A celebration of the accomplishments of
the Purdue University Chemistry Department’s
Division of Chemical Education

    In 1984 George Bodner and Dudley Herron published a paper titled Completing the Program with a Division of Chemical Education.  In it they described the formation of the Division of Chemical Education at Purdue University in 1982 and the challenges facing the Division. They noted:

    "In creating a division of chemical education, the chemistry department showed a certain amount of faith that chemical education is an area of scholarship worthy of the status afforded established branches of chemistry. Simultaneously, it placed upon members of the new division the burden of proving that this faith was deserved."

    "Only time will reveal whether what we have done represents a significant step in the growth and development of chemical education or merely an unimportant administrative reorganization in a single institution."

    We planned this symposium to celebrate the accomplishments of the Division, and thereby demonstrate that the faith our colleagues placed in the Division was justified. 

    Please let us know if you plan to attend or present a poster: Registration Form

Symposium Speakers

    Melanie Cooper is the Alumni Distinguished Professor of Chemistry in the Clemson chemistry department. Her appointment in 1987 was ground-breaking in that it was one of the first tenure track appointments in chemistry education in a chemistry department. Her research has focused on methods to assess and improve students’ conceptual understanding, metacognitive activity, and problem solving abilities and strategies. Dr. Cooper is a Fellow of the AAAS and has received several awards for excellence in teaching. She received the Robert S. Campbell Award for Communication Across the Curriculum and was named a Fellow of the ACS.  She is the recent winner of the Society for College Science Teachers Outstanding Undergraduate Science Teacher Award. She has also held a number of elected positions within ACS and was the Chair of the Division of Chemical Education. Since 2008, she has served as the interim chair of the Department of Science and Engineering Education.

    MaryKay Orgill is an associate professor of chemistry at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she uses qualitative research techniques to examine how both students and faculty understand, perceive, and visualize different concepts in chemistry and biochemistry. She is a co-editor of Theoretical Frameworks for Research in Chemistry/Science Education (Pearson Education, 2007) and is the recipient of several teaching awards, including the UNLV Foundation Distinguished Teaching Award. Orgill is a graduate of our Chemical Education program.

    Tina Overton is Professor of Chemistry Education at the University of Hull, UK. She worked in industry and the NHS before entering academia. She has published on the topics of critical thinking, context and problem based learning, problem solving and has co-authored several textbooks. She has been awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry’s HE Teaching Award, Tertiary Education Award, Nyholm Prize and is a National Teaching Fellow and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

    Norbert Pienta is professor and director of undergraduate studies in the department of chemistry at the University of Iowa. His first academic appointment was at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, where he earned tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor conducting research in physical organic chemistry.  He shifted his efforts to chemical education, when he moved UNC, Chapel Hill, where he served as Director of Laboratories, developing laboratory materials and curricula for all undergraduate laboratory courses.  In 1999, he joined the faculty at the University of Iowa, conducting research and scholarship in chemical education, and was promoted to Professor in 2008.  He assumed the role as the ninth Editor of the Journal of Chemical Education in September 2009, simultaneously beginning co-publication of the Journal with the Publications Division of the American Chemical Society.

30th Anniversary
Symposium Program

April 16, 2011
Wetherill Laboratory, Room 104
(WTHR 104)

9:00 – 9:30
George Bodner
Purdue’s Division of
Chemical Education at 30

9:30 - 10:20
Tina Overton
'Problem solving: does one size fit all?'

10:20 – 11:00
Break

11:00 - 11:50
MaryKay Orgill
Defining a “big idea” in nanoscience:
Researchers’ responses to visual
representations of self-assembly

11:50 – 1:30
Lunch on your own

1:30 – 2:20
Norbert Pienta
The Journal of Chemical Education:
Print journalism in an electronic world

2:30 – 3:20
Melanie Cooper
Investigating the Development of
Representational Competence

3:20 – 4:30
Coffee & Posters

For additional information,
contact Bill Robinson.
wrrobin@purdue.edu