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- Grading for Growth - This symposium, whose title is taken from the book of the same name, aims to share best alternative grading designs and practices. Standards-based grading, specifications-grading, ungrading, and mixes of these have been growing in use throughout the chemistry curriculum. Authors will share their design and experiences with alternative grading practices and their impact on student learning.
- Disrupting Grading - Traditional grading systems have been shown to be statistically invalid, unreliable, and oppressive, particularly to students who face systemic inequities. As chemistry educators, many of us despise grading and see it as one of the most tedious aspects of our jobs. It is time to disrupt grading — to learn different ways to provide evaluation to students. This symposium welcomes anyone who has tried or wants to try a different approach to grading (specifications grading, ungrading, or any alternative to traditional grading) in their classrooms at any level (high school, two-year, undergraduate, graduate, or other) and any subdiscipline (general, organic, or other) that may have a significant impact on students, teachers, and the system. In addition, this symposium is interested in the effects of alternative grading approaches on the classroom environment.
- Assessment Instruments: Design, Development, and Evaluation - Assessment instruments have become ubiquitous within chemistry education. They are used to gauge the impacts of curricular change and understand the relations among student-specific characteristics and course outcomes. As educators and education researchers rely on assessment instrument data to make these and other inferences, the tools must be carefully designed, developed, and evaluated with aspects of validity and reliability of the data being generated in mind. This symposium will bring together presentations about the creation and evaluation of all types of assessment instruments with the goal of informing the chemistry education community about the potential uses of these tools, their limitations, and the evidence that supports the validity and reliability of the data they generate.
- Re-envisioning Grading and Assessments for Enhanced Student’s Learning Experience - Assessments are employed to evaluate students on their mastery of content in STEM. However, educational research shows conventional grading methods and summative assessments prioritize standards over inquiry and mastery of skills and do not necessarily provide an accurate reflection of knowledge, adequate and proportional evaluation of key concepts, and equitable learning environment. Creativity is essential for educators to align assessments with the learning process, create more opportunities for learning, and enhance transparency on expectations. This session will host presentations on creative approaches educators in STEM are applying to address challenges in their pedagogies and creating different assessments and grading systems to 1) Evaluate students’ ability to be proficient in foundational knowledge. 2) Evaluate students' ability to demonstrate mastery. 3) Enhance students’ attitude towards a growth mindset and learning process. 4) Create a more equitable learning environment.
- Assessment and Measurement in Research and Practice - One crucial component of chemical education research is effectively assessing what students know. The information obtained is beneficial to both researchers and practitioners. This symposium will provide a forum for chemical education researchers and chemistry educators to share evidence-based assessment and measurement practices that have been utilized at the undergraduate level for both research and practice. Presentations are welcome from assessment research conducted in any sub-discipline of chemistry, especially novel methods of classroom and/or programmatic assessment. Presentations are also welcome from international speakers and student speakers at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral levels.
- Innovative Assessments in Introductory Chemistry Courses: Introducing More Effective Ways to Determine What Your Students Know - Traditional assessment methods in college level chemistry courses typically involve quizzes, homework, tests, and mid-term/final exams. But do these types of assessments accurately reflect students' knowledge and skills? Assessments like these frequently fall into a one-size-fits-all category and are offered as one-shot time-constrained evaluations. They can be limited in scope, often measuring the most basic knowledge and application skills. More and more, instructors are seeking innovative methods of assessment that reduce reliance on rote memorization, promote and measure deeper learning, and provide evidence of student subject-mastery. Methods such as “authentic assessments”, “specifications-based grading”, and “competency-based assessments” have more recently appeared in chemical education publications. In addition, innovative strategies such as performance-based or oral exams, real-world case studies, gamified chemistry-themed escape rooms, and AI-based adaptive learning platforms that assess deeper conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills have been described in various papers. So, if you are one of those instructors who is always trying new assessment strategies and has implemented a method (or combination of methods) that has been found to promote and effectively measure student learning in your course, you are invited to share your methods and outcomes in this symposium.
- Exploration of Student-centered Assessments in Chemistry Education - Although classroom instruction is shifting to be increasingly more student-centered, it is common for traditional assessments to persist. There is growing interest in the chemistry education research community to investigate the development, validation, and application of alternative assessments. Student-centered assessments allow for students to express their own understandings of a given topic rather than having an explicit instructor-centered expectation. This approach has the opportunity to benefit both instructors and students as it provides insight into the unrestricted examination of student understanding. Practices like concept mapping and creative exercises are examples of how student-centered activities can be implemented as assessment tools. This symposium seeks to provide a space for researchers and practitioners to share their exploration of student-centered assessments. We encourage both qualitative and quantitative studies (at all stages) that showcase the production, function, application and/or student engagement of these assessments.
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- General Chemistry Lab: 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. 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. 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?
- Big 10 Gen Chem Labs: Advances, Innovations, and Challenges - This symposium will provide a forum for discussing the current state of the general chemistry labs at universities in the Big 10 Conference. Topics of discussion, while aimed at large, research-oriented chemistry departments, will be relevant to most any other size chemistry department. This symposium invites presentations that outline any innovative approach to teaching general chemistry labs (curriculum, new/novel laboratory activities, TA training or mentoring, facility management, etc.), whether successful or not. The organizers believe that a lot can be learned from innovations that work and those that don’t work as expected.
- Current Research on the Undergraduate Chemistry Laboratory - This symposium will focus on current qualitative and quantitative research related to the undergraduate chemistry laboratory curriculum. Contributed papers should address research related to any aspect of the undergraduate laboratory. This includes, but is not limited to, general chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, instructors, students, laboratory curriculum, pre-laboratory assignments, laboratory assessments, cognitive, affective or psychomotor factors, etc. Related research on laboratory design for exploring student’s engagement in chemistry laboratory may also be addressed.
- Beyond Confirmatory Experiences: 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.
- Active and inquiry learning in the chemistry teaching laboratory - Active learning of chemistry, how chemical processes work, and the use of chemical instrumentation cannot take place without some kind of laboratory experience. In this symposium we plan to explore laboratory instruction models that primarily feature instructors engaging students in active inquiry in the college laboratory setting. Presenters will share their work surrounding innovations in teaching in the laboratory and describe the effects of these innovations on students’ behavior towards learning chemistry, perceptions on laboratory work or even new conceptual understanding.
- Innovations, Practices, and Challenges in Large Enrollment 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. This symposium aims to provide a space for the directors of large laboratory courses to share their creative approaches to laboratory curriculum, structure, instruction, and execution of their courses. Discussions of the successful implementation of new ideas, as well as lessons learned from not-so-successful ones, are welcome.
- Mobile Devices as Scientific Instruments in Laboratory Education - Mobile devices (smartphones) have an array of built-in sensors such as a camera, light meter, microphone, magnetometer, and an accelerometer. These sensors are often highly sensitive and can be operated through a variety of apps, many of them free. This makes it possible for instructors to devise experiments in which students can perform precise, quantitative measurements of physical parameters, using their personal smartphone. Compared to using stand-alone instruments in a laboratory, the use of mobile devices may have advantages in terms of cost and accessibility. Furthermore, the use of mobile devices is especially suited to the requirements of home-based experiments. Mobile devices have been applied extensively in educational experiments in undergraduate physics courses, but they are also being used in chemistry courses. This symposium will feature examples of the use of mobile devices in chemistry experiments, giving presenters and participants a chance to learn and discuss how to apply this technology in laboratory education.
- Pedagogical Innovations for Upper Division Labs - So often lab teaching, especially in upper division lab courses, is focused on what experiments we teach, what instruments we have, how rigorous or cutting edge our topics are. But labs are also a large block of hours during which students will be in our presence, and a reasonable ratio of students to faculty or teaching assistants. Viewed this way, a lab course is a pedagogical opportunity. This symposium will focus on how we teach lab courses, not what we teach in them. We invite talks on pedagogical innovations or focuses that can be as big as a full curriculum overhaul, to as small as a change in the signage you hang around the room. The uniting theme will be how we can use our lab time to improve student outcomes in ways that aren’t possible in lecture courses or larger lower-division labs. Talks that include student feedback about the pedagogical approaches are especially encouraged. We encourage submissions for talks on labs taught in large and small programs, mentorship within the undergraduate lab context, and pedagogical techniques that support students from diverse backgrounds. We welcome talks from folks who teach computational chemistry or other dry labs, in additional to more traditional wet labs. We also encourage talks that will use their time to discuss innovations with the audience.
- Active Learning in the Organic Chemistry Laboratory - The hands-on nature of the organic chemistry laboratory makes it an ideal setting for active learning, but it is still easy to fall into old habits of designing our courses based on “cookbook chemistry.” Both large- and small-enrollment courses benefit from active learning strategies including, but not limited to, inquiry-based labs, course-based undergraduate research experiences (CURE), writing across the curriculum (WAC), and peer-led team learning (PLT). Instructors who develop and implement either individual experiments or course-wide practices supporting active learning in the organic chemistry laboratory are encouraged to submit abstracts.
- Present and Future Directions in Organic Chemistry Laboratory Courses - 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 new experiments or teaching modules, the utilization of digital resources for visualization, problem solving, or scientific recordkeeping, or strategies to streamline the learning experience. Advancements in the realization of large enrollment laboratory courses are of special interest, as are advancements that may be scalable to that environment.
- Teaching Chemical Safety In the Classroom/Laboratory - A new culture of chemical safety is occurring in our discipline, but how are we inculcating that culture into the next generation of chemists? The 2023 ACS Guidelines for Undergraduate Chemistry Programs as prepared by the Committee on Professional Training has included 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 guidelines 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 programs in their research experiences? These are just a few of the questions we hope to explore in this symposium.
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- Teaching Forensic Science: From Crime Scene to Classroom - The symposium aims at broadly defined forensic science. The topics include, not limited to, introductory forensic science, crime scene analysis, forensic chemistry, forensic biology, forensic toxicology, forensic detection, forensic quantification, forensic profiling analysis, instrumental analysis, chemometrics, and other forensic science classes. Innovations in implementing new lectures, experiments, and case studies in existing classes, or designing brand-new forensic courses at K12, undergraduate, and graduate levels are welcome to share in the symposium. The symposium is expected to have stimulated interaction and discussion on novel ideas to strengthen the current forensic curriculum and enhance students' learning. We believe that forensic science is one of the most promising enhancements in chemical education.
- Teaching Forensic Science - At the previous BCCE meeting in 2022, there was a roundtable discussion on teaching forensic science. It became apparent that chemistry instructors at all levels (high school and college) were being asked to teach forensic science courses with very little background in the discipline. Even with the increasing popularity of the field, there is a limited number of individuals in academia (especially PUI’s) trained in forensic science because most of those with higher degrees go on to work in federal labs or state/local crime labs. Because of this, instructors of all backgrounds are being asked to teach courses at their respective institutions with little guidance. It also became apparent at the 2022 BCCE meeting that there were many instructors out there with really great ideas for how they implement forensic science curriculum into their classrooms. This symposium would allow current instructors of forensic science courses to share their experiences and best practices in teaching courses at their own institutions so that new (and old!) instructors can gain ideas for their own classroom.
- Integrating Forensic Science Courses Into the Curriculum and Growing Forensic Science Programs - Chemistry-intensive forensic science courses are widely accessible across various institutions, serving both as elective courses and integral components of a forensic chemistry degree program. This symposium provides a valuable platform for forensic science educators to engage in reflection and reevaluation of evidence-based pedagogical practices. The primary goal is to enhance instructional methods across classroom, online, and laboratory settings, with a specific emphasis on optimizing the delivery of forensic science content. The symposium addresses partnerships and internships with crime labs, acknowledging the potential challenges in the process, particularly when pre-existing relationships are absent.
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- Inclusive Practices for Unrepresented Groups in STEM - This symposium will provide an opportunity for researchers and practitioners to discuss a variety of topic related to underrepresented groups in STEM. We welcome any topics related to classroom practice, learning environments, assessment, research methods, and professional development that includes historically underrepresented or underserved groups in STEM, including but not limited to racial and ethnic groups, women, students with disabilities, and the LGBTQ+ community. We are especially interested in studies used to foster an inclusive learning environment. We invite both researchers and practitioners to bring both groups together to discuss what research is ongoing, what is happening in and outside the classroom, and how we can make a connection between the two.
- Effective Approaches to Inclusive Chemistry Education - This symposium features interventions and approaches to create a more inclusive learning environment for students in our chemistry classrooms. Incorporation of high impact practices, culturally relevant pedagogy, and decolonized curriculum have shown to improve student learning and retention. The goal of this symposium is to provide a forum for participants to present their efforts in striving for diversity, equity, inclusion, and respect (DEIR). Sharing the successes and challenges in this work will allow others to learn and integrate inclusive practices in their classrooms.
- Shining Light on Black STEM Students’ Experiences in a PWI Using Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, and Postmodern Theory - Since the passing of the Civil Rights Act, several policies have been implemented to increase the diversity in the academy. Despite these legal changes, reports of racialized trauma experienced by Black and Brown folks in the US academic spaces is ubiquitous, indicating a gap between policy, their implementation, and a societal change. This qualitative research aims to draw attention to a gap in lived experience of Black STEM students attending a PWI in rural South since the summer of 2020. Narratives obtained through facilitated conversations were analysed using established social theories, such as Critical Race Theory, Postcolonial Theory, and Afropessimism which prioritizes the lived experiences of the student participants and uses their experiential learning on race and racism as valuable knowledge. The data show that Black STEM students’ microenvironment did not alter significantly despite institutional efforts to bring equity because of the whiteness in the lens of intervention. Further, the participants also described some of these efforts as reactionary and only visible one physical violence happens on Black bodies outside of the academy and not because of the systemic racism within. Lastly, the student participants showed little to no expectations from the white academy to be their allies and described a disembodied STEM experience as a coping mechanism.
- Cultivating Inclusivity and Equity in the Classroom - Two top factors contributing to persistence in STEM majors are instructor pedagogy and curriculum design. In terms of pedagogy, the choice of specific activities and methods of instruction in a classroom has been shown to impact students’ sense of belonging and self-efficacy, particularly for underrepresented students. Additionally, a large body of research supports the benefits of inclusive curricular and pedagogical practices for not only historically underrepresented students, but for all students. This symposium will be an opportunity to provide information and ideas about how faculty can support their students with inclusive and equitable classroom practices and/or curriculum choices. Our goal is to share previously implemented examples with each other and to discuss the successes and pitfalls experienced in the classroom.
- 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 diverse 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.
- HBCU’s contributions to Chemical Education - Participants at BCCE 2022 represented many types of colleges and universities, but very few were from historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) or minority serving institutions (MSI). Considering that approximately 10% of US institutions of higher learning fall into the HBCU/MSI category, there is a demonstrable need to include the voices of colleagues and students at these institutions at future BCCE meetings. This symposium will serve as a starting point for broadening HBCU/MSI participation in future professional meetings, including BCCE. Presentations will focus on research interests, current state of research progress, successes in Chemical Education, and problems they encounter. The symposium will also provide a space for HBCU Chem Educators to meet and seek collaborations for education, chemical, or chemical education research.
- Research Investigations in STEM Identity in Chemistry Learning Environments - There has been an upswing in research that investigates how a student’s STEM identity influences their performance and persistence in STEM courses. STEM identity offers a valuable lens through which one can gain an understanding of various aspects that affect the affective domain of learning. Talks in this symposium may provide further evidence for how STEM identity influences such factors as student achievement in chemistry courses, persistence in chemistry and STEM majors, or how one’s STEM identity and/or sense of belonging may be further developed. The research studies presented may be qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods and should clearly outline the research questions under investigation, a description of the methods and instruments used to collect data, and a summary of the findings.
- Multilingual Learners in Chemistry - In today’s U.S. educational settings, multilingual students account for roughly 20% of the total student population. Multilingual students include those who are officially designated as English learners (ELs) in K-12 settings, former ELs who are reclassified as English proficient, and English proficient students who use non-English languages at home. In college contexts, international students also make up a significant portion of multilingual students. Despite this large number, multilingual students have received relatively limited attention in chemistry education research. Extant research shows that multilinguals face various challenges in navigating chemistry classrooms, including difficulties in learning technical terminology, academic language, participating in classroom discourses, and alienation and marginalization in the classroom.
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- Sustainability in Undergraduate Coursework - The purpose of this symposium is to share work related to teaching sustainability concepts to undergraduate students. Presentations will focus on activities from lecture courses, laboratory experiments, or outreach activities.
- Frontiers in Integrating Green Chemistry and Sustainability into the Teaching Laboratory - Integrating green chemistry and sustainability concepts across high school and undergraduate chemistry programs is crucial for empowering the next generation of chemists and scientists to address global sustainability challenges and transform workplace practices. This is evidenced by the recent inclusion of green chemistry and the Twelve Principles in the newly revised ACS Guidelines for Bachelor's Degree Programs.
Through this symposium, teachers and faculty instructors will gain a better understanding of why this is important and the changes that can be made to their laboratory curriculum to help meet these new requirements. Presentations from chemistry education community members will focus on recent examples of “greening” undergraduate teaching laboratories across all sub-disciplines, either through practical examples of new or modified experiments (such as changes in scale, infrastructure modifications (e.g., fume hood use), alternative synthetic methods (e.g., mechanochemistry, microwave synthesis), or any combination thereof or beyond), or improved assessments or pedagogical approaches to teaching green chemistry concepts in the laboratory (e.g., use of life cycle analyses (LCA), use of metrics, modification of pre- and post-lab questions, etc.).
This symposium complements and connects specifically to the conference workshop entitled “Introduction to Integrating Green Chemistry and Sustainability in Undergraduate Teaching Laboratories”, which will provide a more hands-on approach for teachers who may be new to these concepts to help them modify their own existing teaching labs.
- 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.
- Greener practices for Organic Chemistry Labs - Green chemistry practices have been introduced with some emphasis in academia in general, However, they are still novel, and traditional approaches have led the organic chemistry laboratory courses. The principles of green chemistry go beyond traditional approaches of chemistry, such as yield and synthetic simplicity, but include cost, environmental impact, health effects and safety. Educating science majors in green chemistry principles could lead to gaining additional skills for their future success by guiding them to consider the broader impact of a process. Our goal with this symposium is to give a space for instructors to communicate and share solutions on reactions, substrates, reagents, waste management and/or learning objectives to design “greener” teaching organic chemistry laboratory courses. With the purpose of teaching students about more sustainable practices and making organic teaching laboratories safer.
- Advancing Sustainable Chemistry Curriculum - Educators and practitioners are invited to contribute their work focused on sustainable chemistry. This symposium aims to foster a dynamic exchange of ideas, experiences, and innovations in an effort to advance the integration of sustainable chemistry principles into educational frameworks. We invite educators to share their experiences, best practices, and other curricular developments related to sustainable chemistry education. Submissions that contribute to the broader dialogue on fostering a culture of sustainability within the field of chemistry education are encouraged. This symposium is aimed at advancing the integration of sustainability principles into chemistry pedagogy, and preparing the next generation of scientists to address global challenges through responsible and ethical practices. Topics of interest include: 1. Sustainable Chemistry Curriculum: Designing and implementing sustainable chemistry modules within existing curricula. Assessing the impact of sustainability-focused coursework on student understanding and engagement.Strategies for incorporating green chemistry principles into various academic levels. 2. Sustainability Labs in Chemistry Courses: Examples of successful case studies of sustainability-focused laboratories.Developing and optimizing experiments that emphasize environmentally friendly practices. Addressing challenges and solutions in establishing sustainability labs within resource constraints. 3. Innovative Teaching Approaches to integrate real-world examples of sustainable chemistry into lectures. Assessing the effectiveness of pedagogical methods in instilling a commitment to sustainability in students.
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- Catalyzing Innovations in Chemistry Education Research: Harnessing the Power of Machine Learning and Generative Artificial Intelligence - In the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, Machine Learning (ML) and Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) have emerged as the cornerstones of innovation, transforming education and reshaping our understanding of what is possible. This symposium will encompass how artificial intelligence techniques such as machine learning and natural language processing are being used in chemistry education research. We invite researchers to submit abstracts related to their study and development of novel educational approaches in chemistry using ML and GAI. We are particularly interested in how ML and GAI tools are employed to advance research in chemistry education. Submissions employing learning analytics are also welcome.
- AI and Machine Learning as Agents of Change in Chemistry Education - The advent and adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) has already accelerated and enabled discoveries across multiple scientific disciplines, including chemistry. However, the impact of the current wave of AI and ML advancements on the teaching and learning of chemistry are only now becoming tangible. Implementation of these tools and concepts into undergraduate curriculum has the potential to dramatically impact student learning, agency, and perceptions of chemistry. Leading the charge in AI/ML curriculum integration enables students to better participate in the ever-evolving frontier workforce in chemistry and other disciplines. As educators begin to turn frontier research into textbook chapters, it's important to establish a vision for the teaching of the field. This symposium aims to unite researchers and practitioners with the goal of sharing current work and initiating a conversation around common goals and visions for the future of AI and ML in chemistry education.
- ChatGPT in the Classroom: Empowering Educators With AI - In this session we will discuss a framework for faculty members to harness the capabilities of AI, specifically through ChatGPT, to enrich the higher education learning experience. It emphasizes the role of ChatGPT as a supportive tool for educators, offering strategies to integrate this conversational AI into their teaching methodologies. The session will focus on practical guidance for faculty on deploying ChatGPT to supplement instruction, and automate administrative tasks like grading and feedback. We will also address the ethical considerations and best practices for incorporating AI into the curriculum, ensuring that the technology serves as an ally to the educator and enhances the overall quality of academic instruction.
- Make AI Your Friend: Improving Student Learning and Outcomes by Integrating AI Into Classroom Teaching and Learning - Students learn best when presented a variety of learning tools – lecture participation and notes, video recordings, active learning components and practice problems. While all these resources have been generated by educators and researchers, we now have a new “tool” available – Artificial Intelligence (AI). The creation and availability of Artificial Intelligence tools and apps is exciting in that they allow students to easily obtain answers to problems but creates challenges for instructors wherein now, it is hard to ascertain whether AI tools are aiding student learning or abetting them to cheat (and possibly not learn) in the process. The effective use of AI apps may also vary in extent to the type of class and student learning outcomes: for example, an upper-level writing intensive class or laboratory may have different AI related involvement compared to an introductory level course.
- Artificial Intelligence in Chemistry Education - With AI advancements effecting seismic shifts in culture and technology, we want to create a forum where chemistry educators who have researched this emerging field will share ideas about the current and future potential impacts of AI on chemistry education.
- Incorporating Machine Learning into the Chemistry Curriculum - Machine learning (ML) is a powerful tool for making predictions using large data sets. With the rapidly growing availability of massive data sets in chemistry, it is becoming increasingly important to expose students to basic machine learning concepts and tools. This symposium welcomes presenters utilizing ML tools or ML projects in their chemistry classroom including lecture or laboratory, entire courses or smaller projects. Presenters are encouraged to provide access details for GitHub repositories, coding notebooks and data sets.
- Teaching and Learning in the AI Revolution - Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are disrupting higher education. As the higher education system in the U.S. and abroad grapples with its response to AI innovations, it is also navigating calls for equity-based approaches that address the underrepresentation of traditionally marginalized populations, dwindling college enrollments, strategies for propagating high-impact practices, inclusive teaching, and much more. These challenges impact how students learn in the college spaces and develop skills to compete in a global economy. At its core, this calls on instructors to reconsider learning and instructional design to foster higher-order thinking with new tools and under new paradigms. While AI-enabled and AI-inspired approaches offer opportunities for disruptive innovations, established strategies like universal design for learning (UDL) and backward design can be and should be leveraged in the AI revolution to catalyze and facilitate higher-order learning and skills development. During this symposium, we offer chemistry educators and leaders spaces to learn from each other as they engage in this work. Additionally, we welcome contributions from practitioners and researchers who consider equity and/or inclusion in AI-enabled and AI-inspired practice.
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- Engaging Students & Curriculum Development in Large Classes - In this symposium will discuss the successes, trials, and tribulations in the teaching and administration of large chemistry classes. Topics may include student engagement and retention, course management strategies, curriculum development, use of technology, mentoring teaching assistants as well as other topics that pertain to teaching large classes. A desired result of this symposium is the formation and cultivation of a support network of faculty who teach large classes at different colleges and universities.
- Active Learning Strategies in Chemistry Classes With Large Enrollment Lectures - We find that traditional active learning strategies are challenging to implement in large lecture sections. Many students in large lecture classes struggle to stay engaged and rely on memorization to do well in the course. This symposium will focus on ways to increase engagement in larger lecture style formats and to encourage critical thinking strategies instead of memorization.
- Lessons Learned as a Chemistry Lecture/Lab Coordinator - Many college lecturers and professors serve as coordinators for larger enrollment, multi-section undergraduate courses. The purpose of this symposium is to have a conversation in the undergraduate chemistry community about best practices and techniques for coordinating multiple section, large enrollment courses. All institution types are welcome to contribute especially PUI. Attendees and presenters can get ideas from others regarding strategies and best practices for coordinating introductory, general, GOB, organic chemistry, or biochemistry lectures and laboratories. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses of these strategies is acceptable.
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- Activation Barriers to Well-being: Challenges and Approaches to Promoting Well-being for Students, Faculty, and Staff - This symposium explores the promotion of well-being in chemistry students, staff, and faculty. At all levels of chemistry instruction and research, from high school, undergraduate, and graduate students to faculty and staff at all career levels, there are opportunities to help our students and colleagues develop strategies to mitigate stress and build resiliency. However, finding time and capacity to develop and then implement well-being interventions and professional development can be challenging.
How can we as chemistry instructors and researchers help address issues of well-being? What responsibility do we have to our students, colleagues, and ourselves to promote wellness habits, work/life balance, and other aspects of well-being? What teaching and learning approaches have worked to include well-being alongside laboratory and content instruction, and, conversely, what approaches have not worked but have generated lessons that should be shared? What has worked in high school classrooms that might be transferred to undergraduate chemistry classes (and vice versa)? How should graduate students be supported during their programs? What professional development activities have helped faculty and staff address areas of well-being?
Speakers are encouraged to consider how they address some of these prompts, but may also explore other areas related to well-being. Submissions are encouraged from all levels of learning and research and for approaches developed for students, staff, and/or faculty.
- Reflections from Pandemic Teaching and Beyond: Caring for our Students While Learning to Care for Ourselves and Each Other - The COVID-19 pandemic opened our eyes to how the lives of our students outside the classroom influence how well they learn in our classrooms. We, of course, adapted to support them as best we could. We learned about their intersectional identities at the same time as exploring our own. This symposium aims to bring together faculty at any level (high school, two-year, undergraduate, graduate, or other) and any subdiscipline in chemistry (general, organic, or other) to share how we implement care in the classroom and how we care for ourselves and each other while we do this work.
- Student Mental Health: Approaches to Support Students - Since the pandemic, student mental health has been an increasing point of concern and emphasis. Many students report high levels of stress that negatively impact their academic performance. Faculty are now tasked with trying to create a supportive environment in their classrooms. However, most faculty have little-to-no formal training on how to do that.
In this symposium, presenters are encouraged to share information about approaches they have used to get feedback from students regarding their mental health. What type of information has been collected and how has this information been collected. Presenters could also describe how this information has been used and/or any interventions that have been implemented to improve student mental health. Presentations are also requested regarding correlations between student mental health and academic performance.
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- Alternative Pathways in General Chemistry: Meeting the Needs of Varied Student Populations - Due to systemic factors that affect resource opportunities and allocation in the United States, general chemistry students can have major differences in their incoming chemistry knowledge, which then greatly influences how instructors teach. For large universities that teach over 1000 first-year general chemistry students, providing individualized instruction based on where students are at can be challenging. Many large universities can become complacent in supporting students, problematically signaling underperforming students as "unfit" for chemistry and the resulting STEM pathway. Many of these underperforming students are then forced out of STEM fields, perpetuating monolithic ideas about who chemists are and what chemists do. Therefore, it is important to acknowledge initiatives in higher education that are trying to address this aforementioned challenge of variable incoming chemistry knowledge by reimagining general chemistry through course design. This symposium is intended to bring awareness and foster discussion for instructors and researchers interested in or working on alternative pathways within the standard general chemistry curriculum. We define alternate pathways within the standard general chemistry curriculum using the following two criteria: (1) extended, and/or (2) concurrent course enrollment in the general chemistry pathway. Examples include traditional general chemistry spread over 3 semesters (or 4 quarters), or general chemistry with formal concurrent enrollment (e.g., parallel support course like math or science). Thus, the goal of the symposium is to serve as a forum to share motivations and rationale for course creation and decisions made within the university approval processes. We are invested in facilitating discussions with folks who are thinking about ways to broaden participation in how they teach, design, and/or assess courses that serve as alternative pathways in general chemistry. Folks that teach, have created, or are in the process of creating these alternative college general chemistry courses are welcome to submit an abstract.
- On-line Homework in General Chemistry: friend or foe? - On-line homework was once a highly effective learning tool that allowed students an opportunity to develop problem-solving skills with a tutor at their side. The tool is advantageous as students can access the help when and where they have the time to work problems. With superior artwork, 3-D illustrations, and stepwise hints, the systems proved to be effective at developing student understanding and problem-solving skills for many years. A trend has been observed in which student scores with on-line homework is losing correlation with performance on exams. Anecdotal observations suggest students are learning how to game the systems to arrive at correct answers through pooled guessing and other techniques. Equally problematic is the absence of written work with the problem-solving process. This symposium seeks to explore observations and evidence for the pros and cons of using on-line homework as a learning tool in both lower and upper division chemistry courses.
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- Developing Mechanistic Reasoning in Organic Chemistry: Research and Practice - Moving students beyond memorization and a surface-level understanding of organic chemistry requires that they develop mechanistic reasoning and argumentation. In practice, this can be challenging. Recent research is shedding new light on approaches to curricular design, instructional techniques, and assessment strategies that help students develop mechanistic reasoning and argumentation. This symposium is designed to bridge the gap between current research and broader classroom implementation, with an emphasis on evidence-based best practices that are feasible for implementation in a wide variety of institutions and classroom situations. Both researchers and instructors who develop and implement novel practices to support mechanistic reasoning in organic chemistry are encouraged to submit abstracts.
- Active Learning in Organic Chemistry - Multiple studies have shown that the use of active learning pedagogies in the classroom results in positive student learning outcomes in science courses. These improved outcomes include higher test scores and final grades, improved understanding and retention of content, lower withdrawal rates, and more positive attitudes toward science. There are many techniques that can be implemented to introduce more active learning into any environment, including those that can be incorporated into traditional lectures, used to flip the classroom, promote collaborative learning, and/or scaffold construction of knowledge. This symposium includes presentations by organic chemistry faculty who have implemented active learning, broadly defined, in their organic courses.
- Organic Chemistry for Non-Chemistry Majors - Traditionally, a full year of organic chemistry was required for undergraduate biology majors and pre-med students, as well as students in the environmental sciences and other disciplines. However, many biology programs as well as the MCAT exam have substantially reduced their organic chemistry requirements. Presenters are invited to describe innovative approaches in teaching undergraduate organic chemistry to students in biology, health sciences, environmental sciences, and other programs.
- Engaging Students in Organic Chemistry - Engaging students in organic chemistry is a critical task for an instructor as the course material is foundational for upper-level science courses. When students are engaged in learning the fundamental concepts in organic chemistry, they both appreciate the content and identify its applications to other areas. In this symposium, authors share methods for engaging students in organic chemistry. In addition to techniques aimed at traditional second year science majors, presenters may share inclusive pedagogy that engages first generation, BIPOC, athletes, and non-traditional students. These methods may range from creative activities for individual class topics to pedagogical models utilized over an academic year. Innovative laboratory experiments, assessment methods, and writing assignments are also included. Additionally, presentations about new classroom opportunities such as incorporation of AI, combating on-line cheating, and addressing challenges regarding students’ post-Covid preparation are encouraged. Finally, since it is useful to discuss the importance of organic chemistry in other areas, presentations about its content in allied courses are also welcome.
- The Evolution of ALEKS Organic Chemistry - ALEKS for Organic Chemistry is an AI learning and assessment system that quickly and accurately determines each student's precise knowledge of Organic Chemistry and helps them work on the topics they are ready to learn. In tandem with ALEKS for General Chemistry, ALEKS for Organic Chemistry seamlessly supports students to achieve mastery of content while simultaneously supporting faculty with the highest-quality, fully customizable assessment tool. This symposium will feature ALEKS Organic Chemistry, its implementation in a sophomore-level college Organic Chemistry classroom, instructor and student perception of their success, the design of ALEKS AI learning system, and how instructor and student feedback, as well as student data, are used not only to improve content and tools in ALEKS, but the proficiency of the ALEKS AI.
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- The Theory and Practice of Analytical Chemistry In the Classroom - Discover a wealth of innovative classroom projects and curriculum advancements at this analytical chemistry symposium. Join us for a comprehensive exploration of analytical and instrumental chemistry education at the college level. Engage with fellow educators as they showcase their classroom projects and curriculum innovations. From novel teaching strategies to creative student-centered activities, this symposium offers a unique opportunity to learn about and discuss the latest developments in analytical chemistry education. Gain insights, share experiences, and be part of the conversation that's shaping the future of curriculum in this field. Don't miss out on this valuable exchange of ideas and best practices.
- Active Learning Strategies That Promote Skill-building in Analytical Chemistry Classrooms - Active learning strategies and materials that are used in analytical chemistry to develop student mastery of analytical chemistry principles and professional scientific skills will be presented. Student-centered active learning is highly effective in maximizing student engagement and success as well as student concept mastery that persists over time. Guidelines for approved ACS programs now require experiences to develop professional skills necessary for chemists. While many instructors target laboratory sessions for student skill development, classrooms where active learning strategies are employed are also rich learning environments for the development of student skills. Professional skills which are often considered critical to analytical chemists include (but are not limited to) data analysis, data representation, information processing, critical thinking, teamwork, experimental design, problem solving, systems thinking, and written/oral communication. Presentations may include any active learning strategy in the classroom, including individual activities or broad curricular innovations.
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- Biochemistry Education: Discussions of the Laboratory Learning Environment - This symposium will focus on teaching innovations and educational research related to 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. Because of its interdisciplinary nature, the biochemistry laboratory can provide students a context in which to grow and develop their understanding of a variety 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 all biochemistry laboratory educators 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.
- Biochemistry Education: Discussions of the Lecture Learning Environment - This symposium will focus on teaching innovations and educational research related to the biochemistry lecture learning environment. The inclusive biochemistry classroom can provide students with the opportunity to grow and develop their understanding of molecular life science concepts and practices. However, as many biochemistry educators can attest, this potential for student learning is not often fully realized. We invite those teaching lecture courses in all areas of biochemistry to share their work. We especially welcome those interested in 1. active learning pedagogies and 2. creating diverse and inclusive classrooms. We encourage all symposium speakers to include some form of assessment such as results from surveys, exam questions, student interviews, or formal assessment instruments in their presentations.
- Biochemistry Education in Honor of Vicky Minderhout - This symposium will recognize the important contributions Vicky Minderhout has made to Biochemistry Education. Presentations would be anticipated to focus on the use of POGIL and other active learning methods in Biochemistry, student learning assessment using the pre-post test that Vicky and colleagues designed and validated, and threshold concepts in Biochemistry.
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- Engaging Students in Physical Chemistry - Presentations in this symposium may include new laboratory or classroom exercises, new approaches to the structure of the physical chemistry curriculum, active learning pedagogies, inclusion of contemporary research topics in the curriculum, and the interface of physical chemistry with other disciplines. Discussions will include issues in the physical chemistry curriculum and strategies to improve student engagement.
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- Trends in GOB Chemistry - One of the requirements in many allied health professions programs is one or two semesters of chemistry as a General, Organic, and Biological (GOB) Chemistry course. Teaching the GOB Chemistry course has a set of unique challenges for both students and instructors. These challenges can be turned into opportunities for novel ideas to be implemented and tested. This symposium will explore the development of relevant GOB Chemistry curricula and examine successful classroom practices for the GOB classroom. This may include innovative curriculum modifications/development (both lecture and laboratory), identification of important laboratory skills and exercises to develop these skills, or creative/innovative approaches to understanding the fundamental concepts of chemistry relevant to the students’ future profession. Presenters are encouraged to share their research, experiences, strategies, and successes with the course. We are especially interested in effective strategies for inclusive curricula, classroom practices, and learning environments post COVID. This session will conclude with a discussion among the audience and the presenters to identify successful trends in teaching the GOB Chemistry course.
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- Chemistry Education Research: Undergraduate Student Research Symposium - As the field of Chemistry Education Research (CER) continues to expand, the role of undergraduate researchers in the discipline will undoubtedly follow suit. This symposium is designed to give undergraduate researchers in chemistry education a dedicated platform for presenting their work and receiving feedback from their peers and mentors. Like the long-standing graduate student research symposium, the goal is to give undergraduate students an opportunity to practice presenting and sharing their work in a low-stakes, non-threatening environment. Undergraduate students participating in research on any topic in chemistry education are encouraged to submit their work and contribute to the growth of the undergraduate CER community during this symposium.
- Team-Based Learning: Implementation, Practice, and Evaluation - Team-Based Learning (TBL) is a highly structured form of small group learning that centers team functioning as an approach to increasing learning and performance across disciplines. A flipped classroom structure creates accountability for students to take responsibility for their learning. Team-based assessments foster responsibility for peers’ learning as well. Assuring that all students are ready to apply concepts leaves instructional time for solving complex and difficult problems that would be unrealistic for students to solve on their own outside of class time. In this session, we welcome both practitioners and researchers of TBL to share their work on a variety of topics related to TBL such as implementation, classroom management, assessment logistics, inclusive practices, student learning, and student perceptions. Presenters could also describe practical aspects of TBL such as creating student buy-in, team formation, team-based assessments, practices for establishing student accountability, and the immediate feedback process. Presentations that include the assessment of TBL are especially welcome.
- Communities of Practice Transforming Chemistry Education - This symposium will serve as a venue for emerging and established communities of practice to introduce their community or to share their ongoing activities to improve chemistry education. Communities of practice can be at any level or have any focus: postsecondary or secondary, national or institution or department, faculty member or student, classroom or instructional laboratory, subdiscipline (e.g., analytical chemistry, organic chemistry, physical chemistry). Speakers will situate their talks in a community of practice framework and support their talks with references to the chemical education literature; talks are intended to bridge the gap between practice and theory. An overarching goal of this symposium is to create a space for communities of practice to share and build community with each other.
- Research in Informal Chemistry Learning Environments - Formal teaching and learning environments (classrooms, laboratories) are common areas of scholarship for improving student learning and success. However, the majority of learning occurs in informal environments, or those outside the classroom (e.g., everyday experiences, outreach). This results in quite broad and varied informal learning experiences leading to a variety of foci and intended outcomes. This symposium seeks to highlight this variety by focusing on research around informal science learning/ chemistry outreach, including outcomes or impacts on attendees and/or practitioners. Example foci could include novel demonstrations or activities with data on their impacts, informal professional development experiences and their results, etc. Proposals seeking to share novel or unique informal activities and/or broader science outreach events are welcome, but priority will be given to those that are research-based and seek to share findings.
- Scaffolding and Assessing Professional Skills and Science Practices in the Undergraduate Curriculum: Addressing the 2023 ACS Guidelines - Students need opportunities to become more proficient in skills and science practices, ultimately changing the workplace and helping solve worldwide challenges in energy, food, technology, and the environment. In response, the ACS Guidelines for Bachelor's Degree programs include two new sections that address professional skills and scientific practices. To increase emphasis on science practices and professional skills, instructors need to explicitly consider the intended outcomes (what students should know and be able to do), how knowledge and skills will be developed through instruction across the curriculum, and how each intended outcome will be assessed. By ensuring that learning outcomes, assessments, and instructional actions are aligned, instructors provide students with coherent curricular opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills and increase the likelihood that instructional actions are appropriate to achieving the desired learning outcomes. This symposium focuses on strategies for developing and assessing science practices and professional skills. We will address how skills described in the 2023 ACS Guidelines are implemented and describe efforts to support students in developing skills and the assessments designed to provide students with feedback focused on improving these skills and practices.
- 3D Printing in Chemical Education: Engaging Students and Creating Tools for Active Learning - The recent and accelerating advances in computer-aided design (CAD) and 3D printing methods capture the imagination as this exciting technology finds new applications in chemical education. This symposium will highlight innovative work toward creating 3D printable resources and fabrication activities that enhance active classroom and laboratory learning. The focus will encompass computer-aided design (CAD) and 3D printing methods to produce designs that span pedagogical applications from visualizing complex molecular structures and energy surfaces to the production of innovative new analytical tools and equipment for student use in laboratory learning. Classroom implementation strategies, student engagement, and assessment will also be highlighted. Plenty of time will be provided for your questions during the panel discussion following this seminar.
- Cross-course or Whole Curriculum Reform Efforts - In the past few years there have been several institutions that have committed to innovative reform across the undergraduate chemistry curriculum. This symposium focuses on those programs seeking to make changes across multiple courses or labs as opposed to single course reform. Talks focusing on challenges to reform and implementation as well as the results of reform are welcomed. Reform efforts in progress are welcomed in addition to those that have completed rollout. Presenters are encouraged to highlight assessment efforts and plans.
- Art and Archaeology as a Vehicle to Teach Core Chemical Concepts - Contextualized teaching using themes centered on art and archaeology offer a unique vehicle to engage students in core chemical concepts. From synthesizing new dyes and pigments to expand an artist’s color palette to determining the authenticity of an artifact, art and archaeology provide a platform to introduce chemistry topics ranging from structure and function relationships to key instrumental techniques through authentic applications. This symposium will feature presentations on activities, courses, and laboratories that highlight chemistry’s critical role in characterizing, preserving, and creating humanity’s rich cultural traditions and history and describe how these resources enhance the educational experience for both majors and nonmajors. 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 undergraduate curriculum.
- Promoting Global Collaboration in Chemistry Education: Insights from International Initiatives - In the dynamic landscape of modern chemistry, international collaboration and exchange have proven pivotal in driving science forward. Recognizing the power of collective knowledge and shared experiences, the American Chemical Society (ACS) has consistently championed international initiatives and programs. Notably, the growth of ACS’s international membership and establishment of International Chemical Sciences Chapters (ICSCs) underscore the society’s commitment to fostering global collaboration in the chemical sciences. These initiatives, alongside others such as the International Activities Committee’s outreach to various countries and the drive for education on sustainable development and technological innovations, exemplify the strides ACS has taken in building bridges between chemists worldwide.
- Mixing it up With Informal Chemistry Education: An Unconventional Chemistry Circus - Where Formal Meets Fun! - This symposium is dedicated to the celebration and advancement of, Informal Chemistry Education (ICE), which operates beyond the conventional educational paradigms of secondary schools, and universities. We welcome educators, enthusiasts, and researchers alike to participate and share their experiences in this captivating corner of chemistry communication and learning. ICE encompasses a broad spectrum of unconventional learning environments, such as museums, YouTube channels, stage shows, summer camps, and more. We embrace a diversity of audiences from kindergarten to college. This symposium seeks to underscore the intricate connection between ICE, established chemistry curricula, and cognitive processes. Furthermore, it places significant emphasis on research and assessment to determine the efficacy and outcomes of ICE, shaping the future of chemistry education.
- Low Barrier Professional Development - We have all said, “I don’t have time or funding for that!”. Well, in this symposium, we hear you and we want to share ideas together about low-cost and low-time investment professional development opportunities. Come listen and share your own professional development journey and/or ways that you have created or taken opportunities to grow your professional self. Low barrier professional development examples include participation in teaching squares, engaging in a community of practice, book clubs, utilizing mid-course evaluations, and volunteering or leading service committees.
- Small Teaching: Making Modest but Powerful Changes to Improve Student Learning - 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.
- Integrating Humanities Into Chemistry Education - Arts and Humanities and Chemistry, oh my! Humanities topics and activities (e.g. art, music, cooking, creative writing, etc.) can be incorporated into chemistry classes to help students understand chemical concepts. When implemented well, creative projects, labs and in-class activities can make chemistry less abstract and more relevant to the students. Classes can become more engaging and inclusive for students from diverse backgrounds, while encouraging students’ creativity in solving chemistry problems. This symposium invites presentations from faculty who have creatively integrated humanities topics and activities into chemistry education. Presenters will share specific activities and learning outcomes that connect arts and humanities to chemistry concepts. Presentations are welcome which describe an entire course or an individual module or activity.
- Engaging Students Using the Chemistry of Beverage Alcohol - Beverage alcohol (e.g. beer, wine, spirits) is a topic that interests many college students, and understanding the science of beverage alcohol requires fluency with many chemical concepts. This combination of student interest and chemical principles presents opportunities to facilitate durable learning of chemistry topics. For instance, some individual class modules or laboratory exercises use beverage alcohols to bring relevance to specific course content. General education classes designed for non-majors and upper-level chemistry electives alike use the topic as a central theme. Additionally, beverage alcohol is the basis of complete curricular programs, such as brewing science or enological chemistry. Presentations in this symposium may report on individual activities, laboratory exercises, curriculum and course design, course-based research programs, and other topics related to engaging students using the chemistry of beverage alcohol.
- Data-driven Approaches for Using Interactive Online Courseware to Improve Learning and Increase Equity - Interactive online chemistry courseware harnesses technology to offer more effective and personalized support for asynchronous student learning. Online courseware can also open doors to new kinds of synchronous learning activities, especially by improving instructor interactions with students and fostering better peer-to-peer learning opportunities. These kinds of interactions have been shown to improve student learning and can be a powerful force for advancing more equitable outcomes.
- Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs): Assessments, Barriers and Opportunities - Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) aim to make the benefits of engaging undergraduate students in research experience available to broader student populations, especially the underrepresented students who would likely need to learn how to pursue such experience otherwise. When more CUREs are implemented in regular chemistry curricula, practical questions are raised: should CURE be assessed with existing grading systems? What would be the areas of learning we assess from the CURE? What are the learning outcomes from CURE we evaluate? Do we use the assessments of CUREs to improve our design of CURE? What are the barriers or opportunities for implementing CUREs? We invite presentations to discuss different aspects of the assessments of CUREs for students' learning and for the effectiveness of CUREs. We encourage educators from all levels to share their CURE experiences inside or outside class. Presentations for similar pedagogies of inquiry-based learning or different modalities of CUREs, such as hybrid or online formats, are also welcomed.
- Inside the Division of Chemical Education - Have you ever wondered what happens inside the Division of Chemical Education (DivCHED) or how to get involved? This invited symposium aims to open the curtain to show what happens behind the scenes. Learn how DivCHED functions within ACS as a whole, how each of the committees within the division serve the division and how the division serves its members. The bylaws, strategic plan, operations manual, and structure of the division will be shared through talks by Executive Committee members. Current members from committees will share what the committees are charged with doing and the Committee on Personnel and Nominations will describe the process of how people end up on Division committees. Representatives from the Boards of Publications and Trustees will describe what they do, how they function within the Division and how members of the community can be involved. The ultimate goal of this symposium is to make the inner workings of the Division more transparent and to expand the volunteer pool for leadership roles.
- 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. This session will explore game-related questions, such as the following: What chemistry games are available to play? and How do you adapt games to your own classroom setting?
- Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) in the Classroom and Laboratory - Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) is a student-centered, team learning pedagogy based on research on how students learn. In a POGIL learning environment, students work in self-managed teams using specially designed activities that guide them to construct key concepts while developing important process skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, communication, and teamwork. The purpose of this symposium is to bring together practitioners of POGIL pedagogy from secondary school through university level. Presentations focusing on implementation, process skills, curricular development, equitable and inclusive practices, and assessment are welcome.
- ACS-CES Award Symposium for Incorporation of Sustainability Into Chemical Education - Educators across all levels of science and chemistry education are recognizing the importance of developing new materials and programs for integrating sustainability into the curriculum. These goals are amplified by the American Chemical Society’s (ACS’s) new Sustainable Future Strategic Initiative that promotes modernization of chemistry curriculum with “sustainable development, circularity, green chemistry, and life cycle thinking”, along with the new ACS Guidelines for Bachelor’s Degrees program that now include green chemistry and sustainability criteria. This symposium will feature the recipients of the 2023-2024 ACS Committee on Environment and Sustainability (CES) Award for Incorporation of Sustainability into Chemical Education. These awardees are being recognized for their exemplary contributions in this field and will represent a breadth of national and international efforts in green and sustainable chemistry education. The symposium will provide a forum for attendees to learn about innovative and effective state-of-the art methods for incorporating sustainability-related topics through classroom, laboratories, and/or outreach projects and activities.
- Best Practices in Academic Advising and Mentoring - Academic advising is important for the success of students, particularly ones studying subjects like chemistry. Academic advisors not only assist students with course selection and completing degree requirements, but also in creating balanced schedules of complex courses with time consuming lab components. Academic advisors and mentors also help set expectations for what students can expect in navigating their undergraduate programs and assist with identifying post-graduation and career opportunities, as well as activities that will help them enhance their knowledge, skills, and experiences to enter into competitive graduate and job markets. You are invited to share your tips, tricks, wisdom, and experiences in academic advising and mentoring.
- Learning From Failure - As scientists you can get good information from a "failed" experiment as from a successful one. However, there is rarely a format to describe "failures" and what you learned from them that others may find useful. In addition, current students often do not have any practice in learning from failure. Thus this symposium will have two subtopics: 1) projects faculty and/or departments have attempted that have then been abandoned or significantly redesigned with a discussion of why so that others who might want to attempt something similar can be aware of potential problems and 2) ways of instruction that allow students to fail in such a way that they learn from these failures.
- “Message In A Bottle”: How Do We Reach Generation Z in Class? - Teaching chemistry can be a daunting task in that one must continually ask themselves the question, “How do you stay current in teaching?” Almost every educator has – at one time or another – felt that they could have taught a course better, or has tried to find ways to improve on how to involve students in the classroom. This symposium is geared towards any high school or college professor who, with apologies to Sting, has sent out that SOS message and is looking for new ideas and new ways to teach chemistry by using technology, creative lessons, and/or tried-and-true best practices in the classroom. It is through the sharing of ideas and philosophies on teaching where we, as educators, can increase student learning, increase student retention rates, and attract more students to study chemistry and science.
- ELIPSS and Beyond: Celebrating the Work and Impact of 2023 James Flack Norris Awardees Renée Cole, Juliette Lantz, and Suzanne Ruder - Renée Cole, Juliette Lantz, and Suzanne Ruder received the 2023 James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Teaching of Chemistry for their pioneering work on the Enhancing Learning by Improving Process Skills in STEM (ELIPSS) Project. They are also active participants in The POGIL Project - as authors, workshop facilitators, and leaders within the organization. This symposium celebrates all of their work and the impact that it has had on the teaching and learning of chemistry.
- Computers in Chemical Education - This symposium seeks presentations broadly related to the use of computers in chemical education. We envision mini-sessions along the following themes. -Tools you can adopt for your class (software, computer based hardware, microcontrollers, etc…). -Class activities utilizing computers (exploration, visualization, coding, data analysis, use of artificial intelligence, searching for relevant information, etc…). -Online Resources and OERs. -Studies on the impact or effectiveness of computer based activities. -Other uses of computers related to 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. This symposium is sponsored by the CHED Committee on Computers in Chemical Education, which seeks to encourage and support the development, implementation, and assessment of computing technologies in chemical education.
- Connecting Course Based and Traditional Research Experiences - This symposium offers a venue to discuss successful practices in the implementation of CUREs, with a specific interest in connecting them to traditional research engagement and outcomes. This symposium invites a board discussion on the topic intended to share solutions to challenges and highlight new opportunities. Topics may include the use of data acquired in CUREs to publish traditional research articles, the transition of students from CURE courses to traditional research groups, perspectives on student’s success in CUREs if they are already participating in traditional research, and other ideas bridging the two approaches.
- From Theory to Practice: Showcasing How CER Researchers Apply Theories and Methods for Inquiry - Discipline-Based Education Research (DBER) often draws theories and methods from educational psychology, learning sciences, and STEM content expertise with the goal to establish evidence-based knowledge and practices that enhance our comprehension of teaching and learning. However, there is no consensus on how DBER fields use theory and methods to inform different parts of the research process such as the research question, data collection, and analysis. Criticisms within DBER fields indicate inconsistent use of theory and methods that can pose challenges for scholars who are new to the field or working across other DBER fields. In this symposium, we aim to explore the role of frameworks in Chemistry Education Research (CER) within the broader context of DBER. Our goal is to provide insight into how theories and methods are employed in CER and to contextualize these findings by examining the broader use of theories and methods across DBER. We invite scholars to present research with the following selection criteria: (1) CER with theory and methods applied from other DBER fields, (2) CER with theory and methods in science education, educational philosophy, sociology, anthropology, or other related fields.
- STEM Outreach - Are you actively doing Chem or STEM outreach or interested in doing outreach? This symposium is designed for anyone working with K-12 or community outreach in the sciences.
- Chemistry Education Research: Graduate Student Research Symposium - This symposium has a long history of providing a constructive platform for graduate students to present their research on topics involving chemistry education. The goal of this particular forum is for the audience to provide feedback in a way that does not intimidate or overly-challenge the presenter, but instead, professionally advises the student in a way that helps them grow into a better presenter and researcher. As such, submissions should intend to report education research projects containing empirical data results and not proposals or practice talks. This symposium is hosted by the Early Career Chemistry Education Scholars committee of DivCHED as part of their larger mission to foster growth in the future generation of chemical education researchers.
- Leveraging Industry, Not-for-profit, and Other External Partnerships to Strengthen Chemistry Curricula - This symposium will present ways in which chemistry departments and programs utilize external partnerships (for example industry or not-for-profits) to influence their curriculum. While this may include curriculum development or individual courses, these partnerships may also provide learning experiences for undergraduate students.
- The Post-Exam Classroom: Using Authentic Assessments to Build 21st-Century Skills - The world is experiencing a data explosion. According to the International Data Center, the annual estimated size of the global “datasphere” grew from 4 zettabytes (ZB) in 2010 to 33 ZB in 2018, and it will reach 175 ZB by 2025. As a result, today’s students must not only become fluent in their selected discipline, but they must also acquire skills that will allow them to harness information and distill solutions from it. Gone are the days where technical knowledge alone is enough for success in the modern workplace. Rather, junior-level scientists entering today’s workforce must possess foundational disciplinary literacy, a capacity for lifelong learning, and–perhaps most importantly–career-ready skills to contribute meaningfully to their employers’ goals soon after being hired.
According to research by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, organizations that rely on a college-educated workforce value career-ready competencies in their new hires. These competencies include career & self-development, communication, critical thinking, equity & inclusion, leadership, professionalism, teamwork, and technology. As such, scientific educators should seek opportunities to integrate into their coursework assessments authentic to the modern scientific workplace and built around career-ready skills-building.
This symposium will explore innovative ways of assessing student knowledge that 1) are authentic to the scientific workplace, 2) incorporate 21st-century skills-building, and 3) cultivate students’ innate creativity. Of particular interest are assignments and activities that are scalable to large-enrollment courses, as well as those that can be facilitated in a variety of course modalities: face-to-face, online, and hybrid learning environments. Examples of these authentic assessments include infographics, elevator speeches, longitudinal team-based projects, podcasts, videos, etc.
- TA Training with Global Graduate Students - International students have always played a vital role in chemistry graduate programs in the United States, yet many institutions have just one orientation day for global graduate students. The goal of this symposium is to share best practices in training chemistry graduate students with diverse backgrounds who are asked to serve as Teaching Assistants at the university. Please share your success stories: Has your program developed novel solutions to common pit falls? How does your program harness the unique strengths of chemistry graduate students from diverse cultures? What methods can rapidly educate international TAs to the safety rigors of US laboratories? How do you highlight the talents of global graduate TAs for undergraduate students? Symposium Presenters are encouraged to outline successful mentoring efforts for newly arrived graduate TAs as they become a partner in chemical education within the new-to-them college system.
- Summer Pre-college Programs in Chemistry for High School Students at Colleges or Universities: The More, the Less and the None - Many universities or colleges offer pre-college summer programs to either rising junior or senior high school students. These programs can be taken either for credit or just to get the experience before actually making the decision to pursue education after high school graduation. The students get to learn more about the subjects they are interested in and also have the opportunity to live away from home. In most cases the programs tend to be fully funded so free for the students to attend or participate in. But most of these tend to be competitive and some try to be DEIR by the scope of their applications or acceptances. Students get to be with like minded students where being a Geek or a Nerd is no longer derogatory or Insulting. Some of the programs tend to be not graded as a result giving the students free rein to just enjoy the process of learning. These programs can be either holistic in approach or more rigorous based on the intent and design of the program. So how do the students go about choosing the programs to apply to? Are all the high schools and teachers aware of these programs? How are all these programs similar or different from each other? What are the requirements or restrictions of these programs? What are the various structures and designs of the programs? What are the goals and how do they come together? It would be good to come together to discuss these details and more to see how each of us can learn from one another. It would be an engaging experience to share our thoughts and ideas and grow and develop together.
- Brewing and Distilling Mixtures in the Laboratory - With the whole theme of the Biennial Conference on Chemical Education 2024 being "Distilling Solutions in Chemical Education" and this conference is being held in Kentucky, this is the perfect time to learn methods in undergraduate chemistry laboratories that yield wine, beer, moonshine, etcetera. I am sure many chemists across the world have come up with plans that make chemistry laboratories more interesting by incorporating these types of experiments into the curriculum. These experiments involve several layers of different aspects of science, and they are a way to make chemistry applicable to the real-world. In this symposium, faculty can share teaching methods with other fellow chemists.
- Learning Chemistry Beyond the Traditional Classroom - As the ChemEd community adapts to the new post-pandemic landscape, educational institutions and instructors continue the process of reevaluating how courses are delivered in a world where physical interactions with students have once again become the norm. This reassessment encompasses a broad spectrum of considerations, such as the reconfiguration of assessment methods, modifications to the delivery of lectures and laboratory sessions, all with a core emphasis on enhancing accessibility and fostering experiential learning. In particular, we anticipate a surge in innovative approaches by instructors aimed at helping students bridge the gap between fundamental chemistry concepts and their real-world applications. These innovative approaches may entail collaborative efforts with other academic departments and disciplines, collaborations with external organizations and communities, or the organization of outreach events.
- Beyond Open Educational Resources (OER): User Experience, Benefits, Challenges and Opportunities - Due to the rising cost of tuition and fees of higher education, using open educational resources (OER) became a viable approach to making equitable circumstances for disadvantaged students who cannot afford textbooks. However, the reasons for using OER are beyond the cost advantages, and the considerations are not limited to just replacing a costly commercial textbook. Most commercial textbooks have complementary instructor's resources and book-specific homework systems. How would open educational practitioners find their resources for teaching and a low-cost homework system for students' learning? Presentations in this symposium discuss why OER is chosen over commercial educational materials, the faculty and students' experiences of using OER for different courses, the advantages and challenges of open educational practices (OEP) for student learning, and the tips for educators who are considering OEP in their future courses.
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- Chemical Technician Programs at 2 yr Colleges - Chemical technicians are essential to the advancement of chemistry in both academic and industrial settings. Across the country many two year colleges have developed programs to meet this need. A two yr associates degree in chemical technology typically includes course work in general and organic chemistry plus an emphasis on laboratory instrumental analysis. This symposium would bring together those interested and engaged is such programs and would also include a discussion of funding sources including NSF's ATE program (Advanced Technology Education)
- Unlocking Potential: Strategies to Develop Science Process Skills - Presenters in this symposium will share strategies they use to develop essential science process skills that are aimed toward K-12 and two year college educators. Through a diverse array of presentations and discussions, educators will be introduced to a variety of techniques, activities, and lessons that focus on improving student science processing skills. These skills include but are not limited to; writing like a scientist, reflection and recognition of “clearly” wrong answers (calculation issues), data collection and analysis, measurement skills, graphing (using excel/sheets), identification of patterns and trends, using data as evidence for a conclusion, organization, and self-advocacy.
- Goals and Assessment in the Introductory Chemistry Laboratory: What do we Want and How can we get There? - The laboratory experience is a key part of Chemistry courses, introducing students to the process of scientific inquiry and building their technical and analytical skills. However, like all courses, laboratories cannot fully address every desired competency, and must prioritize which skills and techniques are most appropriate and essential. From summative "lab practicals" to weekly formative lab reports, from skill-based microcredentialing to recursive experiment design, laboratory assessments reflect the goals, priorities and beliefs of the instructors. This symposium seeks to engage the community in conversation about the purpose of the introductory Chemistry laboratory experience and how assessment methods can enhance, illuminate, and support that purpose.
- Solutions to Success: First- and Second-year Initiatives and Programs to Support STEM Diversity - Equity-based and inclusive programs and initiatives, particularly in first- and second-year chemistry courses, are vital to the success of supporting underrepresented students pursuing STEM careers. Chemical educators from two-year and four-year programs are invited to share initiatives, curricula, and partnerships that support and promote successful course completion, as well as transfer and degree completion, for students choosing to take introductory chemistry courses at a two-year college. High-impact strategies and initiatives that provide alternate pathways and opportunities for students may include, but are not limited to, curriculum-based changes, experiential learning opportunities, undergraduate research, internships, honors programs, transfer partnerships and peer role model programs. This symposium may be especially interesting to 2YCs and 4YCs with a significant number of 2YC transfers, as nearly half of all undergraduate students enroll in a two-year college at some point in their educational career and many STEM students complete “gateway” introductory chemistry courses including general chemistry and organic chemistry at a two-year college.
- Doing Double Duty: Lessons Learned From Teaching Dual Enrollment Students - Across the country there is a push for more high school students to enroll in college courses while still in high school (typically at a community college but not exclusively so). This push has been accelerated in many states through laws and funding that directly tie together K-12 with community colleges. The intensity of this push varies greatly across the country: some states have been doing it for many years, some have newly adopted, and some are not yet starting this process. This symposium is for educators on either side of this push (K-12 or college level) to come and share their experiences with these kinds of programs and lessons they have learned along the way. Questions to consider include: What is the role of AP in this new environment?, what do students experience when they operate in both environments simultaneously?, and what opportunities and challenges are there to teaching a general chemistry class to college and high school at the same time?. We welcome the opportunity to share and network with colleagues to share lessons directly between K-12 and college instructors.
- Designing and Implementing CUREs for 1st and 2nd Year Chemistry Classes - A Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) is an authentic research experience embedded into a course that is part of the regular requirements for a program of study. CUREs have been shown to be a high-impact educational practice and are both effective and important in providing students with a research experience early in a student’s post-secondary education. This symposium will include examples of both major and non-major courses with CUREs in the first two years of college chemistry.
- Implementing Active Learning in the First two Years of Chemistry Coursework - The development, implementation, and assessment of active learning techniques has been shown to improve student engagement and learning. Introducing these techniques into the early college chemistry courses (introductory, general, and organic) may help foster interest in science and other STEM careers. Since many students take these courses at two-year colleges, two-year faculty are poised to help students built foundational skills and knowledge more effectively. In this symposium, speakers from two-year colleges will discuss their successes and challenges in developing active learning activities in early college courses.
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- ChemEd X: Engaging with Contributors - By invitation only. Chemical Education Xchange (ChemEd X, www.chemedx.org) is a virtual home for high school and higher education chemistry instructors. ChemEd X is designed to be a collaborative space to share resources, ideas, and expertise. ChemEd X contributors will engage with attendees by highlighting and expanding upon ideas and activities they have shared at ChemEd X and talk about how ChemEd X has helps them to teach chemistry. Attendees are encouraged to bring their devices to experience ChemEd X.
- Views from the Classrooms of Award Winning Chemistry Teachers - By invitation only. Many excellent chemistry teachers have been recognized for their work by receiving a variety of awards, including the James Bryant Conant, 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 give attendees a chance to meet and benefit from these award-winning teachers, as well as find out more about how to nominate a teacher for one of these awards and how each award selection process works.
- Survival Skills 101: A Guide for Newer Teachers - Current research suggests that teachers with all levels of experience tend to feel stressed and underappreciated. Often, though, in addition to the general stresses of the job, our newer teachers are frustrated and feel overwhelmed because they are held to the same accountability standards as veteran teachers. During this symposium experienced teachers will share survival tips, tricks, and suggestions for newer teachers (years 1-5) to add to their personal tool-kit and help them navigate the strange, wonderful, and sometimes overwhelming world of being a newbie in chemical education. Possible topics include safety, chemical storage, go-to-demos, time saving set ups, easy engagement, classroom and/or lab management, and more. Gloria Gaynor famously sang, I Will Survive, and you too, as a new teacher will survive.
- Bridging the Gap Between Secondary and Higher Education Chemistry - It is often taken as given that high school and college chemistry educators want the same sorts of things. Goals such as “literate citizens”, “critical thinking” or “preparation for STEM careers” are regularly proclaimed in secondary and higher education spaces. Commitment to similar-sounding goals, we claim, obscures the unfortunate truth that there is often little meaningful dialogue between high school and college chemistry education communities. A college instructor may think solving a tough stoichiometry problem is evidence of a student’s critical thinking while a high school instructor steeped in modern reforms may recognize this same outcome as resulting from execution of “plug and chug” algorithms. Different understandings of worthy goals in chemistry education across high school and college do not serve our students well. After all, virtually all college chemistry students will have engaged previously with the subject in high school! Here, we aim to open space for high school and college educators to articulate goals, consider mis/alignment between these goals and begin conversations about how we might foster a coherent and meaningful chemistry education journey that serves the needs and priorities of all learners. We recognize the valuable expertise high school and college chemistry instructors bring to these conversations and encourage a broad array of educators to attend!
- Professional Development for Pre-College Educators: Grants, Technology, and Resources within the Education Community - How many times have you found yourself at a professional development experience geared to science educators and felt that you got very little from it as a chemistry educator? Maybe you heard about a grant or a new piece of technology that could benefit you or your students only to find that applying for the grant and/or using the new technology felt overwhelming, especially if they are doing it for the first time. Many of your colleagues have experienced the same thing and often walk away from these experiences with little that you could use to improve/enrich/advance your classroom practice as a chemistry educator and often feel frustrated. In this symposium, teachers that have walked these paths will share their experiences and how these experiences can be much easier to manage than they first appear. Presenters will share about meaningful professional development activities, ideas, or experiences that they have encountered. Those that have applied for grants or implemented new technology will share about their experiences and what they did to overcome any of their challenges. One of the outcomes of this symposium is to form teams of chemistry educators around the world to exchange innovative ideas geared to the needs of this community of educators. Any types of ideas and or innovations are welcome in this symposium.
- Finding Meaningful Professional Development for Chemistry Educators - How many times have found yourself at a professional development gear to science educators and feel that you are getting very little from it as a chemistry educator? You find that there is little that you could use to improve/enrich/advance your classroom practice as a chemistry educator every time you had attended any of them. Perhaps communicating what we need to our administrators and left it at to them to figure it out has proved to be ineffective. Perhaps we need to develop our own or reach out to our peers who may have developed some already and promote them. This symposium is trying to bring proposals of meaningful professional development activities, or ideas, or share successful professional development activities you had experienced, or form teams of professionals around the World, to exchange innovative ideas for professional development gear to the needs of their community of educators. The professional development topics could range from how to organize your laboratory curriculum, how to write grants for your lab needs, how to start a tutoring service at your school that allows for the use of labs, how to start an internship liaison program to enrich your students experiences in chemistry, for how to collaborate effectively and consistency with other chemistry educators within your institution or between institutions if you are alone, how to mentor potential future high school chemistry educators, and many more. If you have an idea that you have successfully used and would have loved to share with your chemistry colleagues and never got a chance, this may be the opportunity you were looking for.
- Opportunities from AACT: Programs and Professional Learning - Join us during this American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT) symposium to hear from teachers and AACT members about programs and opportunities to support you as a teacher and get your students excited about science!
- George R. Hague Memorial AP/IB Chemistry Symposium - In this symposium, participants will hear from the AP Chemistry Chief Reader about the administration of the 2024 AP chemistry exam. A College Board representative will share developments in AP Chemistry curriculum and instructional resources. Additional presenters will share best practices and methods for teaching AP and IB chemistry.
- Educational Research in the Science Classroom - Educational research in the high school classroom can lead to important outcomes for that teacher and their students. This research can be referred to as action research, but it may not always follow that model. Regardless of the model, this research can provide inquiry conducted by the teacher to assist in the development and improvement of teaching for the teacher. Examples of such research projects may include but are not limited to: 1) exploring the effect of a different teaching approach on student learning or metacognition, 2) determining the academic impact of giving students more choice in their assignments, and 3) implementing a new reading strategy to impact student knowledge. This symposium aims to provide a forum for teachers to share examples of educational research they have done, are currently doing, or plan to do in their science classrooms.
- Designing and Facilitating Chemistry Learning Environments Anchored in Phenomena - Current standards and scholarship describe learning science as a process of developing, refining and using knowledge to construct causal accounts for phenomena. Accordingly, chemistry courses should support students in linking molecular behavior to phenomena they can see and touch. This symposium will share insights from high school chemistry teachers alongside findings from research studies that have emerged from an ongoing research practice partnership aimed at crafting sensemaking-focused chemistry learning environments anchored in phenomena. Audience members will have the opportunity to hear first-hand accounts from high school chemistry teachers who have designed and implemented reformed curricular materials, discuss the theory underpinning the design of reformed curricular materials, and ask questions of the researcher-practitioner team.
- Grants, Awards and Technology Options for HS Teachers - There are several "things" that are available for teachers to use to help them move forward in their classroom and/or career. Applying for grants, awards, and/or using new technology can often feel overwhelming for teachers especially if they are doing it for the first time. All the instructions, questions, and required responses that are frequently needed when embarking on any of these causes many teachers to not take advantage of these opportunities.
In this symposium, teachers that have walked these paths will share their experiences and how many of these can be much easier to manage than they first appear. Those overseeing some of the awards and grants offered will also share thoughtful approaches to the application process to make it less cumbersome for teachers.
- Making POGIL at the High School Level a Reality: Celebrating the 2024 James Bryant Conant Awardee, Laura Trout - By invitation only. For over 20 years, Laura Trout has been the driving force for the incorporation of POGIL at the high school level. Her work as an editor, author, workshop facilitator, and mentor has had a tremendous impact on how chemistry is taught and learned at the high school level across the United States and around the world. This symposium celebrates her receipt of the 2024 James Bryant Conant Award in High School Chemistry Teaching and all of her work and its impact on the high school chemistry community.
- ChemEd X Presents Demonstrations to Engage Your Students and Augment Student Learning - By invitation only. Join ChemEd X’s Tom Kuntzleman (aka Tommy Technetium) and other invited chemistry demonstrators as they perform safe, convenient and relevant demos that help students understand the properties and transformations of matter. This symposium intends to help teachers add to the arsenal of chemistry demonstrations they can use in their classes. Guidance of how you can incorporate these demos into your classroom and connect them to learning outcomes will be offered.