Are there new, improved ways to teach chemistry?
6/22/202637 min
What does it mean to teach chemistry like a scientist? In this BCCE Community Conversation preview, Melissa talks with chemistry education researcher Ellen Yezierski about scholarly teaching: making evidence-guided decisions about how we teach and how students learn. They discuss why content knowledge alone isn’t enough, how educators can improve their teaching without becoming full-time researchers, and why some of the best chemistry teaching ideas come from asking better questions about learning.
Important Links
Time Stamps
0:00 – Why Melissa loves BCCE and chemistry education 2:50 – Meet Ellen Yezierski and the idea of scholarly teaching 4:00 – Moving beyond intuition and using evidence to improve teaching 6:35 – What chemistry educators can learn from cognitive science and education research 8:30 – The biggest challenge: finding time to improve your teaching 11:00 – Why conferences and community matter for innovation 13:45 – Barriers to evidence-based teaching and the risk of changing what’s familiar 16:20 – Applying the same scientific scrutiny to old teaching methods 19:40 – A practical first step toward scholarly teaching 21:00 – Finding useful teaching research without getting overwhelmed 25:20 – Meet the panelists and the ideas they’ll bring to BCCE 29:10 – How the Community Conversation will work 32:35 – Why good teachers are made, not born 34:00 – Filling your teaching cup back up at BCCE
Support this podcast on Patreon
Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com
Watch our episodes on YouTube
Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
Hey, Ontario. Come on down to BetMGM Casino and see what our newest exclusive, The Price is Right Fortune Pick, has to offer. Don't miss out. Play exciting casino games based on the iconic game show only at BetMGM. Check out how we've reimagined three of the show's iconic games, like Plinko, Cliffhanger, and the Big Wheel, into fun casino game features. Don't forget to download the BetMGM Casino app for exclusive access and excitement on The Price is Right Fortune Pick. Pull up a seat and experience The Price is Right Fortune Pick, only available at BetMGM Casino. BetMGM and GameSense remind you to play responsibly. 19 plus to wager. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact ConnexOntario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario.
Melissa Collini· Host0:56
Hey, I'm Melissa, and Jam's not here today. Because this episode is part of a special series on chemistry education, it's part of a partnership we are doing with the Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, or BCCE. I love BCCE. It is my favorite chemistry conference. I look forward to it every two years, and I'm really excited about this partnership because you all know I love chemistry, but I also really love chemistry education and teaching chemistry. That's part of what I did my PhD research on, and it's something