Active Learning in Organic Chemistry Remote Workshop 2021

I’m a part of the team that will lead a remote workshop this summer for Organic Chemistry instructors. Enrollment in this no-cost workshop will be limited to 30 participants to promote collaborative activities and community building for a diverse group of faculty. Experienced members of the OrganicERs Leadership Board will introduce and facilitate implementation of evidence-based instructional methods. I encourage you to apply.

Organic Education Resources (organicers.org) invites Organic Chemistry instructors to apply to our Summer ’21 remote NSF-sponsored workshop (award numbers: DUE2021170, DUE2021175, DUE2021285). Enrollment in this no-cost workshop will be limited to 30 participants to promote collaborative activities and community building for a diverse group of faculty. Experienced members of the OrganicERs Leadership Board will introduce and facilitate implementation of evidence-based instructional methods. This workshop is designed for organic chemistry instructors who want to effectively implement or improve their use of active learning methods in their classrooms.

Participants will:
• Become part of a community of over 700 instructors committed to evidence-based instructional methods in organic chemistry,
• Improve their understanding of these methods by experiencing them as students and by working collaboratively to develop learning activities that conform to best-practice,
• Discuss common hurdles and solutions to effective implementation,
• Engage in a thematic one-year online faculty learning community with a half-dozen like-minded organic chemistry instructors from across the country.

Topics include:
• Learning objective development and use,
• Preparing students for the active-learning classroom,
• Classroom assessment and collaborative learning techniques including classroom response systems,
• Open educational resources,
• Active learning, including in large classrooms,
• The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning,
• Application of cognitive psychology in teaching organic chemistry,
• Introduction of new teaching methods to students and colleagues.

There will be six 3-hour sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1-4 pm EDT June 1-17.  There will be ~90 minutes of auxiliary work for each session.
We encourage applications from diverse backgrounds at various stages of their career, including non-tenure track, tenure-track, and tenured faculty/instructors/lecturers.  We hope to include participants from community colleges, predominantly undergraduate institutions, and R1/R2 institutions.  Review of applications will begin February 15, 2021.  You can find the application form here.

-Cathy Welder