Chemistry Education, Laboratory and Course Curriculum Development, Academic Advising
B.S. Chemistry, University of North Carolina, (1987); University of North Carolina, Ph.D. (1995);Assistant Professor, USAF Academy (1997-1998); Visiting Lecturer, University of North Carolina (1996-1997); National Academic Advising Association's Faculty Advisor Award, 2006; Johnston Undergraduate Teaching Award, 2004; Student Undergraduate Teaching Award, 2003; College of Arts and Sciences Excellence in Advising Award, UNC-CH, 2002. Michel-Shaw Award for Undergraduate Advising, UNC-CH, 1999. Order of the Old Well, UNC-CH, 1993. Graduate Teaching Award, UNC-CH, 1990
The Undergraduate Chemistry Program at UNC-CH is among the largest and most productive in the nation. My role in this program is to provide an "intellectual spark" that might in some way enhance the environment for undergraduate education. This task is multifaceted and involves undergraduate instruction, curriculum development, academic advising, and the hiring/training/supervision of undergraduates as laboratory teaching assistants and tutors.
In the realm of curriculum development, I am currently involved with both the general chemistry laboratories and with undergraduate classroom instruction. An ongoing project in the general chemistry laboratory program is the incorporation of computer-assisted data collection/manipulation into the experiments. In the classroom I'm continuing to use and experiment with various forms of multimedia instruction. Most prevalent among these methods are the use of online homework assignments, Powerpoint presentations, internet research assignments, in-class response interfaces, as well as in-class "live" demonstrations. All these endeavors are focused on both making the classroom a more dynamic environment and on better engaging the students in the subject matter.
As an advisor for the majors, in addition to providing academic advice and registration assistance, I organize monthly meetings each semester under the heading of Chemistry Majors Discussion Group.