DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY | FALL 2021 | 9
“What I really liked, what I thought was fun … really fun, was calculating the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons and the atomic mass.” —Aidan, 4th grade student, Tucson, AZ public school The first four mysteries were piloted with a group of students ages 8–10. Colleen instructed parents to be ‘hands off’ and allow their children to read the mysteries much like they would read any comic book. “I didn’t want the comic books to be thought of as homework or something that would be graded. Instead, I wanted to see what each child could learn just by enjoying the mystery and the characters within the stories.” What she found amazed her, and now she is convinced that there is something there. “I met by Zoom with the students individually just to chat about each mystery. They would tell me how to calculate the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons in an atom, how to write a formula for a complex ionic compound, and how the structure of the atom is ‘cloud-like’. More importantly, they would tell me that all of this was ‘fun, really fun’.” Watch a video of students: bitly/ ChemistryComics
What’s next for the M.C. Detective Agency? “We are in the process of analyzing and coding these Zoom videos as preliminary data to support submission of a grant proposal. I am excited about the possibility of changing chemistry education by the introduction of chemical symbols to early eager learners ages 8–12!”
NEW COURSE FOR ALLIED HEALTH
A
llied health careers are increasingly in demand, as environmental and health crises continue to escalate. Working with the College of Nursing and College of Public Health, CBC has developed a new course for incoming students designed specifically to address this need. The one-semester course, CHEM 130, explores the foundational principles of general and organic chemistry and applies them to key aspects of biochemistry. Special emphasis is placed on common compounds and chemical reactions occurring in our bodies, including what happens to food and medications we ingest, as well as chemistry of the environment. To Dr. Laura Van Dorn, one of the most rewarding facets of creating the new course—now in its first semester—was getting to work with so many great professionals both within and outside of CBC. Aiming to meet the diverse needs of our students, the course is offered in two equivalent but distinct modalities: traditional (in-person) and asynchronous (online). Dr. Colleen Kelley has developed a lab course (CHEM 130L) to accompany the course. The online materials required Laura to record her chemistry demonstrations, turning them into videos. This effort, as well as the creation of the instructional Visit CHEM 130 website, was supported on YouTube: by Arizona Online and UA bit/ly/CHEM130 Digitial Learning Studios. Laura also collaborated with Manda Ellis, a former student and now a naturopathic medical student, to develop the pedagogical connections between what students see in the chemistry demon-
Photo credit: Andrei Sanov
time that they are introduced to musical symbols, learning music, or learning basic math symbols, like the division symbol. Chemistry can be thought of as the same as learning music—the symbols tell a story and it takes time to understand, get comfortable, and to use the symbols to tell that story.”
Laura Van Dorn
strations and the real chemical and biochemical processes occurring in the human body. The past year has been a gold mine for chemistry in the news. Everything from contamination in hand sanitizer, sunscreen, and baby food to advances in enzymes and plastic recycling—it is all great material for CHEM 130. Laura’s instructional approach allowed her to design activities based on her experience with first-year students in chemistry classes. As is true for many young people today, our students experience a lot of anxiety trying to be perfect as they are afraid to make even simple mistakes. CHEM 130 provides opportunities to try challenging problems with the explicitly stated understanding that if students don’t get the correct answer the first time, it is not the end of the world and does not mean they cannot understand the concept. Helping students recognize that they are smart and capable increases their abilities and performance. After all, making mistakes is an integral part of learning and progress. So far, CHEM 130 is going extremely well. The two in-person sections are very engaged, the students ask great questions and participate in the active learning. “This is a very rewarding experience for me as their teacher, even though I cannot recognize many of them on the street due to the masks in the classroom. It’s been a great experience!” says Laura. Next on the horizon, Pima Community College will be structuring their CHM 138 courses to align with CHEM 130, and Laura will be offering the online course with UA Global and developing the course as a General Education offering.
