ServiceOutreach is important to teach members of our community about science
|
MentorshipDedicated to each student's success and future
|
ResearchBringing research into the classroom to bridge the gap between careers and lecture
|
GrowthImproving my teaching through workshops, courses, literature, and feedback
|
Teaching
Chemistry of Medicine
Chemistry of Medicine is part of the Summer Challenge Program to introduce high schoolers to a college environment. The class runs for two weeks, during which I lecture students about the chemistry behind pharmaceuticals and how it relates to medicine. As the lecturer of Chemistry of Medicine, I have learned to craft syllabi, organize course topics, establish learning goals and determine grading rubrics as well as develop lab experiments, lectures and course materials. An example of a lecture slide is shown on the right and examples of classroom activities are shown below. In the video, hear me explain what the program entails and how we educate high schoolers at a college level.
|
Classroom Activities
Drug Discovery Game
Students learn about the Drug Discovery Process from hit to FDA applications through an interactive game. First, students are told that they each are a company looking for a drug for Alzheimer's disease. The students design a molecule that they will take through the drug discovery process. The lecturer hands out cards each round telling the student whether they are still in the process or if they are rejected and why. It ends when the final student left selects either the FDA approval or denial card out of an envelope. This helps students see the effort and resources that go into getting a drug to market. |
Illustrating Medicinal Chemistry
By Brian F. McGuinness & J. Robert Merritt Students first learn about functional groups and how they interact with binding sites. Adapted from the developed demonstration, students work in groups and are given a set dollar amount ($5,000) to start. The students then arrange the functional groups and ask the lecturer if they are correct, which costs them $1,000. The lecturer can tell them (a) how many are right (b) how many are in the right place. Students attempt to produce the correct drug structure before they run out of money. Students learn about: medicinal chemistry workflow using trial and error and structure-activity relationships (SAR). The demo illustrates how vast chemical space is and that drug discovery research requires a significant investment |
Infectious Diseases Activity
After learning about infectious diseases, students are split up into partners. One partner acts as a physician and the other acts as a patient who is exhibiting symptoms. The physician asks a number of questions in order to provide a diagnosis. After answering the questions, the students walk around to stations where there are different placards containing information about the diseases, their symptoms, and possible treatments. After reading about the different infectious diseases, students determine which the patient is suffering from and what treatment you would suggest for them. This is a great activity to showcase how medicine and chemistry intertwine. |
Organic Chemistry
I have taught both intensive and regular level organic chemistry. I have worked with both laboratory sections and lecture sections in a variety of class sizes from 8 to 260 students. I have implemented cooperative learning in the classroom using Flick-to-Share in the Chem Draw App for small group work and in-lecture problems to help engage students. I also utilized active learning strategies, such as think-pair-share, and supplemented course material with focused problem sets. I also aided students with developing self-driven capstone projects and helped judge a poster presentation with students sharing their scientific work. Below are samples of some problems that I have students work on during discussion. I try to get students to have a more in depth understanding of reactions, as well as, expose them to how what they are learning relates to organic chemistry research and to everyday life.
Interdisciplinary Science Experience II
Helped with the execution of an interdisciplinary course modeled after a drug discovery effort towards a therapeutic for Alzheimer's disease through both the Organic Chemistry and Cell Biology laboratory classes. As in a research group, we have weekly group meetings to discuss results and determine future plans. Students are first introduced to our target molecule, curcumin, and its' potential therapeutic effects. Students first isolate curcumin from turmeric and perform biological validation studies with pure curcumin. Throughout the course students learn organic reactions and laboratory skills through the synthesis and purification of analogs. Concurrently, students run experiments to explore whether the analogs are biologically active. At the end of the course, students propose and design their own two-week capstone project to synthesize analogs of interest. Shown to the right are different analogs that we have synthesized, as well as, biological data that students collected. I am currently the lab coordinator for this course and am currently focusing on tailoring the course material to focus on reactions they are learning in class to developing new analogs. This way students can see how the concepts they are learning in class relate to their experiments.
General Chemistry |
When teaching general chemistry it is important to emphasize important concepts that will be revisited in other courses. Below are some ways that I have helped students in discussion. For help with topics, I made reference materials to help them understand confusing concepts. To practice for the exam, I set-up a game of Jeopardy for the students to work in teams.
Experiment Development
Historically organic chemistry laboratory has been taught using well-established experiments, however this results in "cookbook verification" methods of assessment that are often irrelevant to course material and uninteresting to students. To increase student engagement I developed a flow reaction for synthesizing pyrroles. This method teaches students valuable laboratory skills, such as extraction and evaporating solvents, while additionally exposing them to cutting edge research by using flow chemistry. Most students that are in the CH214 Organic Chemistry are pre-med students who are interested in taking a more demanding laboratory section. Therefore to make the lab relevant, I decided to use a pharmaceutical approach to show how chemistry relates to medicine. Overall, students found the experiment interesting and enjoyed that it closely resembled chemistry research. Students also were excited about the biological connection and didn't find the flow set-up to be challenging to use.
Service, Outreach, and Mentorship
I highly value mentorship and have mentored a number of students including high schoolers, visiting REUs, and undergraduates in research. As a past leader of Boston University Women in Chemistry and a first-generation college student, I also value outreach to the community and being a role model for women and high school students interested in pursuing STEM fields, participating in and organizing outreach programs. It is important to educate the community on how chemistry impacts their lives and I have done this in multiple ways including demonstrations, lab activities, and decorating a piano at the Museum of Science. Currently I help coordinate BU's REU program in chemistry offered to college students from a variety of colleges from around the country.
Chemistry DayHigh school students from local Boston schools come in to learn about chemistry. They run experiments, tour labs, and observed demos.
|
ResearchMentored a numbered of students in research and helped them learn research skills. Helped coordinate the Vertex Research Program and served as a non-research mentor for two female high school students.
|
Lab ActivitiesPlanned and executed lab activities for high school students through multiple programs including Upward Bound and Summer Pathways. Coordinated a Forensics Day for multi-age girl scouts to obtain their CSI Badge.
|
DemonstrationsI have done demonstrations at many schools (K-12) to educate students on topics such as exothermic reactions and polymers.
|
Play Me I'm YoursMy lab also participated in the Play Me I'm Yours Piano Project. We decorated a piano with ways in which chemistry impacts our everyday life and the piano was displayed at the Museum of Science. Check out an article detailing the experience:
|
Chemistry CostumesChemistry can sometimes be hard to understand without 3-D models. One year we wanted to show how Xanax (an anti-anxiety benzodiazepine) works in the body. Here you see Xanax bind to the GABA receptor modulating its' activity and releasing more chlorine atoms. Check out an article featuring our chemistry costumes:
|