Beverly will share her journey from lecture-driven to student-centered, explaining the specific ways she has adjusted her approach to engage students age 18-50+. She's been surprised to note that the very same pedagogical tactics that seem best for younger learners have had a measurable impact on her students.
University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville
Addie has infused her course with a wide array of answers to the persistent student question: "Why do we have to learn this?" In this webinar she will explain how she fills her assignments with real world context problems and projects, and incites interest in the subject through gamification and career information.
Oregon Institute of Technology
More about Beverly and this Webinar
Beverly Meinzer, two-time winner of UACCB’s Student’s Choice Outstanding Educator Award, Passport State facilitator for Arkansas (national program supporting students in transferring from two-year to four-year schools), has gathered qualitative and quantitative data showing the impact of her philosophical shifts in teaching.
These shifts include recognizing students’ needs for more affordable course materials, friendly connections with teachers, positive reinforcement for their efforts, and empathy for the challenges they face outside the classroom. Shifts also include an effort to motivate students to do the hard work required to meet rigorous standards through gamification, explicit connections to chemistry careers, and mobile-friendly educational technology that scaffolds student learning as they work through problems and questions. As Meinzer stepped down from the stage to walk among students (projecting from a tablet instead of the podium), her class came alive. Students took to the whiteboard in her stead, exploring complex problems with peers. As she made learning increasingly accessible through recorded class sessions and office hours in larger classrooms at various times of day/evening, she engaged the students who previously struggled to meet within the schedule. This session describes these and many more specific, practical, do-able approaches that evolve your teaching practices to meet students where they are, and raise the bar on achievement and joy.
More about Addie and this Webinar
Adelaide “Addie” Clark, recognized as 2019 Oregon Education Resources (OER) champion by Open Oregon, balances her focus on research and education, continually iterating on both and sharing her findings.
Since General Chemistry is a course required by a wide variety of majors – from pre-med to various engineering majors, as well as other natural sciences (Biology, Environmental Science, etc) – students frequently do not understand why they are being asked to complete this course work. Addie has designed activities for the General Chemistry I and General Chemistry II classroom that try to help answer that frequently asked question: “Why is chemistry important to my future career outside of chemistry?” These activities incorporated a variety of student work from traditional worksheets to electronic assignments, student presentations, “escape rooms”, 3D printed models, and pop-science concepts, while also addressing real world medical, engineering, and environmental problems. Some applicable topics presented will include dimensional analysis, molar mass, gas laws, thermochemistry, solubility, enthalpy of bonds breaking/forming. Many of the custom-built activities and assessments will be shared as open educational resources.
Professors from over 600 colleges and universities pick Aktiv Chemistry to rev up engagement and improve learning outcomes.
One of our Learning Specialists will give you a tour of the Aktiv Chemistry learning platforms and provide a free instructor playground account with access to the content library.
One of our Learning Specialists will give you a tour of the Aktiv Chemistry or Aktiv Mathematics learning platforms and provide a free instructor playground account with access to the content library.