Center of Excellence for the Teaching of Chemistry
Dr. Mariusz Kozik
The grant will support expanded outreach to WNY chemistry teachers and their students through expansion of the International Chemistry Olympiad, the involvement of Chemistry Olympiad students in an interdisciplinary undergraduate research program at Canisius College, and the introduction of group-learning techniques and experimental design to the general chemistry laboratory. These integrated activities will take place within the Center of Excellence in Chemistry Teaching.
Building on his successful involvement in the International Chemistry Olympiad, Dr. Kozik will use the Oishei grant to increase the number of participating high schools and the number of students per school who participate in the olympiad competition, with the Buffalo School District as a primary target.
Selected Chemistry Olympiad students will be invited to participate in an interdisciplinary undergraduate research program within the Center of Excellence in Chemistry Teaching at Canisius College. These high school students will be offered research internships in Dr. Kozik's laboratory where they will work with Canisius College undergraduates from Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Environmental Science on innovative experiments on heteropoly complexes. The students will actively collaborate with Dr. Kozik, researching important applications of this group of compounds as part of a project which has resulted in significant publications. The students will have the opportunity to make presentations on their research accomplishments to the audience of Canisius College Freshmen taking general chemistry.
The Center in Excellence will introduce a novel approach to experimental design in the general chemistry laboratory. In order to encourage creativity and to simulate real-life research experience, the students will be responsible for designing their own experimental approach to the solution of a problem. To take advantage of active group learning techniques, the experimental design will be performed in groups.
These integrated activities will strengthen the teaching of chemistry at Canislus College and within WNY high schools by promoting analytical thinking and creativity among all of the students who participate in collaborative research.