Abstract:
Teaching introductory chemistry is a challenge – handing large enrollments, acknowledging our diverse population, closing gaps in incoming knowledge, and having desire to support students who are struggling while inspiring those who are thriving has meant that the First Year Chemistry Program at Dalhousie University has had to evolve. With an emphasis on developing an “accessible” course (one of the foundational pillars of many Equity, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives), we have shifted from a traditional style-lecture based course to an intentionally hy-flex model, allowing students to choose the best mode of delivery of the course that works for them, their learning preferences and their out-of-class life commitments. This so called “Choose your own Adventure” class leans heavily on evidence backed pedagogies including Universal Design for Learning, flipped Learning, “ungrading” practices (specifically specifications grading), gamification/game-based learning and Bloom’s model of skills mastery. In this talk, I hope to provide a rationale for why our course has progressed in this way, how it was developed and give a candid snapshot of the challenges that have been faced and how this journey in course development is intertwined in my our journey of self discovery and evolution as an educator.
Bio:
Angela Crane received her BSc in Chemistry and Applied Mathematics (Honours) from Memorial University followed by a PhD in Materials Chemistry from the University of British Columbia. Her interest in chemical education began long before her time at university, as she was always working towards her goal of becoming an educator. Crane’s first position as a primary instructor began in September 2016 when she joined Dalhousie University as the First Year Program Coordinator of the “Concepts in Chemistry” courses, which sees enrollment of ~1500 students per year in a multi-section, team-taught structure. Within 7 years, Crane was promoted to the rank of University Teaching Fellow – the highest rank for a teaching focused faculty member at Dalhousie – and was awarded 4 separate Dalhousie University-wide Legacy Teaching awards, the Dalhousie Faculty of Science Award for Teaching Excellence and a STLHE D2L Innovation Award for her teaching innovations. Crane believes all students belong in chemistry, and thus her teaching practices are heavily influenced by evidence-based accessible teaching strategies, including Universal Design for Learning, flipped delivery of a large enrollment classrooms, game-based learning and gamification of a course, and what she likes to call a “choose your own adventure” approach to hybrid/flexible learning.