Webinar: It’s Time for Change! How to Promote Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Respect in Your Chemistry Lab

“Chemistry is known as the central science not only because of its role in bridging the physical sciences and the life and applied sciences, but also because it impacts broad areas of human endeavor. Yet while chemistry may touch all of our lives, we are not all equally represented in chemistry . . .” (ACS Diversity Data Report, 2021).

Key learning objectives:

Recognize the impact of underrepresentation and marginalization in the chemistry community and discuss current trends and initiatives to increase Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Respect (DEIR).
Discover Lt as a learning platform that supports student engagement and success.
Explore the Rate Law Determination experiment from the Lt Chemistry Collection with a LIVE demo of Vernier’s Go Direct^® SpectroVis Plus Spectrophotometer.

Abstract:

ADInstruments has partnered with Vernier^® Science Education to enhance lab-based learning. Our learning platform, Lt, integrates with Vernier’s Go Direct^® Sensors to help educators teach interactive and engaging college chemistry labs.

In this webinar, we demonstrate our Rate Law Determination experiment that utilizes Vernier Science Education’s Go Direct^® SpectroVis Plus Spectrophotometer to study the kinetics of the reaction of crystal violet with sodium hydroxide.

We explore how this experiment has been embedded in the Lt platform and show how tools in Lt promote community and scientific identity, reduce bias, and meet students’ individual needs. Learn how you can easily customize and adapt content for your curriculum to meet the needs of your students.

Key takeaways:

Encourage group collaboration. When designing group work:
- Acknowledge and celebrate soft skills (listening, leadership, communication, empathy, time management).
- Intentionally design student groups according to strengths and availability.
- Make sure students know how they will be assessed.
- Make projects big enough so that they can’t be completed alone.
Intentionally highlight chemists from diverse backgrounds to whom your students might be able to relate.
Connect students with established, professional chemists - for example, have students interview a chemist and present this back to the class.
Encourage metacognition - “thinking about your thinking”. Students often don’t know how to learn.
- Tell students about the importance of practice tests for improving retention.
- Encourage spaced practice.
- Create practice questions that help students monitor their learning - tie them closely to the learning objectives.
- Prompt students to develop study plans and reflect on their study methods after the exams.
Provide additional support for students.
- Supply timely formative assessment with constructive and specific feedback throughout the course.
- Make data collection and analysis as smooth as possible so that students can focus on key concepts rather than troubleshooting.
Reduce bias through anonymous grading and pre-formatted lab reports.

This event was sponsored by ADInstruments, and is the third in a 4-part webinar series, 2023 New Ways to Learn: Harnessing the Power of Technology. The other webinars in this series are:

Expert Perspectives on Technology-enhanced Teaching - WATCH ON-DEMAND
Engaging Students Online in a Clinical Pathophysiology Course - WATCH ON-DEMAND
The Journey From Pandemic Teaching Into The New Normal - UPCOMING

About the speakers:

Kaitlynn Arnholt, MA, MSc
Business Development Manager
Chemistry Education
ADInstruments

Before working at ADInstruments, Kaitlynn taught college-level chemistry labs and STEM courses at the high-school level. She is passionate about helping students connect theory and practice through hands-on data collection and analysis. She enjoys playing board and card games with her family when she's not busy working.

Elaine Nam, PhD
Director of Chemistry
Technical Support / R&D
Vernier® Science Education

Elaine is the Director of Chemistry at Vernier® Science Education and works closely with her team to provide support to educators through developing hardware, software, and curriculum. She earned her B.A. in Chemistry from Pomona College, her M.S. in Chemistry from San Francisco State, and her PhD in Chemistry from the University of Washington.