Biographies have been used in chemical education to humanize the discipline and give context for developments in chemistry, and as this poster presentation describes, provide an opportunity for students to connect with chemists on a more personal level. This is accomplished through a written assignment to promote scholarship and creativity during a sophomore organic chemistry course. Through this assignment, students learn that important figures in chemistry have complex lives and face challenges just like others might experience (e.g., financial hardship, personal tragedies, racism, and sexism). Students use tertiary, secondary, and primary sources focusing on the lives of notable chemists. While they are directed to mention the accomplishments of their subject, the main objective is to describe their lives, struggles, and personalities. Students can and have written standard biographies. They also have the option to be more creative, resulting in other forms of scholarship (e.g., historical fiction and free verse). In the past three years, we have extended this assignment to include an opportunity to work with a science librarian to create, correct, or expand Wikipedia biographical entries. This additional component encourages students to share insights they learned, as well as enter into a public discourse through one of the most popular repositories for information on the Web. In addition to the assignment, the poster will discuss the increasing involvement and support provided by the science librarian over the years. The benefits of this pedagogical approach will also be discussed.

Building stronger bonds for students and chemistry with biographies

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.