鈥淕race鈥檚 project aimed to measure the effectiveness of the NSF-sponsored Active Learning in Organic Chemistry faculty development workshops at changing participant knowledge, beliefs, and implementation of evidence-based instructional practices,鈥� Houseknecht said. 鈥淪he used pre- and post-workshop surveys based upon several theories of change to measure how participants鈥� knowledge, beliefs, and teaching practice changed after the workshop. Grace had to communicate professionally with faculty from all over the country, organize and analyze large amounts of data, and describe her results clearly.鈥�
In the Student鈥檚 Own Words:
鈥淭he best part of doing summer research is learning new things every day and getting pizza on Fridays,鈥� Carter said. 鈥淚 learned to be more patient with myself, and that it鈥檚 okay if you don鈥檛 get something right away. There were moments where I didn鈥檛 understand part of the research, so I asked for clarification and kept trying until I got it right.
鈥淚 chose this research because I wanted to learn more about research in education,鈥� she added. 鈥淚 was also in one of Dr. Houseknecht鈥檚 classes where he used active learning, and I thought it would be interesting to research that approach to teaching.鈥�
Grace Carter, class of 2024, from Columbus, Ohio
Educational Studies major and sociology minor