To view a recording of this talk, click HERE.

Abstract:

As educators in our discipline tackles old critiques and new challenges in a post-COVID educational landscape, society needs in the next generation of scientists and engineers to apply their knowledge to complex, systems-level problems. To best position ourselves to tackle these challenges (and equip our students to tackle complex sustainability issues), chemistry education research can be leveraged to design, evaluate, and innovate in our learning environments and curricula.

This talk discusses applying a situative, socio-cognitive lens and the three-dimensional learning (3DL) framework to tasks embedded within a second-year organic chemistry laboratory course to engage students in green chemistry decision-making and systems thinking. The Design-Based Research cycle is used to refine curricular materials yields evidence about “what works” in situated contexts to promote specific performances of complex tasks.