a required consideration in industry, in our teaching classrooms and laboratories, and in our outreach events. Working safely with chemicals and equipment is a core practice of our discipline and we have protocols designed to ensure that proper safety precautions are being taken across a variety of different situations. In the US, the ACS Committee on Chemical Safety (CCS) has been in existence since 1963, working to develop resources and create a culture of chemical safety.
But how do we teach our students about the importance of safety and instill in them this culture? Through work between CCS and the Committee on Professional Training (CPT), the 2023 ACS Guidelines for Undergraduate Chemistry Programs includes a section on establishing a safety culture and educating our students to work safely in our profession. This symposium looks to explore how we are implementing these practices in our institutions along with the ways we are educating our students and teaching assistants to prepare for emergencies and recognize, assess, and minimize the risks of hazards.
What innovative approaches are being adopted in integrating chemical safety education in the teaching laboratories? How are students being taught to develop safety practices in their research experiences? These are just a few of the questions we hope to explore in this symposium.
S325b: CER Grad Students Centering Authentic Phenomena
This symposium is designed specifically to provide a constructive venue for graduate students to present their research related to centering authentic phenomena in teaching and research contexts. We particularly encourage projects investigating authentic phenomena in learning activities and environments, and projects that involve students as partners in developing and grappling with authentic phenomena in teaching and research. Projects can focus on the K-12 or higher education levels and span classroom, laboratory, or community contexts.
This symposium will include full talks on projects that are more developed as well as projects in introductory phases to be presented as distillations. All presentations should clearly articulate the project’s research aims, include a clear discussion of how phenomena are centered in the research, and include empirical data, however preliminary. All presenters should expect to engage in constructive dialogue with audience members following their presentation.
Presenters can conclude by soliciting for specific types of feedback if they choose. This symposium is organized and hosted by the Early Career Chemistry Education Scholars Committee of DivCHED as part of their larger mission to foster research advancement in the next generation of chemistry education researchers.
S324e: Beyond Confirmatory: Teaching in the Chemistry Laboratory
This symposium looks at innovative and effective experiments conducted at all levels of the college chemistry curriculum. Presentations will describe labs, projects, or curricular structures that seek to give students experiences that model the practice of chemical research.
Moving past labs that describe chemical behavior (and confirm known results), these projects might engage students in the following: formation of research questions, experimental design, collection and interpretation of data, and dissemination of results.
S342e: Engaging Students in Physical Chemistry
Presentations in this symposium focus on learning and teaching physical chemistry. We welcome presentations on a range of topics, including but not limited to new classroom or lab activities; integration of computation, programming, or technology; innovative structures of the physical chemistry curriculum; increasing engagement among traditionally marginalized students; scholarly approaches to teaching physical chemistry; distinctive instructional approaches; and much more.
Presentations will focus on one or more of the following: student engagement with physical chemistry material, student engagement with each other as they learn physical chemistry, and student engagement with their physical chemistry instructors.
This long-running symposium will be a venue for interacting with and expanding the communities of practice in teaching physical chemistry. Presenters and attendees alike will be encouraged to make new connections with others and engage in reflection regarding students’ experiences and our key goals in teaching physical chemistry courses. We expect everyone to leave the symposium with at least one concrete idea they may wish to try with their own students.
S251b: Topic-Focused Mentorship: Authentic Practices and Student-Centered Approaches
Mentorship is impactful at all stages of a learner's development. Mentoring that focuses on topic-specific content and conceptual understanding has proven particularly effective. Topic-specific mentoring focuses on developing specific skills, knowledge, and competencies. Often, this mentoring approach centers on a defined area of inquiry that is targeted at helping the mentee to reach a specific goal, such as improving academic performance in a specific course, guiding students on a specific scholarship or fellowship opportunity, building methodological skills, etc. (Schenk et al., 2021). Numerous programs at the K-12 and collegiate levels provide structured topic-specific mentoring opportunities that allow students to gain confidence, deepen their understanding, and receive guidance and support from experts (Schmidt et al, 2024). There is a growing need to understand how mentoring should be structured for different populations and how to engage students as knowers and doers while strengthening their identity as scientists. Although a rich body of research on mentoring exists, the theoretical framework and design of mentorship constructs, especially those related to topic-focused mentoring, has not been well described in the literature. Nevertheless, some work suggests that topic-focused mentoring may be an effective method to support the development of novice learners and researchers and help them to gain access to meaningful mentoring relationships (Karcher & Nakkula, 2010).
This symposium will solicit presentations from K-12 and higher education educators who engage in structured topic-specific mentoring. Presenters will focus on novel and innovative ways they are incorporating or designing topic-focused mentoring in a variety of contexts, i.e., undergraduate research programs, novel courses, informal education activities, etc. Attendees will learn about mentoring frameworks and discover successful models that they can use to foster more impactful learning environments. Allowing educators to center authentic practices in mentoring to enhance learning activities for students, while including students as partners in their learning
S124f: Assessment and Measurement in Research and Practice: Design, Development, Use, and Evaluation
Assessments are a critical component of research and practice in chemistry education to evaluate what students know, gauge the impacts of curricular change, and understand the relations among student-specific characteristics and course outcomes. The process of designing and developing assessments and the information obtained from these assessments is beneficial to both researchers and practitioners. As educators and education researchers rely on assessment data to evaluate the teaching and learning of chemistry, assessments must be carefully developed with aspects of validity and reliability of the data being generated in mind.
This symposium will provide a forum for bringing
together chemistry education researchers and chemistry educators to share evidence-based methods in assessment development and measurement practices that have been used for both research and practice. Presentations on the development and evaluation of assessment instruments, novel methods of classroom, laboratory, and/or programmatic assessment, and evidence that supports the validity and reliability of the data generated using assessments are welcome. Presentations are not restricted to any one sub-discipline of chemistry.
Presentations are also welcome from international speakers and student speakers at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral levels.
S83b: Reimagining the Preparation of Chemistry Graduate Students for Careers: Research, Reform, and Innovation
Graduate education in chemistry has long been a focal point for national organizations such as the American Chemical Society, the National Academies, and the Council of Graduate Schools. The current doctoral training model in chemistry does not provide students with the necessary training or experience to help them select and prepare for an academic career, especially outside of R1 environments. In parallel, the emergence of chemistry education research as a distinct and growing field has led to the development of graduate programs that incorporate novel pedagogical approaches and curricular structures. This symposium aims to create an inclusive and forward-thinking space for sharing foundational research and work that is being done to change this systemic professional development shortcoming. We welcome contributions in three key areas:
1. Research on Graduate Education Practices: Studies evaluating the effectiveness of existing components (e.g. coursework, seminars, research group dynamics, and mentoring) are encouraged. We are particularly interested in data-driven insights and outcomes from reformed practices across traditional chemistry disciplines (biochemistry, organic, inorganic, physical, and analytical).
2. Advancements in Chemistry Education Research Training: We invite presentations that explore new models, strategies, and experiences designed to prepare graduate students for impactful careers in chemistry education research or to utilize chemical education research knowledge and practices as a foundation in related careers.
3. Innovations in Professional Development: We seek presentations on work that broadly supports graduate student and postdoctoral scholar professional development, particularly for academic positions focused on undergraduate education. This includes leading workshops for graduate students/postdoctoral scholars to develop high-impact teaching practices, mentoring graduate students/postdoctoral scholars in preparing applications to faculty positions, leading future faculty training programs, etc.
By bringing together varying perspectives and evidence-based approaches, this symposium seeks to advance our collective understanding of best practices in graduate education and support the development of highly skilled chemists and educators.
W287: How Can I Assess the Impacts of the Green Chemistry Curriculum?
In alignment with the ACS Guidelines for Bachelor’s Degree Programs, which call for the integration of green chemistry (GC) throughout the curriculum, this workshop focuses on designing assessments that directly reflect GC learning goals and signal their importance to students. Participants will explore the development and use of assessment probes, including multiple-choice, open-ended, and case-comparison prompts, to measure students’ understanding and reasoning about green chemistry concepts. The workshop also introduces theory-based instruments for assessing student motivation and other affective outcomes associated with GC instruction.
Core topics include principles of measurement, research design (e.g., pre-/post-test, treatment/control, and multiple-group designs), alignment between assessment tools and constructs of interest, data collection practices, data analysis, and reporting. Participants will receive templates for administering assessment instruments. The session begins with an introduction to backward design and then examines approaches for capturing changes in student knowledge through both multiple-choice and open-ended questions.
Participants will leave with practical strategies and resources for implementation.