Chemistry Department

UMass Boston

*This is Your Brain on Civically-Engaged Chemistry

*Course Description

Freshman Seminar for Chemistry Majors*Introduces students to the college experience

*Fosters interest in chemistry and how to learn chemistry successfully

*Integrating theme: the science of learning as applied to chemistry

*Focuses on chemistry-specific learning and strategic use of academic resources

*Involves freshmen in assisting in K-12 science classrooms and chemistry education outreach activities as medium for learning about learning chemistry

*Project Team

Members of the Project Team**Hannah Sevian, Associate Professor, Department of

Chemistry

*Robert Carter, Chair, Department of Chemistry

*Steven Cullipher, Ph.D. Student, Department of Chemistry

*Corey Pasakarnis, Senior majoring in Chemistry, Peer Mentor in Freshman Success Community

*Kris Grymonpre, 8th Grade Science Teacher, Dever-McCormack K-8 School, Boston Public Schools

*Additional support ($500) for the teacher and school is provided by the American Chemical Society’s Science Coaches Program (www.acs.org/sciencecoaches)

*Project Goals

Goals for Fall 2013

*Establish a mutually beneficial yearlong partnership with a school in Boston, and develop collaborative relationship with at least one science teacher in the school

*Foster investment by freshman seminar students in community activity to help kids learn chemistry

*Identify engaging ways to involve freshman seminar students in learning about relationships between effective teaching and productive learning of science and chemistry

My Current Ideas on Learning Outcomes for this Course

*Students can identify elements of good science teaching and relationships to their own productive learning

*Students pay attention to strategic approaches to practicing chemistry

*Students are aware of the principal pursuits of the discipline of chemistry and recognize relationships between what they are learning and those pursuits

*Students see chemistry as having social, political, economic and political benefits and costs, and develop personal identity within the discipline of chemistry that includes this core idea

*Possible Learning Outcomes

*What I want from CESI

My Hopes for these Workshops

*Get to know colleagues at UMass Boston with similar values/interests and develop a support network

*Learn about private/foundation funding opportunities for school-community partnership science-focused projects