Wednesday, 12 July 11:00am – 12:00pm

This seminar will be delivered in Chemistry Lecture Theatre 4 and Online (Zoom) Please email chemistry.researchsupport@sydney.edu.au for zoom link and password.

Speaker: Dr Linnea Soler, University of Glasgow

Host: Dr Shane Wilkinson

Title: Journeys in Creative Pedagogies for Active Learning in Chemistry

Abstract: Enhancing the student learning experience is vital for the student, the educator, and the institution.  Active learning seeks to enable learner to engage more deeply with the course material in the discipline, to learn more effectively, to perform better in assessment, and to develop more fully as critical thinkers. There are many different approaches and success requires a continuous cycle of trial and refinement, through reflective practice and evaluation.  It seems a daunting task to embed this into the already brimming demands of the academic workload, especially when it can be a bit frightening to try something new that may lie outwith the comfort zone of traditional teaching and learning practices.

By sharing my journeys (warts and all) of using creative pedagogies for active learning to support our chemistry students, I hope to demonstrate show that this is actually a rewarding and enjoyable endeavour with a positive impact for the chemistry student learning experience, as well as a route to academic outputs in SoTL (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning)  and DBER (Discipline Based Education Research)/ChemEd.

Topics will include how I used POGIL (Process Orientated Guided Independent Learning) to create games-based workshops (linking analytical chemistry with topics in Heritage Science and Archaeology) in order to support problem-solving skills for the identification of unknown compound, as well as my adventures in the creation of a variety of interactive e-learning resources intended to support lab learning, analytical skills, and the transition into higher education chemistry labs.  While my work is focussed on chemistry, these approaches translate well into other disciplines.

Bring your laptop with you so that you can explore and play with some of these resources too.

Bio: Linnea is a Senior Lecturer in Organic Chemistry at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK. She is a  Learning, Teaching & Scholarship  academic, where SoTL (Scholarship of Teaching & Learning) plays an important role and underpins both her teaching practice and the development of L&T resources. She has both independent and collaborative SoTL and ChemEd projects, with colleagues in Chemistry and from Engineering, Life Sciences, Social Sciences, and the Arts.

Her interests include the creation of chemistry education resources, often in partnership with final year chemistry undergraduate project students, for use in HE and in secondary school environments. She firmly believes in power of fun and in and the power of technology to make learning more engaging, interactive, and powerful. The need to support student transition into HE and to help foster a sense of belonging is factored into resource design. Linnea is enthralled with Heritage Science chemistry and with the use of technology and creative multimedia approaches to enhance the learning, assessment, and feedback in chemistry labs as well as the need to create fresh new approaches to lab learning.  Linnea has established the ChAMPS (Chemistry Analytical Methods, Practice & Scholarship) collaboration to generate a library of resources intended to support all levels of learners in Analytical methods.

Linnea was awarded the University of Glasgow “Teaching Excellence Award” (University-Level) for sustained and impactful contribution to T&L. She has also been nominated by the student body, and short-listed for the “Best Teacher in College of Science & Engineering” and for the “Best Practice in Online Learning (University-wide)” and for the “Best Adviser of Studies” awards.