A date for your diary….
The Variety in Chemistry Education and Physics Higher Education Conference will take place from 29-30 August 2013 at the University of Liverpool.
Generously supported by the HEA, RSC and IOP.
Eurovariety 2013 – Book your place!
21 Mar 2013
Booking has opened for the 2013 Eurovariety Conference which takes place on 3-5 July 2013 at the University of Limerick in Ireland.
This conference, run under the auspices of the EuCheMS Division of Chemical Education and the RSC Higher Education Group, is concerned with the teaching and learning of Chemistry at third (university and college) level. It is sponsored by the Institute of Chemistry of Ireland. Papers may deal with the practice of teaching Chemistry or with research into the teaching and learning of Chemistry at degree or postgraduate level. This includes the secondary-tertiary transition, the promotion of Chemistry to increase the uptake into third level Chemistry courses, and the training of chemistry teachers.
The overall theme Smarter teaching – better learning indicates an emphasis on the use of research findings to improve the teaching and learning of Chemistry. The Eurovariety conferences follow the tradition of the UK Variety in Chemistry Education (ViCE) conferences in encouraging chemists involved in teaching Chemistry at third level to share their experiences with and learn from colleagues from other institutions and other countries. Although this is a European conference participation from chemists from outside Europe is welcome.
Plenary speakers:
Rainer Glaser(USA)
Sabine Streller (Germany)
Michael Seery (Ireland)
Natalie Rowley (UK)
Conference themes:
- The secondary – tertiary transition
- Promotion and outreach activities
- Inquiry-based teaching and learning
- Problem-based teaching and learning
- Training teaching assistants and demonstrators
- Training chemistry teachers at university
- Induction and CPD for chemistry lecturers
- Problems of teaching organic chemistry
- Mathematics and chemistry
- Work experience programmes
Find out More and register:
Registration and abstract submission is now open. The conference fee includes meals and accommodation for 2 days.
Register here.
ESERA 2013 Conference 3-7 September 2013
21 Mar 2013
The ESERA 2013 conference will take place in Cyprus from 3-7 September 2013. The theme is:
Science Education Research for Evidence-based Teaching and Coherence in Learning
You are invited to submit proposals for:
- oral or interactive poster presentations
- symposia
- ICT demonstrations
- workshops
Please visit the conference website for more information about how to register and submit proposals
Additional information about the ESERA 2013 call for proposals can be downloaded here.
The closing date for proposals is 31 January 2013.
ICCE 2014 – Toronto, Canada
19 Mar 2013
Developing Learning Communities in the Chemical Sciences
The 23rd IUPAC International Conference on Chemistry Education will be held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre from 13-18 July 2014.
The theme of the conference is communications and its goal is to investigate how best to forge global links in the chemical teaching and learning communities and to consider best practices in exploiting technological advances in communications in order to establish innovative learning partnerships.
General Conference Themes
- Communicating across the educational levels
- Outreach to the lay community
- International student learning communities
- Technological support of chemistry learning and learning communities
- Greening attitudes in chemistry education
- Interdisciplinary collaboration
Important dates
- July 2013 deadline for symposia/workshop submissions
- Oct. 2013 second circular abstract submission opens
- Jan. 2014 deadline for abstract submission registration opens
- Mar. 2014 notice of abstract acceptance
- May 2014 deadline for early registration fees
- July 2014 ICCE2014
More information
- Contact Andy Dicks, Co-chair of the organising committee
- Website www.ICCE2014.org
Call for papers – 2014 themed issue
18 Mar 2013
2014 CERP special themed issue on Physical Chemistry Education
Publication scheduled for July 2014
Guest Editors – Georgios Tsaparlis (1) and Odilla E. Finlayson (2)
(1) Department of Chemistry, University of Ioannina, GR-451 10 Ioannina, Greece
(2) School of Chemical Sciences, Dublin City University, Dublin 9, Ireland.
Call for Papers
Contributions are invited for a themed, peer reviewed issue of CERP on Physical Chemistry Education. Manuscripts should be submitted by Sunday 12 January 2014 to be eligible for publication in the themed issue.
Topics
Topics for contribution may include but are not limited to:
- The abstract nature of physical chemistry
- Conceptual understanding in the various sub disciplines of physical chemistry
- Concept learning versus mathematical approach to physical chemistry
- Assessment of physical chemistry – testing for conceptual understanding or mathematical manipulation
- Mathematical coverage and mathematical rigor: how much and how far?
- Problem solving related to physical chemistry
- The physical chemistry laboratory
- The physical chemistry curriculum
- The role of the textbook in teaching of physical chemistry
- The interface of physical chemistry with the other branches of chemistry or with other disciplines – biology, physics, technology, geology, medicine, etc.
- Physical chemistry in context
- Computational chemistry
- Use of symbolic mathematics engines for data analysis, model building, and problem solving
- Computer simulations and online learning in physical chemistry.
- Physical chemistry concepts and topics as part of general chemistry courses at second and third level
- Reviews and Perspectives (including historical perspectives)
Submission of manuscripts
Manuscripts should be submitted in the format required by the journal using the ScholarOne online manuscript submission platform available at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/rp. Enquiries concerning the suitability of possible contributions should be sent directly by email to: Georgios Tsaparlis and/or Odilla Finlayson.
Full call
The full call is available as a PDF document.
Getting started in Pedagogic reseach
11 Mar 2013
Wednesday 27 March 10:30 – 4pm at the Chemistry Centre, Burlington House, Piccadilly London W1J OBA
The day will be interactive and participants will have the opportunity to develop their own ideas and seek expertise and guidance from others.
Programme:
10:30-11:00 Introduction and welcome
11:00-12:30 The research process: from idea, to designing methodology, to publication
13:30-15:00 Sharing practice: speakers relatively new to pedagogic research outline their projects and share experiences of moving into this new field from a science paradigm.
15:30 Next steps: planning, networking and where to find further support
16:00 Finish
To register:
Please send an email to education@rsc.org with your name, contact details and any special dietary requirements.
CERP is free to access
13 Feb 2013
Recently, we have found out through the Twittersphere, that there may be some confusion about what ‘free to access’ means in relation to access to CERP.
Unlike many others journals, CERP is free to access – at the RSC we believe that support for best practice in chemistry education should be available to all. This does not mean that CERP is free to produce or that its submissions are any lower in quality than those in in subscription journals. Quite the contrary, CERP is a peer-reviewed journal, published to the highest standards and this work is sponsored by the RSC Education Division Council.
We ask you to create an account and login to read and download full articles or comment on a blog post. This is completely free. When you create an account, you help us collect vital information about you, our audience, so that we understand your needs as readers and provide you with the best possible service.
If you have any queries, please feel free to contact me.
2013 Gordon Research Conference
07 Feb 2013
Chemistry Education Research & Practice – Strengthening the Pillars of Scholarly Work in Chemistry Education
When: June 9-14 2013
Where : Salve Regina University, Newport, RI, US
Application deadline: 12 May 2013
Chair: Maria Oliver-Hoyo
Conference website: http://www.grc.org/programs.aspx?year=2013&program=chemedu
For queries contact : Andrea Grasso
Chemistry Education Activating Research Bursary
23 Jan 2013
Pedagogical research in HE science education in the USA is much better funded than it is in the UK. As a result, there appears to be a greater range of high quality pedagogical research in HE in the USA, yet contact and collaboration between researchers there and the UK is limited. To help address this situation and to work towards raising the profile of research in this area in the UK, an initiative from the Education Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry offers you a chance to widen your contacts and explore the research in the USA.
Bursaries up to a maximum amount of £1500 per applicant are available. Bursaries are available each year to cover the cost of travel, accommodation and registration of attending a major conference in the USA.
This is an opportunity to network and develop contacts, to gain an appreciation of the range of research going on in the USA and to set up research collaborations. (With prior planning it might be possible to spend a few days with a researcher in a university in the USA). For 2013, you may wish consider applying to attend the Gordon Research Conference, Chemistry Education Research and Practice Strengthening the Pillars of Scholarly Work in Chemistry Education at Salve Regina University Sunday 9 June – Friday 14 June, 2013.
To be eligible, you must be
• a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry
• employed at a higher education institution
• in the early stages of a career in pedagogical research in the chemical sciences in HE
• attending a conference or event in the USA primarily concerned with research in chemical education in HE
• able to provide a report of about 1000 words of your key findings that are relevant to your research within 6 weeks of your return home
For 2013, applications must be received by 22nd February 2013.
More information and an application form can be found on The RSC Education Division Website.
Science Education Research and Education for Sustainable Development 2014
23 Jan 2013
This is the first announcement of the 22nd Symposium on Chemistry and Science Education.
Date: 19-21 June 2014
Venue: University of Bremen, Germany
Conference fees: None. Travel costs, accommodation and social events are the responsibility of participants
Further information: www.chemiedidaktik.uni‐bremen.de/symp2014/
Conference Chairs: Prof Dr Ingo Eilks (Bremen) and Prof Dr Bernd Ralle (Dortmund)