Conference Description
Much like energy in an ecosystem, ideally, knowledge of teaching and learning chemistry should cycle through environments and communities to facilitate improvements to chemistry learning outcomes. However, the relationships among the production, consumption, and decomposition of knowledge on chemistry teaching and learning are ill-defined, sometimes viewed at odds with the scholarly advancement of research and practice, and not challenged in light of current teaching and learning norms.
The 2021 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Chemistry Education Research and Practice will be a space where analysis and discussion will invigorate the community to more deliberately coordinate the flow of knowledge in the chemistry education research and practice ecosystem. Researchers and practitioners from diverse backgrounds, different types of institutions, and from fields not limited to chemistry will cultivate ways community members can synchronize their work to increase knowledge generation and uptake to the benefit of learning in the chemical sciences.
The format of the conference will optimize invited plenary sessions, semi-structured poster sessions, and free time to promote interactions and networking among conferees. Since advancing the field is enhanced by intense intellectual engagement and off-the-record discussions of ongoing work, free afternoons, common meals, and dormitory accommodations will facilitate meaningful interactions with diverse groups of participants within a small conference setting. This conference follows what will be the first Chemistry Education Research and Practice Gordon Research Seminar (GRS). The GRS is a unique meeting that expands the GRC experience to graduate students and postdoctoral researchers.
The review of applications will begin in mid-December. Applicants engaged in research and/or scholarly teaching (instruction informed by theory and evidence and evaluated) who submit complete poster titles and abstracts will be prioritized.
The conference will consist of nine sessions, on the topics listed below. The conference chair is currently developing their preliminary program, which will include the names of the invited speakers and discussion leaders for each of these sessions. Please check back regularly for updates to this information.
- Cognition in Chemistry
- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging in Chemistry Teaching and Learning
- Student Beliefs: Models and Mindsets
- Technology Integrations Driven by Theory and Evidence
- Laboratory Reforms: Drivers and Outcomes
- Insights from Allied Fields
- Chemistry Learning From Research Practices
- Reasoning with Chemical Ideas: Cognitive Load, Language and Teaching
- Targeting the Affective Domain for Chemistry Learning
