Every student comes with their unique learning style. Some find it easy to understand complex concepts by reading text, while others prefer visual and auditory cues to grasp the same concepts. As an educator, I have recognized the immense power and potential of multimedia in teaching, especially in subjects as intricate as chemistry. Visual representations, intricate diagrams, audio commentary, and a series of instructional videos can simplify complicated phenomena, making it more comprehensible for students. By directing a student’s attention to specific parts of a video, educators can guide students beyond just observing, enabling them to actively engage and interact with the subject matter. My journey into integrating multimedia into teaching started somewhat accidentally. I wanted my students to retain the class lessons better, so I started video recording my classes. Little did I know that my initiative would not only help my students but would also be beneficial to learners worldwide. A simple YouTube channel, initially meant only for my students, turned out to be a global classroom. My inbox started filling up with appreciative messages from learners worldwide. Encouraged by the response and the increasing viewers, I continued creating instructional videos during my PhD studies, covering many major topics in general chemistry. Around that time, I bumped into a group of forward-thinking people from Macmillan at the South by Southwest conference. They were considering the creation of a revolutionary type of textbook, one that would be redesigned from scratch with a focus on contemporary student learning styles. Today’s students, when confused about a concept, turn to YouTube almost instinctively. It is this change in learning behaviors that my work on YouTube and Macmillan's innovative project aimed to cater to. Combining our resources and insights, we collaborated to develop an interactive general chemistry platform, a revolutionary step in education. The journey to developing and fine-tuning this platform has been long and meticulous. However, the results have been astonishing. So, if you are an educator trying to cater to modern students or a student struggling with complex concepts, consider embracing the power of multimedia. Trust me, it will revolutionize the way you teach! Watch the video! ... View more

We asked biology instructors what inspired them to teach. James Morris, author of How Life Works, kindly shared with us what motivated him to become a scientist, teacher, and writer. Here's what he had to say!  I wrote How Life Works because I deeply care about science education. But if you ask me what inspired me and got me interested in science in the first place, it was my high school biology teacher, Dr. Dorothy Andrews. Dr. Andrews, or Dr. Dot as we called her, had a unique way of teaching that left a lasting impression on me. One of the things I loved about her was how observant she was of the world around her. She would notice even the tiniest details, like a plant growing through the pavement in a parking lot. We would often go on nature walks, but sometimes we never made it down the trail because she would get so caught up in her fascination with a particular plant. This story perfectly describes her - someone who noticed the world and delighted in it. It made a big impression on me and inspired me to pay close attention to the world around me. Dr. Dot taught me the importance of observation and close looking. She taught me that even something as seemingly simple as a fern can have many variations and unique characteristics. By noticing these differences, we could better identify and understand them. As Yogi Berra once said, "You can see a lot just by looking." Dr. Dot taught me to observe, which is an essential aspect of being a scientist. She had us read a book called "The Art of Scientific Investigation" by W.I.B. Beveridge. This book focused on different aspects of the scientific process, such as observation, experimentation, chance, and imagination. It laid a foundation for my understanding of science and continues to influence the way I teach and write today. When I went to college, I was disappointed to find that there wasn't as much emphasis on observation and experimentation in my biology classes. It was more focused on memorization, which turned me off from pursuing biology as a major. Instead, I became a history major. However, my passion for science was reignited later when I had another inspiring teacher, my graduate advisor, Dr. Ting Wu. Dr. Wu, a geneticist, introduced me to the world of chromosome structure, gene expression, and epigenetics. She encouraged me to ask interesting questions and explore the unknown. One valuable lesson she taught me was to treasure exceptions. When something didn't fit the normal pattern, it was an opportunity to learn something new. This reminded me of Barbara McClintock's book, "A Feeling for the Organism," where she described how getting to know corn so well allowed her to learn from its exceptions, leading to groundbreaking discoveries in genetics. Both Dr. Dot and Dr. Ting inspired me to become a scientist. I try to incorporate their teachings into both my teaching and writing. I prioritize caring for and getting to know my students. I ask open-ended questions that invite discussions rather than simply providing answers. My goal is to instill a sense of wonder in my students because when they are interested and curious, everything else falls into place. They will naturally learn the terms and processes if they have that sense of wonder. In recent years, we have learned a great deal about how students learn best. We understand the importance of learning objectives, structured learning, and active learning. However, one aspect that often gets overlooked is the crucial role of teachers. Just as Dr. Dot and Dr. Ting had a tremendous influence on me, teachers can have a profound impact on their students' lives. So, if you reflect on your own interests and passions, chances are there was a teacher who played a similar role. They ignited that spark within you. As we continue to improve science education, let's remember the significance of teachers. They are the ones who can inspire and guide students on their journey of discovery.  Watch this short video to view his response! ... View more

We asked Professor Ben Pierce, author of Genetics, A Conceptual Approach and Genetics Essentials, what inspired him to teach biology.  My interest in biology began at an early age when my family would take vacations in the mountains of Northern New Mexico. Growing up with three brothers, our parents made it a priority to keep us active and outdoors. We spent our summers hiking the mountain trails, observing wildlife, identifying wildflowers, and learning about the history of the area. These experiences fostered a deep appreciation for nature within me. As I grew older, my curiosity about how nature works inspired me to pursue a career in biology. At the age of 14, I embarked on a wilderness canoe trip in Southern Ontario, known as the Quetico, a vast region consisting of interconnected lakes. Our guide, whom we nicknamed Fez, taught us essential survival skills, such as setting up camp, cooking food, and navigating between lakes. Fez's approach was hands-on; he never carried our gear or paddled our canoes for us. He understood the importance of each individual making their own journey and taking responsibility for it. Fez's philosophy deeply influenced my own work as a teacher and textbook writer. Rather than being a mere conveyor of information, I see myself as a guide for students on their introductory genetics journey. With 43 years of teaching experience under my belt, genetics never ceases to fascinate me. It is a field that constantly evolves and remains relevant to our lives. Through teaching, I have had the privilege of sharing this amazing subject with my students year after year. My goal is not only for them to grasp the details of genetics but also to appreciate the broader beauty of the biological landscape. Genetics is a captivating field, and I consider myself fortunate to have the opportunity to learn and explore it alongside my students. Every year brings new discoveries and insights, keeping the subject fresh and exciting. I am grateful for the chance to be a part of my students' genetic journey and witness their growth and understanding. In conclusion, my passion for biology was ignited by childhood experiences in nature, and it continues to fuel my dedication to teaching genetics. As a guide, I strive to assist my students in mastering the principles of genetics while also nurturing their appreciation for the wonders of the natural world.  Watch this short video to view his response! ... View more

Skills and Key Features of Biology: How Life Works, 4e Achieve for Morris, Biology: How Life Works, 4e includes multiple features which focus on building scientific skills. These can help students review skills they may have learned in previous courses and reinforce key biology concepts.    Skills Primers The Skills Primers are self-paced tutorials that guide students to learn, practice, and use skills, like data visualization and graphing, experimental design, working with numbers, reading and building phylogenies, and working with models. These short tutorials can be used throughout the course as refreshers to aid students with the core skills they need to work with data. How Do We Know? Activities How Do We Know? activities are designed to provide practice for students in the skills they need to think like a scientist. These activities are available in every chapter and accompany the How Do We Know? feature in the textbook—walking students through scientific inquiry and data analysis⁠, and ending with application questions that extend to new information. Cases A key feature of How Life Works is that it connects key concepts to one another, highlighting the bigger relevance of understanding biology. Throughout the textbook, Cases and Visual Synthesis figures provide a framework for connecting and assimilating information. The eight Cases highlight topics, such as cancer and climate change, and showcase how concepts learned in individual chapters connect to these larger, relevant areas of biology. Visual Syntheses Every Visual Synthesis figure in the textbook has an interactive counterpart in Achieve. Each interactive offers an immersive, highly visual learning environment that includes informative text, embedded animations, simulations, virtual tours, and links between interactives, helping students see how individual concepts connect to tell a single story. New to this edition: two new Visual Syntheses covering the History of Earth and Life, and Homeostasis can be found in the textbook and Achieve. How Life Works Podcasts The How Life Works Podcasts cover pertinent topics that relate directly to the material in the textbook. New to this edition: the authors of How Life Works interview a diverse selection of scientists about research topics, which directly align with each of the eight Cases found in the textbook. Each podcast includes background information about the author and a set of open-ended reflection questions that can be assigned to students.   Which features do you use? Comment below to let us know! ... View more

Need to assign due dates individually or in bulk by assignment type? This video explains how to set up the gradebook categories with initial course set up and how to assign due dates to assessment items. ... View more

               It was a Thursday evening as I was relaxing post-workshop and gearing up for summer research when I received a text from my colleague asking if I wanted to teach the summer intro-chem course. I immediately jumped on the opportunity since I have always wanted to get my hands on a chemistry for non-science majors course... the only drawback? The class started that following Tuesday and I have never taught intro chem before! Despite that little set back, I was eager to start planning my learning outcomes, lessons, demonstrations and labs; and was feeling energized after a week long workshop that focused on active learning. To set the scene for you: the course was only 6 weeks long, met every day for an hour and a half for ‘lecture’ and twice a week for lab. The text we used was the ACS Chemistry in Context (9 th Edition, text and lab manual) where we covered Chapters 1 through 5, 8, 10, 11, 12 and 14.  The students ranged from rising sophomores to graduating seniors who majored in disciplines ranging from education, business, math, and philosophy.              At the start, I worked 2-3 hours each night to prepare carefully crafted powerpoint lectures with active learning break outs (more emphasis on the powerpoint lecture).. I believe I found myself relying on more traditional teaching methods because of my lack of confidence in teaching this material. But I quickly noticed the students were having a hard time paying attention and were drifting off.. who can blame them? Who wants to be ‘talked to’ for nearly 2 hours a day every day. After their first exam where grades ranged from low F’s to high A’s with an average of 68%.. I decided I needed to change things up and decided to shut my mouth and flip the course immediately. (This was actually inspired by a book I was reading at the time titled “Teaching with your Mouth Shut” by Donald Finkel.. read it, its great!) I didn’t make lecture videos, I stopped wasting time making power points, and instead allowed the text book to lecture for me by assigning readings associated with each class meeting. I then could spend most of my planning time and efforts in researching and choosing in-class activities that we spent 100% of the time on in class with students working in small and diverse groups. On exam two, the class average was a full letter grade higher than the first exam (76%), which was maintained in exam III and the final.          Students worked in small groups on various in-class activities described below. Because I found it so challenging to find and research the resources I used, I wanted to take a moment to share with you the materials I found helpful and also ask and see if you have an activity, book, demonstration or other resources that you find especially helpful for an intro chem course (Comment below!) Introduction Chemistry: A guided Inquiry (POGIL, 1 st Edition) by Michael Garoutte and Ashley Mahoney published by Wiley. I really wish I had this book from the very start! I requested the exam copy right when I found out I was teaching the course and it took a couple weeks to get to my desk but I was so happy when it arrived! While it wasn’t an all-inclusive resource, it was really valuable and we used a number of activities from the book in class such as the Acid/Base, Molecular Shapes, and Rates and Energies of Reactions activities. The only drawback to this text? It wasn’t put into a real-world context which was the emphasis of the ACS text book and the class. But I did hear lots of “Ah hah!”s  throughout the class meetings. For our nutrition and cooking with chemistry unit, we made pop rocks, rock candy and dipping dots in order to discuss phase changes, recrystalization and how the rate of freezing effects the creaminess of ice cream. Solving Real Problems with Chemistry (2 nd edition) by John Goodwin, David Hanson and Troy Wolfskill; published by Pacific Crest. This is another POGIL-like workbook that incorporates guided reflection on the actual learning process (which unfortunately the students would skip unless somehow incentivized). What I loved about this book (in addition to the reflective process) was the incorporation on intro chem/gen chem concepts into a real-world context. On days that we worked on these activities (such as “Time of Death – When did it Happen” (integrated rate laws) and “Keeping Warm with Carbon-Based Fuels” (enthalpy and heats for reations) I overheard a number of side conversations that related the chemistry to their daily lives in terms of retail, public policy, and CSI! Again, it was a great resource, but didn’t 100% line up with the text/material I was covering so wasn’t an all-inclusive resource. In our forensics unit, students got to test money for trace amounts of drugs and isolated unknown compounds for TLC analysis in order to link a suspect with a murder case. Calculations in Chemistry (2 nd edition) by Donald J. Dahm and Eric A. Nelson, published by W. W. Norton. This was an absolute fantastic resource for my class as the major determining factor for success in my course turned out to be the ability to solve mathematical word problems. I utilized this book as a supplemental tool and aligned sections from this book with the ACS text book for students to use as additional practice. I felt it was well written with lots of guidance and the cost is very effective! I think in future courses I will make this a required resource for the course and wish I had started utilizing it earlier. The students could have really benefited from me spending a day or two at the start of class learning and practicing basic word problem analysis and dimensional analysis without necessarily going straight into chemical concepts. Other various online resources I pilfered several other various resources from the web such as the new ACS Reactions Video Series (this is a great tool for engaging and contextualizing chemistry for folks with no science background and I am constantly sharing these videos through social media), the Legacy High School Chemistry POGIL activities, and for our forensics unit the Mixed Reception Activity by the ChemCollective. We also used the PhET simulations in class as well to demonstrate balancing reactions and phase changes. Student feedback on the course: " I feel much more prepared and really learned a lot" " The class was enjoyable and related to our daily life so we felt we would actually use this information... I found the worksheets helpful" "She created an environment that was comfortable to ask questions and dig deep into certain areas that were not understood well or people were interested in" "Class structure of handing out worksheets and learning in groups how to do them on top of her guidance was probably the best way for me to learn" "Less lecture, more practice seemed to work well in this class" Again, by no means is this meant to be an exhaustive list of useful tools for intro chem and I would love to hear your own preferences and ideas. But after writing this post... I am left with one question: Wouldn’t it be nice if we had one all-inclusive resource that was flexible and incorporated context-based active learning for our students? By no means can I require my students to purchase 1 text book, 1 lab manual, and 3 work books for a 6-week course. What say you? I’d love to hear your feedback, comment below: ... View more

Keeping students actively engaged during class has been shown over and over again to increase student learning (http://www.pnas.org/content/111/23/8410.abstract).  Active learning studies have often focused on the activities students do while in the classroom but not on the methodology used to deliver content. Often PowerPoint slides play an integral role in how information is transferred between the instructor and students, but because PowerPoint slides are often pre-programmed, they seem very impersonal, inflexible and rigid. If someone were to ask me what is the biggest difference between a traditional and flipped classroom, I would say flexibility. In the traditional class, we feel pressured to get through the material, before the session is complete and stress levels rise, on both sides of the podium, when time becomes short. In classes where instructors use PowerPoint, the right arrow key becomes the driving force for the in-class experience. Solutions to problems, if present, are already typed into the slides. Animations, sounds, and other effects may help the slide show seem more interactive, but slideshows still tend to feel rigid. One way to get around the seeming rigidity of PowerPoint slides, is to use a drawing tablet, to annotate the slides via the PowerPoint pointer, pen, and highlighter tools located on the lower left hand corner of the slide (after starting the slideshow). In this way, the PowerPoint slides can be treated as an extension of the classroom whiteboard. Not all of the facts need to be typed into the slides. Bulleted lists, problem solutions, concept explanations, etc. can all be added onto the slides, in yourhandwriting, while running the slideshow. After the class, the annotations can be kept (and saved) or discarded. If kept, all annotations on one slide become a single image – which can then be easily deleted later if necessary.  Not only do in-class annotions allow instructors to modify explanations, but it turns the rigid, often dry PowerPoint slides into something that is both flexible, personal, and interactive.  For information on other in-class annotation tools, see a post Kevin Revell wrote on Tools for In-Class Annotation. ... View more

[originally posted January 2015]   Heath Giesbrecht teaches intro, general, and organic chemistry at Houston Community College-Southeast College.  He came across my radar because of his terrific library of teaching videos on YouTube.  He has some of the best whiteboard presentations I've seen, and covering a wide array of topics.  I'll be adding some of these to the Tools and Resources section over the coming weeks.   I had an opportunity to talk with Heath recently, and am happy to share the conversation here:   Heath, your video library is fantastic.  How did you get started with this?    Thanks, Kevin! As a chemistry educator myself, I really appreciate what you are doing on flippedchemistry.com, so the compliment means a lot coming from you. I want to start off by saying that more than anything I am happy to have been able to produce a library of videos that so many people, students and instructors alike, have expressed to me they found useful. The response from everyone has been wonderful.   In Spring 2010, while I was teaching chemistry at a different institution, I was assigned to develop and teach an online Introductory Chemistry class. While working on this project, I felt the project necessitated me to record videos of the live lectures from my face-to-face class for the online version, both for consistency and impartiality. These lectures lasted about 1-1 ½ hours and consisted of my voice over the PowerPoint slides. Honestly, the student response in the online class to these long videos was poor to say the least. This led me to start thinking of and pursuing alternative ways to engage the students online.   I started to experiment with recording short videos, either as a mini-lecture, a laboratory demonstration, or a solved problem format, with the camera recording me at the whiteboard in front of my class. The students found these to be more appealing and attention-grabbing than the monotonous voice-over lectures, and were enthusiastic to get me to record videos in this style during class and office hours. Students from my other courses found out that I was making these videos for the Intro class and many of them requested that I record videos for their classes (ie. General Chemistry I/II, Organic I/II). I was excited to do so, particularly because of their overall enthusiasm. Unfortunately, two years down the road, I was informed by the DE & IT Director that the sheer number of videos was beginning to overload the college’s server and they would have to be deleted. After losing several hundred of them, I was compelled to move the whole of the collection to YouTube without thinking much about the external impact of the decision.   After two months from the time I posted them, I had more views on my videos using the YouTube channel, than I had for two years while they were on the institution’s server and their popularity continues to grow three years later. When I first established my YouTube channel there were very few channels or videos that had been created by professionals; most of the channels I found around that time were created by amateurs and had many mistakes and inconsistencies. When I started receiving questions and thank you comments from chemistry students all over the world I knew I had to continue not only because I loved teaching chemistry, but because of the free help that the channel was noticeably providing. 2.  How many videos have you produced?   Whenever my students want me to record one for them I’ll do it, as a result I’m regularly adding videos to the library. I know for sure the channel has more than 1100 videos. 3.  How long does it take you to produce each one?   What the viewer gets with my videos is essentially the raw class recordings of a single lecture topic or example problem, hopefully containing a few student responses and maybe a few questions at the end from the students who prompted the recording.   Since I am not very technologically savvy, save for cropping the end of a few of my videos, I refrain from editing them, thus saving me a significant amount of time. In other words, when a student wants me to record a video, I just walk up to the camera, push the record button, work through a problem during class or office hours, and finally upload the video to the YouTube channel. Overall, from initially pressing record to having the completed video uploaded takes about ten minutes for the average five minute video, if I am only doing one. Usually though, I record several videos on the same day, so before I leave work, I begin uploading and they will be on the channel when I return the next morning. So, really the recording time is the longest portion of the process. 4.  How do you use these with your classes?   For my classes, the YouTube content is used in specific course-dependent ways.   In my hybrid courses, my students do not come to class for a lecture section at all, so the videos are used as the exclusive lecture material. I have complete sets of videos for Introductory Chemistry, General Chemistry I and II, and Organic I, so I can and do teach all of these courses in the hybrid format.   In my face-to-face classes, I use the videos strictly as supplementary material. In saying that, I allow my students the ability to choose individually several format options while attending the class. The way I structure my 3 hour lecture period is as follows, 1-1 ½ hours of lecture then problem solving sessions for the rest of the period. Accordingly, if a student prefers the traditional lecture style, they will come for the beginning of class. If they prefer the flipped style where we go over things like extra problem sets, homework, and practice exams, the student has the option to skip the lecture portion and only come when we are working on the worksheet material. This is the time I often find my students wanting me to record videos. Finally, if a student prefers the hybrid format and has signed up for the face-to-face class, I allow them to watch the lecture videos and only come in for the labs, quizzes, and exams. Conversely, if the student prefers the face-to-face format and has signed up for a hybrid class, they are able to sit in on another section if they so choose. 5.  Which of your classes do you flip? Introductory Chemistry, General Chemistry I and II, and Organic I can all be flipped solely with the video content I have created. I am also working on completing the set of Organic II videos and I envision that I will be able to flip it within the next couple of semesters. ... View more

[originally posted spring 2015] This spring, I’m teaching one of my favorite courses: Intro Chem. It’s an evening class, two nights a week, 144 students. The class is a requirement for a number of applied science majors. Many students are nervous about taking chemistry, and some have put it off until their senior year. This year, I’ve had some time to reflect on what has (and hasn’t) worked in the past, I’ve gathered ideas from many of you. I’m re-designing the course, with several innovations. Over the next couple of weeks, I’m planning to write in more detail about some of these. For new, here’s a broad overview of a couple of them: Beta-testing the REEF clicker system I’ve never used a clicker system before, but the evidence suggests it makes a big difference, especially for large classes. The REEF polling system is the next-generation of I>clicker, and is set to premiere for real in the fall. It’s an app-based, bring-your-own-device system. I’m looking forward to seeing how this works – if any of your clicker veterans have suggestions, I’d love to hear them! Using my own book I’m in the process of writing my own textbook, with the first 10 chapters (of 13) in the review stage. This semester, I’m making the chapters available to the students in PDF form. This will give me a chance to see how it works in-class, and polish the organization a little bit. Rethinking the out-of-class content The organization of the new text is a little different than what I used last year. As a result, I’m having to re-do and re-think some of the video content. One of the things I’m doing is giving students the option of reading OR watching the video – I think this appeals to different learning styles. For example, here’s my Canvas page for Wednesday: With the video content, I’ve decided to focus primarily on big-picture topics, giving an overview of why the topic is important, then including the key ideas. Practice problems will be handled in class. For example, here’s a new video I prepared on units, precision, accuracy, and significant digits. It sets the stage for the in-class materials, such as calculations involving sig figs. https://vimeo.com/album/4086381/video/86152564 I’m going to have to come to grips with my perfectionist streak. The video above took way too long to produce. Moving forward, I’m going to have to be content with simpler formats, and non-scripted, tablet annotations rather than extensive PowerPoint annotations. I love producing these, but I don’t know if they’re feasible for the whole semester. ... View more

[Originally published on August 13, 2015] Most chemistry classes, including mine, rely heavily on in-class annotations. To do this, instructors need an annotation tool that integrates smoothly with the flow of class. Here is a brief review of several tools I've tried: 1. Drawboard PDF.  This is my new favorite tool, and the one I'm planning to use this fall. It features a small pallet that minimizes when not in use (the pallet is the small hexagon in the image below). When you first open this app, it will ask you if you are using your finger or a stylus. It differentiates touch and stylus better than anything else I've seen. I can rest my palm on the screen without any stray marks, but still easily swipe to scroll to the next slide. The drawing is crisp - great for organic. Cost: $10 2. Journal Note Writer.  I have several colleagues who build their slide decks in JNW, and use it exclusively. The color pallet is easy to access, and the writing is smooth - with the occasional stray mark from the hand on the screen. A couple drawbacks I've encountered: I like doing my slides in PowerPoint, which means I'm transferring my files to .jnt format before class, then to .pdf if I want to make them available to my students afterward. Also, sometimes pictures/shading don't transfer well when printing to a .jnt file. ChemDraw used to be very problematic, although it seems less so now. If Drawboard doesn't work out, I'll go back to JNW. 3. PDF Annotator.  This program works pretty well, and I used it for several years. It prints from Powerpoint more cleanly than Journal Note Writer, and has an unobtrusive pallet that can be hidden to one side. The drawback is the price: In an era of free or inexpensive apps, this one costs $59.95. 4. PowerPoint.  Especially with the addition of Office Mix, PowerPoint has become much more versatile in the last couple of years. It's annotation used to be really clunky - it's smoother now, but I still inadvertently advance slides while trying to annotate about 20 times every class. I used PowerPoint last semester with my Intro Chem class, because the animation capabilities outweighted the hassle of the annotation features. 5. Bamboo Paper.  I've taken a liking to this paper notebook app - It doesn't use PDF, but you can import images one at a time. The interface is pretty simple, it writes smoothly, and I believe it was free (or under $5). ... View more