What’s Up With CHEM 125?FAQ

Who is a scientist and how does science work?

What do these images have in common?

A more realistic view

Structural Basis for Efficient Chromophore Communication and Energy Transfer in a Constructed Didomain Protein ScaffoldJames A. J. Arpino, Honorata Czapinska, Anna Piasecka, Wayne R. Edwards, Paul Barker, Michal J. Gajda, Matthias Bochtler, and D. Dafydd Jonespp 13632–13640

Stable Alkanes Containing Very Long Carbon–Carbon BondsAndrey A. Fokin, Lesya V. Chernish, Pavel A. Gunchenko, Evgeniya Yu. Tikhonchuk, Heike Hausmann, Michael Serafin, Jeremy E. P. Dahl, Robert M. K. Carlson, and Peter R. Schreinerpp 13641–13650

A Mononuclear Fe(III) Single Molecule Magnet with a 3/2↔5/2 Spin CrossoverSusanne Mossin, Ba L. Tran, Debashis Adhikari, Maren Pink, Frank W. Heinemann, Jörg Sutter, Robert K. Szilagyi, Karsten Meyer, and Daniel J. Mindiolapp 13651–13661

Second-Generation Covalent TMP-Tag for Live Cell ImagingZhixing Chen, Chaoran Jing, Sarah S. Gallagher, Michael P. Sheetz, and Virginia W. Cornish pp 13692–13699

What’s the point?Science needs people who can:

work in diverse groups on interdisciplinary problems

Why Not Lecture and Exams?Lecture is passive

watching someone do something is not the best way to learn Does watching World Cup Soccer make you a

soccer player? Does listening to music make you a musician? What works?

How does?

How does?

Practice

We learn by mistakes but it is not always pleasant

How do we practice? “Flipping the class.”

Traditional Class Come to class, listen to lecture on the topic of the day, take

notes. After class, work on homework problems. Next day, new topic Repeat

Active Class Before class, read about topic of the day and work a few

simple problems In class, practice on more sophisticated problems with

support of a team and an expert (me). Reinforce with homework Next day, new topic, but periodically integrate old knowledge

into new knowledge.

Why do we do this?Most experts in the educational process say

that we construct our own knowledge.

Active learning allows this construction to happen in class, with support from team members and instructor.

Why teamwork?Collective IQ is higher in groups!

Research at Carnegie Mellon University collaborative groups more efficient at

completing tasks (and produced better results) than groups dominated by individual.

Two studies with 699 participants Groups develop collective intelligence

“C factor” strongly correlated with interactions in the group

Groups can solve harder and more interesting problems

Woolley, Science, October 2010

Why teamwork?Employers want employees with teamwork

skills. 70 biotech companies in MN surveyed for top

characteristics wanted in employees Top 16 characteristics:

Why teamwork?Teams perform better than individuals

Death rates in hospitals and on airlines Recent study in VA hospitals indicates that

surgical teams trained in teamwork had 20% fewer deaths

JAMA, 2010, 304(15), 1693-1700 70% of airline accidents and incidents over the

past 20 years related to crew communication, workload management and decision-making skills

Why do we do multi-topic problems from the workbook?Science is interdisciplinary.

Emerging fields arising at the boundaries of several disciplines.

Must consider issues from a variety of knowledge bases.

Workbook problems allow practice in the process of solving a problem. Scientific issues change but a foundation in the

process of problem solving (instead of getting the right answer to a particular question) will prepare you to be a 21st century scientist.

What do the experts say?Dr. Joseph Francisco, former chair of the

American Chemical Society in a presentation in August.

The Increasing Multidisciplinary Nature of ChemistryCurricula must challenge students to solve

problems such as Environmental issues Energy Materials Catalysis Drug discovery and synthesis Nanoscience

All of these require a multidisciplinary perspective.

The Increasing Multidisciplinary Nature of ChemistryWhat tools should students have?

Expertise in a domain of knowledge Breadth of knowledge Problem-solving skills The ability to find and define new problems Teamwork experience Communication skills Confidence, independence Creativity Ability to work across cultures

TeamworkA good team member is

present at all meetings prepared for the topic a good communicator is willing to listen to teammates is an active participant, contributing ideas able to resolve differences of opinion