Chemical Education

Purdue University houses one of the few groups studying the factors that affect how students learn chemistry and how best to teach chemistry. Faculty members in our Division of Chemical Education are Professors Trevor Anderson, George Bodner, Mary B. Nakhleh, Marcy Towns, and Gabriela Weaver. These faculty and their graduate students in the division do basic research on questions such as:

• How do students learn chemistry?

• Why do students have difficulty learning chemistry?

• What can we do to facilitate the learning of chemistry?

Research

The faculty in chemical education have a wide range of research interests including student understanding of the particulate nature of matter, mathematics in physical chemistry, visualization of biomolecules, science literacy, climate literacy, student understanding of concepts in organic chemistry, and the goals of undergraduate laboratory. Transforming research findings into practices that impact educational environments connects our fundamental research to teaching methodologies. 

Upcoming Events in Chemical Education

Prof. Mary Nakhleh will be retiring at the end of the Spring 2012 semester. Please join us on Wednesday, May 2, 2012, from 3:00 - 4:30 PM in Wetherill, Room 201, to celebrate her career and retirement.