Evidence-based reform of teaching and learning

Abstract

Over the years a great deal of time and attention has been devoted to reform of teaching and learning in chemistry. However, many of these efforts have focused on individual faculty's experiences and intuition, rather than our understanding of how people learn or evidence about the effects of such reforms. For example, while it is widely known that students emerge from our courses with non-scientific ideas about core concepts, the reasons why this happens are often ascribed to the students' lack of ability or work ethic. However, there is emerging evidence that both the traditional pedagogical approach and the structure of the curriculum contribute to this problem. Students must be provided both with a strong foundation on which to build and link new knowledge, and an understanding of what that knowledge will be used for. In order to achieve this we need to rely on the research base and evidence emerging from discipline-based education research (DBER)-a field that combines deep disciplinary expertise with knowledge and understanding of the science of teaching and learning. This paper presents a short overview of these ideas.

A high‐throughput UHPLC–MS/MS method for the quantification of five aged butyrylcholinesterase biomarkers from human exposure to organophosphorus nerve agents

“…This is different from other methods developed in this laboratory which have used GB-inhibited serum or GA-inhibited serum as a matrix blank. (Carter et al, 2013, Johnson et al, 2015, Pantazides et al, 2014) These inhibited matrices could not be selected for this method since GB inhibited BChE ages to MeP-BChE and GA inhibited BChE can age to form P-BChE or ExP-BChE. All three of these aged products are measured in this assay so use of GA or GB inhibited serum would interfere with the detection of aged biomarkers as the materials aged.…”

“…(Johnson et al, 2015, Knaack et al, 2012, Pantazides et al, 2014) Briefly, a DynaMag-15 (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) was applied to remove the solvent from 2 mL of Dynabeads Protein G magnetic beads. The beads were washed twice with 4 mL aliquots of PBST, and then 8 mL of PBST was added to the beads followed by 400 μg of anti-BChE monoclonal antibody.…”

“…OPNA-BChE adducts have relatively long half-lives (8–12 days), are abundant in serum and plasma, and can easily be extracted from blood since BChE is not membrane-bound. (Knaack et al, 2012, Pantazides et al, 2014, Sporty et al, 2010)…”

Successfully navigating the early years of a faculty position

“…The growing body of research on how people learn and how to create classroom and laboratory environments that facilitate student learning consistently shows that passive forms of learning (e.g., lecturing and cookbook laboratory experiences) are less effective at promoting student learning than active forms of learning (e.g., students work collaboratively on questions in class and are given open-ended problems to investigate in the laboratory) [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. However, the role of the instructor and nature of the exercise is important in influencing the success of active learning.…”

Active learning materials for molecular and atomic spectroscopy

“…A recent article in this journal [7] highlighted how knowledge is constructed in the mind of the learner [8]. To construct knowledge students must engage with the material in a process that is more active than is possible in a lecture.…”