Friday November 12th 101 Whiskey Experiments with Community
College Undergraduates!
Presenter: Regan Silvestri,
PhD
Professional title:
Associate Professor of Chemistry
Affiliation:
Lorain County Community College Abstract: Join Prof. Silvestri as
he describes some of the work that students in his research group are doing
on the science of the flavor of whiskey. The adventure starts with an almost
chance encounter between Regan and the founder of a start-up whiskey company.
This sort of-per-chance meeting quickly led to the pseudo-by-accident
creation of an independent student research program at Lorain County
Community College where students use GC-MS to identify and profile the
distinct flavor compounds in unprecedented flavors of bourbon developed by
industry partner Cleveland Whiskey. What followed was a whirlwind of eclectic
scientific work, all centered around the science of the flavor of whiskey.
Equally important as the scientific results is the positive impact on the
students, and the stories of just how much fun a group of undergraduates can
have doing nerdy science stuff in their free time - when the topic is
whiskey! |
Friday November 5th Food Science to Teach Chemistry: The
Delectable Chemistry of Brownies and Other Yummy Goodies – Archived
materials here
Presenter: Scott Donnelly
Professional Title:
Professor of Chemistry
Affiliation:
Arizona Western College Abstract: Food science is an enviable platform to teach topics typically covered in both GChem and OChem as food is something every student knows something about from experience. And there seems to be an innate, natural curiosity about what we eat and drink every day. In this presentation I'll describe how I use the back of a brownie box, a can of pineapple, and other food products to teach seminal GChem and OChem topics. |
Friday October 1st Interdisciplinary, Investigative and
Inclusive: Using the RISE-model to Design Curriculum that Addresses the Racial
and Gender Gap Across Early STEM Course – Archived
materials here
Presenter: Kalyn Owens, PhD
Professional
Title: Chemistry Faculty & Coordinator
Affiliation:
North Seattle College and Program Officer / Division of Undergraduate
Education at the National Science Foundation Abstract: |
Friday September 24th Reforming a general chemistry course: Benefits
and struggles – Archived
materials here
Presenter: Vicente Talanquer, PhD
Professional
Title: University Distinguished Professor
Affiliation:
University of Arizona Abstract: |
Friday September 17th Building and Adopting the LibreTexts Platform as the Extensive Living Library
Platform for Widespread Open Access Chemistry Education – Archived
materials here
Presenter: Delmar Larsen,
PhD
Professional
title: Professor of Chemistry; Founder and Director of LibreTexts
Affiliation:
University of California, Davis Abstract: The Libretexts project is a collaborative non-commercial Open Education Resource (OER) platform that simultaneously enables the dissemination and evaluation of existing resources and as a dynamic “courseware” to facilitate new education developments and approaches, with an emphasis on data-driven assessment of student learning and performance. Since its inception, the Libretexts has been exponentially growing and is the most visited chemistry website and online OER textbook resource in the world. This presentation will introduce faculty to the LibreTexts Living library with “hands-on” demonstrations of recently capabilities including 3D visualization, online homework capabilities, annotation capabilities student online tracking, assessment, and numerical data analysis infrastructure. |
Friday September 10th Incorporating
Chemistry into a Writing Course (on Sustainability and Environmental Justice)– Archived
materials here
Presenter: Shelby Hatch,
PhD
Professional title: Academic Adviser and Assistant Professor of Instruction, Chemistry Affiliation: Northwestern University Abstract: “Sustainability Meets Environmental Justice” was developed in response to sustainability’s reputation as a “White Issue.” The primary objectives of the course are to improve students’ writing, oral communication, and critical-thinking. Writing assignments include a “working notebook,” external event reviews, and papers. Oral skills are developed through a one-minute documentary, “10 Minutes for Green Chemistry”, and a group project. Critical thinking is honed by discussing course readings and current environmental (justice) events. This talk will focus on the development and implementation of the course, particularly how chemistry is incorporated into a (Zoom)room filled with students with widely different chemistry backgrounds and interests. |
Friday September 3rd A Cake Without Eggs?
The Chemistry of Vegan Baking – Archived
materials here
Presenter: Monica Marie
Arroyo, PhD
Professional title: Associate Professor of Chemistry Affiliation: Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico Abstract: In recent years there has been a dramatic rise in the annual sales and availability of vegan baked goods in the market. Knowledge of basic food chemistry is all that is needed to “veganize” recipes at home. From pancakes to cookies to cakes to pies, just about any dessert may be prepared with only plant-based ingredients. The formation of gels, emulsions and foams, fermentation, and acid-base reactions, are characteristic chemical transformations that take place in the preparation of a baked good. In this talk, we will explore the chemical magic of a few common ingredients used in vegan baking as well as a few recipes to create desserts to impress and delight. |
Friday August 27th Design of a Fully
Online Introductory
Chemistry Course for Non-Majors – Archived
materials here
Presenter: Yu Zhang, PhD
Professional title: Associate Professor of Chemistry Affiliation:
Suffolk County Community College Abstract: General Chemistry (CHE100) is a one-semester, non-majors chemistry course with a laboratory component. Many Suffolk County Community College (SCCC) students have jobs, family obligations and other obstacles, so it’s challenging for them to take traditional science courses offered on campus. To address this, a fully online CHE100 lecture/lab course was developed so they could fulfill local graduation requirements. From spring 2019 to fall 2020 ten sections of the online CHE100 course have been offered and 180 students enrolled. A preliminary study of the instructional effectiveness was conducted, and the findings of the assessment will be reported. SCCC is the largest community college in the State University of New York (SUNY) system and offers degrees and certificates in approximately 100 options of study. |
Friday April 9th Community Forum – 60 minutes - Archived
materials here Ungrading: Using Creative,
Socially Just Student Evaluation Clarissa Sorensen-Unruh,
Chemistry Instructor, Central New Mexico Community College Where and when do grades become an unfair and unjust
evaluation for students? How do we make grading a creative space to converse
with our students? You are invited to this presentation to learn more about ungrading- a set of current and innovative pedagogical
tools to help faculty create space for learning in the
midst of grading. |
Friday April 2nd Community Forum – 60 minutes - Archived
materials here How to Convince Others (that safety is important and that you are
serious about it) James Kaufman, Ph.D., Founder
and President Emeritus of the Laboratory Safety Institute Throughout the world, this is the most frequently asked
question. The answer is simple and, for the most part, inexpensive. The short
answer is to create a more effective lab safety program. This interesting and
entertaining one-hour presentation provides an overview of some of the 33
critical program elements. It confronts one of the more common excuses for
not having or improving the lab safety program... "it costs too
much." This is simply not true. Excellent lab safety programs do not
need to cost large amounts of money. Participants will learn how to convince
others by creating a more effective lab safety program (without a purchase
order or requisition). You don’t want to miss this opportunity for a highly informative,
worthwhile and enjoyable learning experience. This
presentation is a unique opportunity to take a look
at your lab safety program to see how you’re doing and how you can do it even
better. Participants will receive the Laboratory Safety Institute’s (LSI) lab
safety program review checklist with 33 components. And you will learn how to
use this checklist to evaluate your program both qualitatively and
quantitatively. The result is a simple, clear, low/no cost path for lab
safety program development and improvement. And, with courage, you can score
your program on a scale of zero to 100! |
Friday March 26th Community Forum – 60 minutes - Archived
materials here Teaching, The Best Kept Secret! Terri Michelle Chambers, Ed.D.,
American Chemical Society, Director, ACS Learning and Career Development,
Education Division ACS, in partnership with Get the Facts Out, is pleased to
offer the presentation "Teaching, The Best Kept Secret!". Did you
know that teachers in the United States rate their lives better than all
occupation groups, trailing only physicians?* In
this presentation we will dig into some data many students and faculty find
surprising about the teaching profession. We will also share strategies and
resources for communicating the facts about the profession so that students
will have accurate information about their career prospects. We hope you will
be able to join us for this informative presentation. Can't make it? Feel
free to share this information with a colleague (or two) at your institution. |
Friday March 19th Community Forum – 60 minutes – Archived
materials here From Busy Hands to Busy Minds: General Chemistry Labs- What Does the
Future Hold? Rebecca Eikey,
Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry, College of the Canyons Pamela Auburn, Ph.D., Associate
Professor of Chemistry, Lone Star College-University Park Thomas A. Holme,
Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry, Iowa State University; Editor-In-Chief Journal
of Chemical Education General chemistry labs have changed significantly as a result of the COVID19 pandemic. What have we have
learned from this? And what do we think will be the outlook for general
chemistry post-COVID 19? Join us for a discussion on what we have learned so
far. |
Held on Feb 26, 2021 –
Archived
Materials here Swarming Locusts, Farmed Fish, Confusing Consumer
Product Labeling, and Combatting Rhino Poaching: Chemistry's Role in
Explaining Chemists often claim that chemistry is the central science.
Central to what? This presentation focuses on chemistry's central and pivotal
role(s) in deciphering recent or ongoing current global events and consumer
products. Discussion will focus on how I use such events and topics as a
launching pad to teaching foundational GChem and OChem principles. |
Held on Jan 29, 2021 –
Archived
Materials here Hibernating Bears, Migrating Salmon,
Seaweed Eating Sheep, and Food Fraud: A Different Approach to Teaching
General and Organic Chemistry |