WHAT DO WE DO?

We are a chemistry education research (CER) and education research group. We study learning in various settings and how we—as educators and learners—might best approach education at the post-secondary level. Our goal is to better equip and empower learners. Here’s a summary of our two research areas:

We use the findings our our research to develop Open Education Resources (OERs), so that students and educators around the world have access to adaptable, evidence-based learning tools. We also student the impacts of those learning tools, to ensure that we value and maximize the time and efforts that students and educators put into education.

Below, we describe discipline-based education research and what can be done following research in CER. You’ll find more details about our work in the Research & Development section.

Interested in joining us? Check out our webpages, our group guide, and feel free to sign up for our mailing list to hear of new opportunities in the group.

WHAT IS DISCIPLINE-BASED EDUCATION RESEARCH (DBER)?

DBER is “an emerging, interdisciplinary research enterprise that combines the expertise of scientists and engineers with methods and theories that explain learning.” (National Research Council, p. 1) DBER incorporates knowledge from research on learning and cognition to study student learning and understanding. The results of DBER are ideally used to improve students’ learning and experiences, particularly in higher education.

Through DBER, innovations can be studied to determine whether they actually have the intended positive impact on learning, whether they hinder learning, or whether they simply entertain. We hope it’s the first, but we need to work from a basis of evidence not intuition!

References: National Research Council: Discipline-Based Education Research: Understanding and Improving Learning in Undergraduate Science and Engineering; Singer, S.R.; Nielsen, N.R.; Schweingruber, H.A., Eds.; The National Academies Press: Washington, DC, 2012. Link

WHAT CAN ONE DO WITH A DEGREE IN CHEMISTRY EDUCATION RESEARCH?

After completing a M.Sc. or Ph.D. in Chemistry (focusing on CER), opportunities include:

• Faculty in CER (for example: US institutions with CER faculty, Prof Bongers at Queen’s University, full list at ChemEdCanada.com)

• Teaching Intensive Faculty

• Laboratory technician, instructor or manager

• Instructor (university or college)

• High school or elementary teacher (must also complete a teaching degree)

• Continue to other professional degrees (e.g., MBA, Law)

• Software company (e.g., Labster)

• Education groups (e.g., Chemical Institute of Canada, eCampusOntario)

• Employee at NSERC, SSHRC, or CIHR, Canada’s major funding councils (e.g., program officer)