Report from Washington DC workshop

From June 22 – 25 of this year the cCWCS sponsored its third Active Learning in Organic Chemistry mini-workshop at the Holiday Inn near Dulles Airport, just outside the nation’s capital.  As in previous years this workshop hosted 25 instructors of organic chemistry from different 2 and 4 year institutions from around the country.  The participants this year were given hands-on exposure to various pedagogical strategies, e.g., video lectures, Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) and Peer-to-Peer learning, and the support technologies, e.g., screen capture, iPads, Doceri, Explain Everything, clickers, and Livescribe Pens, that will allow them to implement a “flipped” classroom and bring the excitement of active learning to their students. 

New to the workshop this year was a discussion and activities in backward design and assessments. Participants applied these critically important concepts to the development of learning objectives and assessment items for the reactions of aldehydes and ketones.

Finally, the workshop closed on Thursday morning with a Skype presentation from Langdon Martin (former participant, Charlotte, NC, 2013) to share with the audience his experiences with incorporating active learning into his classroom.