The CLC Innovators Program provides an opportunity for a team of curriculum developers to come together and develop an institutionally contextualized inquiry-based chemistry laboratory experience while also gaining valuable insights into best practices in curricular reform. They will then implement the laboratory at their institution and collect student learning data on its effectiveness with the intention of sharing the experience with the wider chemistry community. Thus, the team will join a community of practice centered around broadening instructional innovation in the chemistry laboratory. Through ongoing support, community members will be well-positioned to become agents of change within the broader chemistry community.
Additionally, the project's leadership will collect data (surveys, interviews, and laboratory artifacts) on how the CLC Innovators Program impacts the knowledge and practices of it's participants (the chemistry laboratory curriculum developers and their students' experiences). Therefore, the goals of this community transformation program are to broaden both: (a) the community of laboratory educators that use evidence-based practices and (b) the field’s understanding of the factors that impact chemistry laboratory curricular reform.
March - June
Teams will complete three assignments prior to their participation in the CLC Summer Institute. The intention of these assignments is to begin the process of designing the laboratory so that work at the Summer Institute is as efficient as possible.
July 21 - 26th
During the week-long Summer Institute, teams will: (a) learn about various evidence-based practices for instruction and curriculum design; (b) develop and troubleshoot their inquiry-based laboratory projects; and (c) come together as a community of practice. For detailed information about the Summer Institute, click here.
August - May
Teams will attend five virtual meetings in the year after the Summer Institute. Participants will complete assignments prior to these meetings that include reflections on their projects and a peer review of other institutional teams’ progress. These assignments will serve two purposes: (a) to help instructors reflect on their projects and receive feedback from their peers, and (b) to ensure the high quality of the newly developed materials prior to their publication and dissemination.
This project aims to characterize the landscape of thinking and practices of the laboratory curriculum developers and investigate the extent to which professional development (PD) impacts progressions in thinking and practices of the laboratory curriculum developers. Thus, PI Popova and her research team will collect the following data from program participants at various points throughout the year:
Pre-program survey and interview
Summer Institute
Mid-program survey and interview
Collection of lab artifacts
Instructor's reflection report on student learning
Post-program survey and interview