SOUTH KINGSTOWN – Justin Pratt, an assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Rhode Island, has received a $1.49 million grant from the National Science Foundation to support efforts aimed at improving chemistry laboratory instruction at colleges and universities across the United States.
The five-year award, totaling $1,488,349, will fund a collaborative project involving the University of Rhode Island, DePaul University and Lewis University. The initiative seeks to help chemistry faculty incorporate evidence-based teaching practices into general and inorganic chemistry laboratory courses and expand the use of authentic research experiences for students.
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The project will establish workshops and professional development opportunities designed to help instructors create laboratory experiments that emphasize critical thinking, problem-solving and other science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, skills. Organizers also hope to advance understanding of how faculty development programs can improve student learning in laboratory settings.
According to the university, the program plans to recruit 60 chemistry faculty members from two- and four-year institutions and support them in redesigning laboratory exercises using inquiry-based approaches.
“Our goal is to make lab experiences much more authentic for students,” Pratt said. “Traditional labs are very protocol-based and depend on memorization or following predefined steps. Our approach is significantly more student driven.”
Veer Mudambi is the special projects editor of the Providence Business News, where he also covers the nonprofit and education beats. He can be reached at Mudambi@PBN.com.
