This paper describes the development and implementation of GAPc, a gamification project in chemistry. GAPc is an online active student-centered remedial teaching tool allowing prospective and enrolled students to electronically assess their knowledge of basic and advanced chemistry concepts via different game levels of expertise. This provides…

Previously the authors have reported on the merits of involving student teachers in school-based curriculum development projects (McCullagh and Doherty, 2018; Earle and McCullagh 2020; McCullagh and Doherty 2021). These projects have involved up to 20 primary science specialist student teachers planning and teaching lessons in a small number of…

The Chemistry Teaching Fellowship Program (CTFP) is offered to graduate students and postdoctoral researchers at the University of Toronto as an opportunity to undertake curriculum development and chemistry education research. Projects are run with faculty supervision and focus on designing new laboratory activities, lectures, tutorials,…

A service-learning project was completed in both a senior and sophomore-level analytical chemistry course. Both projects took place at a local wetland managed by a nonprofit volunteer group. The two classes performed an in-depth water quality analysis and soil/sediment extractions examining the spatial variation of nutrients. The senior-level…

Within recent history, both science research and science education have been largely reductionist in perspective. While the reductionist approach has resulted in a significant increase in our knowledge of the natural world and in great technological advances, it is not sufficient for addressing global world challenges, such as sustainability,…

Numerous studies illustrate the value of simulations or project-based learning approaches to enhance the learning of science. Simulations can help students connect across macroscopic, microscopic, and symbolic representations of scientific phenomena, while project-based learning can provide a meaningful narrative and activities for students to…

We present the results of having applied a set of options in thermodynamics courses for encouraging a strong student in-class participation and engagement. Strong emphasis is given to planned ahead in-class student Q&As encompassing both thermodynamics and statistical mechanics and supplemented with take-home extra syllabus reading.…

Introductory science courses serve a population of students in the major (i.e., chemistry) as well as those students outside the discipline (i.e., premed, biology, engineering). In an effort to help this diverse population of students connect personally with the content of the course, we sought ways to include student-centered activities, provide…

This perspective paper analyses the possibilities and challenges of using cheminformatics as a context for STEM education. The objective is to produce theoretical insights through a SWOT analysis of an authentic educational cheminformatics project where future chemistry teachers engineered a physical 3D model using cheminformatics software and a…

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted chemistry teaching practices globally as many courses were forced online, necessitating adaptation to the digital platform. The biggest impact was to the practical component of the chemistry curriculum--the so-called wet lab. Naively, it would be thought that computer-based teaching laboratories would have little…

This paper discusses laboratory activities that can improve the meaningfulness of natural product chemistry course. These laboratory activities can be useful for students from many different disciplines including chemistry, pharmacy, and medicine. Students at the third-year undergraduate level of chemistry education undertake the project to…

This paper reports on the initial outcomes from the end of the fourth year of a 5 year research and professional development project to improve chemistry teaching among three cohorts of chemistry teachers in Manitoba, Canada. The project responds to a new curriculum introduction advocating a tetrahedral orientation (Mahaffy, "Journal of…

The Spring 2020 semester will be marked in our history as one of the most challenging semesters for higher education, although through the adversity, we were presented with opportunities for classroom innovation. A reflective account of the teaching insights gained from implementing a COVID-19 miniunit and utilizing remote oral examinations is…

The flow of materials and energy through society is an integral but poorly visible element of global sustainability agendas such as the Planetary Boundaries Framework and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG). Given that the primary activities of chemistry are to analyze, synthesize, and transform matter, the practice of chemistry has a…

The MicRoboCop project introduces chemistry students to the concepts and protocols of synthetic biology. MicRoboCop is a biosensor that has been designed for unique applications in forensic chemistry. The lab is carried out in collaboration with an instructor teaching a genetics course. Students in the biology course synthesize biosensors using…