For the past five years we have offered a summer workshop for high school teachers enabling them to bring molecular modeling into their classrooms.  The workshop brings teachers to campus for one week, during which they learn about quantum mechanical calculations, the software tool WebMO, and inquiry-based instruction methods.  During the week the teachers develop a lesson appropriate for their classrooms such that it is complete and ready-to-use before they leave.  Teachers then use that lesson the following year and into the future.  In five years we have trained roughly 50 teachers who have taught lessons to thousands of high school students who have executed tens of thousands of quantum calculations.   Assessment results consistently show that from a single lesson, 38 % of students express an increased interest in pursuing formal education after high school, 29% an increased interest in pursuing a career in science, and 26% a career in computers.  In this presentation, the components of the workshop will be discussed along with examples of lessons that teachers have created.

Bringing molecular modeling into the high school classroom

247th National Meeting (2014)

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