A Series of Workshops in the Chemical Sciences

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This project is a further extension and enhancement of the ongoing workshops organized and supported by the Center for Workshops in the Chemical Sciences (CWCS). The CWCS is conducting a series of workshops with the goal of improving education in the chemical sciences, broadly defined. The target audience for these activities is faculty involved primarily in undergraduate education. A vigorous recruitment program emphasizes reaching underrepresented groups. To maximize attendance, diversity in workshop intellectual content is complemented by geographically diverse workshop sites. The Center has established a consortium of 13 institutions to host 7 five-day workshops each year. These workshops provide faculty with resources and perspectives to enhance their teaching. The goals of the program are to augment and upgrade knowledge, integrate chemistry and biochemistry with other disciplines, illustrate emerging fields derived from research, and develop approaches to integrate workshop materials into the undergraduate curriculum. To meet these goals, each workshop consists of five days of faculty development, including extensive hands-on activities. The Program is serving over 500 faculty participants and is contributing to a network of chemistry instructors who are using workshop materials to teach over 200,000 students. The impact of the CWCS Program on the instructional activities of workshop participants is being rigorously evaluated and extends to an assessment of the impact of the workshop program on learning at the individual student level. An Advisory Committee provides feedback on Program activities.Utilizing previous CWCS workshop participants in addition to those attending currently scheduled workshops, the CWCS Program is developing a Community of Scholars who share their instructional and research experiences, aspirations, and fund raising efforts derived from workshop activities with the goal of further enhancing instruction in the chemical sciences. Interaction between workshop participants and between participants and instructors is facilitated via an on-line discussion forum, web casting, and by symposia at professional society meetings. This Community functions at the local, regional, and national level; it is designed to be self-perpetuating and to persist beyond the life of the CWCS Program. Information on the Center is available at http://chemistry.gsu.edu/cwcs.