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

Engaging chemistry students to be active participants in learning is more important than ever!  You need to find ways to increase student participation, facilitate problem-solving and involve your students in the learning process overall.  It is a lot to manage and you have limited time and a lot to get through everything you need to do.  We want to help cut through some of the noise and show you some simple tips and tricks to enhance what you already do and possibly provide some ideas to try so you can effectively engage your students and help provide a more equitable classroom without adding layers of complexity. Watch the recording. ... View more

Jon Rienstra-Kiracofe wanted information on how well his students were prepared for General Chemistry. He heard about the MUST and was impressed by the large number of students in Texas who had participated in it, ranging from community colleges to large four-year public institutions. Jon thought it could be perfect for his students at Purdue, especially since it is just twenty questions and takes only 15 minutes. MUST is built into Achieve, making it easy to access and pull data on student performance so you can quickly share results and empower your students right at the beginning of their general chemistry course. ... View more

Diana Mason, who developed the Math Up Skills Test (MUST) for general chemistry, drew inspiration from a journal by Hartman and Nelson, detailing a study in which a group of students was given a baseline assessment with or without a calculator. Interestingly, without a calculator was a better predictor of success. An accomplished chemical education researcher, Diana brought this idea to the state of Texas and created the MUST. In her own IRB-approved study, Diana compared the test results to students’ final grades at universities and colleges across the state. What she found was that student performance on this fifteen minute, twenty question assessment, given in the first week of class, showed a significant correlation between student performance in Gen Chem I and Gen Chem II. Watch the video below to hear more about Diana’s story in creating the MUST. ... View more

Research experience is essential for the ongoing education of many students. As an instructor, you may have developed research tasks, implemented them into your course, and sought supporting personnel to ensure your students learn the essentials. CUREs, or course-based undergraduate research experiences, provide undergraduates a form of apprenticeship-style research experience.   Dolan and Weaver’s A Guide to Course-based Undergraduate Research offers guidance and some of the best practices on how to provide research experiences outside of the lab. One of the first things to take into account when planning to implement a CURE, is that students bring with them certain types of background knowledge and skills, and have different areas of knowledge that need to be developed. Knowing about your students skill levels should help guide the structure of the CURE, including which instruments and materials will be needed, which sections of the project will be “practice” versus novel exploration, and how much time will be devoted to each aspect of the experience. If you would prefer to adapt an existing CURE, you can choose to do so separately from other instructors who teach that CURE, or you can join a group of users implementing the CURE at multiple other institutions. Consider these existing programs: Freshman Research Initiative (FRI) at the University of Texas at Austin: https://cns.utexas.edu/fri Science Education Alliance-Phage Hunters program (SEA-PHAGES): https://seaphages.org/ How do you introduce research experiences in your course? To learn more about developing and implementing CUREs, get your copy of A Guide to Course-based Undergraduate Research today!     ... View more

As winter break approaches and students prepare for final exams and projects, instructors are busy writing and grading those finals and discovering how well students actually understood the material. With the mix of available virtual and in-person courses, the consideration of different types of assessments becomes very complex.  Courses in STEM disciplines often cover a large amount of material that tends to encourage superficial learning instead of the more ideal deep approach to learning. Additionally, STEM courses seem to have a threatening and anxiety-provoking assessment system.  Summative assessment is the assessment of student learning; it is usually an exam, final project or report that provides a score on that student’s performance but rarely offers timely or effective feedback. But these final exams and evaluations are inherently necessary in the framework of our education system. What remains is to learn how to use summative assessment as a learning tool. Consider the ideas in the table below for your own test-taking processes. During the test Collaborative test-taking Pyramid exams Immediate feedback assessment technique Self-corrected exams Prior to return of the test Do-over After the return of the test Highlighting missed material Point-recapture Test analysis   How do you make use of summative assessments? Explore the various types of assessments and strategies for their use in Assessment in the College Classroom.   ... View more

Designing Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) What is a CURE Class? A Guide to Course-based Undergraduate Research highlights several key elements that make Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences, or CUREs, distinctive. There are some design features that are inherent to all CURES but there are also those that depend on educational and personal goals. In order to implement a CURE and achieve program goals, it is important to strategically integrate the CURE into your course.  Goals & Considerations for Designing a CURE Class There are different goals to consider when implementing a CURE. Some of the implementation insight from A Guide to Course-based Undergraduate Research is organized in the following table: CURE’s Overarching Goal Ideal Implementation To allow students the opportunity to dabble in research and consider it as a potential career path Early curriculum integration is recommended. Students are able to experience and learn more about different options and opportunities in research. To improve student retention Integrate the CURE in the curriculum prior to the point at which students leave.  To engage students in experiential learning Integration can be done at any point in the curriculum.    The inherent similarity among CUREs is that they involve students in research that can produce actual discoveries relevant to the stakeholders. Students should also be involved with iterative work that includes troubleshooting, problem-solving and other aspects of research. To learn more about developing and implementing CUREs, get your copy of A Guide to Course-based Undergraduate Research today! ... View more

With a new school year underway, it is important to consider and anticipate some of the potential threats to a new research student’s success. Among those threats are stereotypes that can take hold, especially in STEM fields of study.  Stereotype threat is defined in Entering Research as “the psychological experience of anxiety about performing in a way that reinforces a negative stereotype about your group”. An important step to avoiding these stereotype threats is to understand the subtle cues that make negatively stereotyped groups feel anxious or undermined. When groups of students are triggered, they experience anxiety that leads them to underperform and subsequently reinforce those negative stereotypes, creating a harmful loop.  There are many stereotypes surrounding women, racial minorities and others in academia. One of the ways to protect these groups of people from stereotype threat is to build and develop self-efficacy beliefs. However, saying that students should simply have strong beliefs in their own abilities to perform does not make it a reality. So to mitigate the negative impact of stereotype threats, a more direct approach of educating students about these threats may be necessary. Being a good role model regardless of gender, race or sex; encouraging students to have a growth view of intelligence; explaining other reasons for test anxiety; providing activities that reaffirm the student’s abilities.  How do you support your students when stereotype threats arise?  Read more about stereotype threats and other ways to help your research mentees in Entering Research: A Curriculum to Support Undergraduate & Graduate Research Trainees. ... View more