Speakers for AI in Chemistry Education:
Dr. Rashmi Venkateswaran, University of Ottawa
Bio: Dr. Rashmi Venkateswaran obtained her B.Sc. Honours in Physical Chemistry at Carleton University and continued on to obtain her Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry, with a specialization in Gas Kinetics, at the University of Ottawa. After one-year teaching at a magnet school in Charleston, South Carolina in the US, she returned to Canada where she was offered a position as Senior Instructor and the First-Year Undergraduate Chemistry Teaching Laboratory Coordinator, a position she has occupied for 30 years. She has continually researched chemical pedagogy during this time, trying different methods to ensure that her many students are able to learn and remember basic chemical concepts and relate them to their daily lives, and she has presented her work at many conferences, including the CSC and Pacifichem. She is currently engaged in a long-term study on metacognition related to student learning of chemistry, with the goal of helping students to determine how they have been learning and to self-determine how they may improve their own study habits to ensure that they successfully achieve their goals in chemistry and in their other courses. Rashmi is co-author of three editions of the Canadian Introductory General Chemistry textbook by Silberberg. In addition to chemistry, Rashmi is a professional south-Indian classical vocalist and has performed all over the world.
Dr. Jason Pearson, University of PEI
Bio: Jason Pearson is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Prince Edward Island, where he leads an interdisciplinary research group in computational methods for chemistry, spanning quantum chemistry, electronic structure theory, and artificial intelligence for molecular discovery. He is also a co-founder of Stemble Learning, a data-driven teaching and learning platform designed for chemistry classes and laboratories.
Stemble delivers course content and learning analytics to over 30,000 students each semester across North America. These include automated assessments driven by artificial intelligence, and fully interactive virtual lab experiences.
Prof. Pearson is the winner of numerous SoTL awards including the Reg Friesen Award from the Chemical Education Division of the Canadian Society for Chemistry, The Hessian Award, The Janet Pottie Murray Award for Educational Leadership, and the Brightspace Award for Innovation in Teaching and Learning from the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.