More inclusive STEM industry grows out of meaningful relationships in education
A glimpse into the power of role models, mentors and champions in welcoming underrepresented groups into the chemical sciences.
Read More >>New Year, new leadership style in the chemical sciences
As COVID drags on, mining the movie Ground Hog Day for inspiration can be surprisingly productive. Read one chemist’s take on what he discovered.
Read More >>Pandemic teaching – take two
EDUCATION
With Canada in the midst of a second wave of COVID-19, faculty are breathing a sigh of relief that at least they won’t be asked to navigate a second sudden...
Read More >>Global pandemic spawns global classrooms
Like so many educators around the world, I’ve spent more time than usual this summer thinking about what September would bring. Unlike March 2020, when we were engaged in a...
Read More >>Pandemic pedagogy
EDUCATION
We live in an age of disruption. The sharing economy has likely changed your behaviour around booking hotels, riding in taxis, or ordering food. These massive transformations have been made...
Read More >>It’s not hard being green
CHEMISTRY FOR ENERGY & THE ENVIRONMENT
According to Andy Dicks, a Teaching Stream Professor at the University of Toronto, being green isn’t difficult. It’s being smart. Green chemistry is cheaper, principally from the perspective of environmental...
Read More >>Networking instrumentation for remote access
EDUCATION
When I was younger, I remember visiting a friend whose parents were talking about how their work environment was changing. Their office had only just started using a new form...
Read More >>Making new educational connections on line
EDUCATION
During my undergraduate degree at Simon Fraser University, I took Japanese as an elective. The course was offered as either an on-campus version or by distance education. That semester I...
Read More >>Thinking about thinking in chemistry
EDUCATION
Steve MacNeil has been thinking a lot about how his students are thinking about their thinking in chemistry. Yes, that’s right. The act of thinking or reflecting about one’s own ways of thinking...
Read More >>Transforming failure from a foe into friend
EDUCATION
The destroyer of dreams. That’s how I heard my peers describe organic chemistry, and the professor who taught it, when I was an undergraduate. I remember a student next to me during the final exam quietly sobbing.
Read More >>Opening up textbooks and students’ reading habits
EDUCATION
For several years, during my first lecture of each semester I would invite my general chemistry students to introduce themselves to their neighbours. They would share their name, intended major, and favourite genre for reading.
Read More >>Forging a successful graduate
EDUCATION
How do you take the measure of people and their training? It’s a question asked by employers as they sort through curriculum vitae seeking candidates who have the right skills...
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