B Haas

Chemistry professor, neurodivergent mom of two
(she/her)

If you're going to defend AI to me, save your breath. Its use worsens climate change and dehumanization, and I cannot support either

Casual Science blog: http://www.bethhaas.me
BookWyrm: https://bookwyrm.social/@belehaa

Public Key

npub1vhd0eazg3979hcyj4tuyg75axhx3nvace3rjjwhg5uw237nqct7qugk3xw

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belehaa_at_wandering.shop@momostr.pink

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nprofile1qqsxtkhu73ygjlzmuzf247zy02wntngekwuvc3ef8t52w89glfsv9lqpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsncpksd

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

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npub1vhd0eazg3979hcyj4tuyg75axhx3nvace3rjjwhg5uw237nqct7qugk3xw

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Last Notes

2026-10-31 03:06:59 UTC

I debated wearing a Halloween costume to work today and decided I should because the world needs more whimsy. I was a dumpster fire (reusing last year’s costume), with a crocheted flame headband and a (fabric) dumpster cover flap draped over a shoulder. On my way to class someone else in a costume saw me and said “Oh good, I’m not the only one”
Solidarity to everyone who has a sense of whimsy and dares to be a little weird

2026-10-16 22:16:17 UTC

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That I took as given. I mean who (among users of screen readers) is the audience
Students? At what level?
Subject experts?
Non-scientists?
Students asked to interpret chemical structures will need very different things than expert chemists who need to pay attention to a changing functional group or steric effect, and non-scientists will probably fine with just "caffeine molecule"

2026-10-16 21:56:18 UTC

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Accessible to whom, for what purpose?
"A picture is worth a thousand words" in part because the same picture can be used in different contexts. Sometimes the alt-text ought to say caffeine, sometimes it ought to say "1,3,7-Trimethylxanthine," sometimes it needs to describe every blessed line and letter, and the difference is the context

2026-10-13 12:37:16 UTC

Sometimes on campus, like this morning, I can hear the "go to class" chime for the nearby high school, and it always reminds me of Hilda encountering a school: "They live in fear of bells, Mum!"
https://stockroom.wandering.shop/media_attachments/files/117/433/633/041/211/667/original/2f7da4b6c49dbd36.jpeg

2026-10-06 02:15:38 UTC

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I got the idea to make zines from a BCCE talk I saw (recorded) this summer. I'll look up the speaker later and update with their name
I've done posters and infographic projects before, but I like that the zine is a *tangible* format, and handmade easily meets the "good enough" threshold so there's less pressure to make it fancy (or offload to AI)

2026-10-06 02:11:19 UTC

Cue the infinite scream… https://indieweb.social/@brettk/117390932358222032

2026-10-06 01:27:18 UTC

I'm having my students make chemistry zines for their final projects this semester. Because it amused me, I gave them the zine project guidelines *as a hand-drawn zine*
https://stockroom.wandering.shop/media_attachments/files/117/391/362/418/921/819/original/d955e2e4e685d09d.jpeg

2026-10-04 00:22:28 UTC

Spouse has been making ice cream for a few months now, and their newest flavor is zucchini bread. That's a flavor that would not have occurred to me. I was skeptical of the appeal even though I like zucchini bread
It's delicious!
I think it's this recipe (but with a dab of yeast instead of the beer): https://www.seriouseats.com/zucchini-spice-bread-ice-cream-recipe

2026-09-30 11:34:10 UTC

Apparently for most of the last 4 decades my heart has had occasional flutters that are "not normal" so now I have to wear a heart monitor to help the doctors figure out what kind of not normal it is. (Except, for me, it has been MY normal and just part of how my body works…)
So I have a puck the size of a remote key fob for a car stuck to my chest and I'm supposed to go about my daily life while also carrying a phone that came with it. I feel a little bit cyborg

2026-09-30 11:23:16 UTC

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What Bunsen burners *do* teach and what they *could* teach are different things. Handling hot things can be learned without open flames and "being safe" is much broader than using a Bunsen burner. In the mean time the instructor has to keep the room from filling with gas when the students can't get the strikers to spark, and (ime) most students don't *actually* learn about the fire triangle
My new job uses Bunsen burners in intro lab and I wish we didn't

2026-09-29 11:39:56 UTC

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I have used the titration screen experiment from the Royal Society of Chemistry: https://edu.rsc.org/concentration-of-solutions-and-titration/titration-screen-experiment/2077.article

2026-09-22 23:44:36 UTC

The HR training I just tried to complete gave me an error at the end because I did it too fast. I read everything and answered all the questions correctly. I set the audio speed to 2x and read the captions while muted because I hate listening to these things and get distracted
But now I have to redo the thing and do it slower 🙄

2026-09-22 11:36:43 UTC

I'm glad to see at least a sliver of justice for Robert Brooks, who was murdered by prison guards down the road from me in 2024. His family has received a settlement from the state that they plan to use in part to improve prison conditions. It won't bring him back or undo his suffering or take away their pain, but the state is taking notice. It's not enough, but it's not nothing
Someday I hope we give up cops and cages
https://www.romesentinel.com/news/brooks-prison-death-settlement-million/article_fac8392a-404f-4c5f-b776-ad2225eb56ce.html

2026-09-17 10:19:04 UTC

Trump et al have broken so very many things. The repair will take decades https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:czjduztdqkrm6j2t5pik47s3/post/3mvoewkqjcs2o

2026-09-09 11:01:48 UTC

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One learns to solve problems by having problems to solve. Meager labs with meager equipment are spaces where problems to solve are plentiful (so little is new or professionally maintained) and students learn to make do and troubleshoot because you can't afford otherwise
I think of my grad school years and the students who came from well-resourced institutions and often treated expensive tools as semi-disposable. Those of us from "meager" places were more repair focused

2026-09-08 22:11:10 UTC

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This district is high diversity and high poverty. My neighbors' time is incredibly precious. It is not okay to demand they come early. It is not okay to demand (on the day before!) that they find childcare for a *school* event. It is soooo not okay to communicate in a patronizing fashion

2026-09-08 21:59:30 UTC

One of my kids' schools has a new principal and the little communication we've received from them strongly suggests to me that this person has never worked in an elementary school before, nor are they likely a parent themselves
Because who in their right mind thinks it's okay to have an elementary school "open house" and then tell parents to leave their kids at home?! Someone has to keep an eye on the kids and open house is a good way to have kids take pride in their space. Why squander that???

2026-09-07 17:31:05 UTC

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When the retrenchment was first announced a couple months ago it was unclear whether it would actually happen or be reversed, but it seemed pretty settled a month ago, so I applied to work at the community college, and I'm teaching a couple classes there now
Both institutions are unionized, but only the community college has the day off

2026-09-07 17:27:43 UTC

It's Labor Day, and this morning the university I've taught at for the last 5 years sent me final notice of my retrenchment (i.e. I am officially laid off now)

2026-09-06 13:52:08 UTC

I'm supposed to take a vitamin D supplement and I swear these pills were *designed* to disappear: they are small, nearly transparent ellipsoids with a pale yellow tint, so they roll easily and readily blend in with their surroundings. Drop one and you're off on a mini invisible egg hunt

2026-09-05 21:04:05 UTC

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Just yesterday I learned that the antibiotic rifamycin was named for Rififi, a French heist movie whose American director was blacklisted for being a Communist
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rifamycin

2026-09-05 20:51:27 UTC

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Pour one out for the academic librarians who have spent eleventy million years trying to get everybody to understand copyright, fair use, and proper citations, and then the slop machines come along just get to do whatever

2026-08-24 21:33:16 UTC

I was asked to share a fun fact about myself today as part of introductions
Fun fact 1: I had completely forgotten this was going to happen as well as the fun fact I had prepared
Fun fact 2: I second-guessed the "funness" of all the facts that occurred to me and shared a dull fact instead
Fun fact 3: I have been mildly anxious for the last 3 hours about the insufficiently fun fact I shared
Actually fun fact: I sew my kids' Halloween costumes and it's often the highlight of my crafting year

2026-08-18 12:41:19 UTC

This is an appreciation post for the best wedding favor
My cousin got married to their longtime partner in 2019, and at the reception the drinks were served in mason jar mugs like this is one. Guests were encouraged to take their mug as a favor, and we brought two home. Seven years later these mugs are my go-to water glass. They are the right size for me to drink before my cold water gets too warm, they're harder to tip over than our other glasses, and the handle is, well, handy
https://stockroom.wandering.shop/media_attachments/files/117/116/559/565/921/693/original/39bf0713702f750d.jpeg

2026-08-16 00:11:40 UTC

We got Chinese takeout and I got a double fortune. The other one was about appreciating family, which is lovely, but this one feels more timely
https://stockroom.wandering.shop/media_attachments/files/117/102/287/218/067/362/original/d148853f4c328934.jpeg

2026-08-07 02:54:34 UTC

Thanks to the associations with AI, I have started to interpret ✨ icons as 💩

2026-08-05 01:56:12 UTC

Count me as NOT a fan of the new ACS logo. My hot take: the icon thingy looks too much like an AI sparkle butthole and is not sciencey enough https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:jomweq7j44pcqclqrhxlyqc4/post/3msbyy3k3ns2r

2026-08-02 13:12:17 UTC

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I think about garbage a lot. Off and on for about seven years I have been dreaming up a chemistry class called "This Class Is Trash." We'd go through the energy & material streams involved in the stuff we throw away, with a side helping of Discard Studies, what it means for something to be disposable, and how "throw it away" usually ends up meaning "make it somebody poorer's problem"
Maybe someday I'll get to teach it
Or maybe it's a book?

2026-08-02 13:02:03 UTC

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For that matter, there ought to be better ways to deal with leftover medications
Public messaging (in the US) is individual-responsibility-oriented ("Dispose of medications properly") but there is inconsistent or nonexistent systemic support to make responsible disposal feasible. Some hospitals take old meds. Pharmacies sometimes take them, if asked. Waste disposal facilities sometimes have events to collect that kind of thing, but it's not a routine thing and it differs around the country

2026-08-02 12:53:41 UTC

I wish we made less medical/hygiene waste
My prescription bottles are not recyclable here. I should be able to take them back to the pharmacy so they could be reused, not just toss them in the garbage
It would take different infrastructure, so it's not likely to happen anytime soon, but it's not impossible

2026-07-31 10:49:53 UTC

I misread an email as "your password will explode…" and honestly that sound more interesting, if perhaps less convenient, than it simply expiring

2026-07-30 14:44:56 UTC

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A few example hands-on activities:
Chemical spills
- clean up powdered/icing sugar and its residue
- use the actual spill kit to clean up a (controlled) liquid spill
Safety equipment
- pull the safety shower (in a controlled fashion)
- use the eye wash station
- fire extinguisher training (with training extinguisher & simulated lab fire)
Glass breakage
- smash colorless Lego beakers on the floor, then sweep it up and find the missing scattered bits
#BCCE2026

2026-07-30 14:41:37 UTC

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McGinitie tried out the intervention in a senior course with 8 students
"If I traumatized them, at least it was only 8 students" got a knowing laugh from the room. There's a real concern sometimes about doing harm when you're trying to do good
#BCCE2026

2026-07-30 14:39:39 UTC

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U Alberta had a serious safety incident in a Bio lab, and that was one of the things that led McGinitie's department to rethink chem safety training
They realized that the department was relying on theoretical training and "learning by osmosis." Senior students lacked lab safety skills and were often afraid of safety equipment
Goals: increase awareness & engagement, bring safety to the forefront
#BCCE2026

2026-07-30 14:35:59 UTC

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Elizabeth McGinitie (U Alberta) is the next speaker and warns us that they *won't* include the RAMP acronym in their talk 😂
#BCCE2026

2026-07-30 14:33:51 UTC

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Why forbid PowerPoint?
Meadows says it keeps students from getting sidetracked by making slides pretty, and slides can sometimes be a crutch. They are allowed notecards
#BCCE2026

2026-07-30 14:31:24 UTC

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Q about implementing this intervention in 1st year chem
Meadows doesn't teach Gen Chem, but the faculty who do teach that are also considering safety revisions
#BCCE2026

2026-07-30 14:30:17 UTC

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All the instructors who used this intervention are planning to use it again. Meadows finds that encouraging
Both formats of the intervention appear to have been effective
#BCCE2026

2026-07-30 14:28:14 UTC

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Meadows is describing the results of pre/post surveys about safety attitudes and safety knowledge
They didn't find significant differences in safety knowledge across the courses before the intervention (except for student with stockroom or TA training)
They did see differences after the intervention and it made the biggest difference for students who didn't have the strockroom/TA training
#BCCE2026

2026-07-30 14:22:54 UTC

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The first implementation was in a 400-level course. Each student presented 2-5 min twice/semester, no slides or props, just speaking, no repeat topics
The second implementation was a 200-level course. Students presented in teams
#BCCE2026

2026-07-30 14:19:09 UTC

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Margaret Meadows (Mercer U) is now talking about their approach to revising safety learning using RAMP
Their "old" way is a lot like ours: training video or reading before lab, then instructor tells students what they need to know for the day's lab → it's a "compliance culture"
They tried to increase student ownership & engagement by having students research & present on a safety topic
#BCCE2026

2026-07-30 14:14:43 UTC

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Liu is hoping to develop a lab safety practical in Analytical (e.g. staged situations for students to evaluate)
We want to expand the use of RAMP further in our curriculum, but we're limited by instructor capacity (there just isn't time to revamp all the courses at once)
#BCCE2026

2026-07-30 14:10:50 UTC

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Liu is now explaining how she builds on that RAMP understanding in Analytical lab, which includes a lab safety contract and safety case studies, in which students need to work on Assessing risk and Preparing for emergencies
Students struggle with Assessing risk. If a substance is unfamiliar, they tend to call identify the risk as "high"
#BCCE2026

2026-07-30 14:09:02 UTC

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Students in Gen Chem I work in groups to complete scaffolded worksheets about Recognizing & Minimizing
In Gen Chem II we have just natural science majors (Gen Chem I also has health sciences & Gen Ed students), so we have them become more independent in some lab skills. They annotate the instructions for each experiment with chemical hazards, and then they do R & M analysis once each for the 3 multiweek units
#BCCE2026

2026-07-30 14:04:25 UTC

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Liu is explaining our journey to revise Gen Chem I safety training
We started with the ACS RAMP worksheet for outreach and adapted it to our class: https://www.acs.org/outreachsafety
Students did a full RAMP analysis, but it was too much!
So we focused on Recognize, with a little bit of Minimize (mainly PPE + fume hoods)
#BCCE2026

2026-07-30 14:01:25 UTC

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Liu is giving an overview of the courses we currently use RAMP in (Gen Chem I, Gen Chem II, and Analytical)
We started with some brief online lab safety assignments and an online textbook, Safety in Academic Chemistry Laboratories textbook [PDF]: https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/about/governance/committees/chemicalsafety/publications/safety-in-academic-chemistry-laboratories-students.pdf
#BCCE2026

2026-07-30 13:58:09 UTC

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The next speaker is my dear colleague Elaine Liu (Utica University) talking about what we do at Utica to teach safety using RAMP
#BCCE2026

2026-07-30 13:56:24 UTC

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Q about how the RAMP analysis is implemented
Wieststock has students do the analysis as part of the pre-lab for each experiment, and grading is done by TAs as part of grading the pre-lab
#BCCE2026

2026-07-30 13:50:42 UTC

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Wieststock explains how they use the textbook to teach safety in intro chemistry, starting with "Recognize" and introducing "Assess" in 1st semester, then introducing "Minimize" and "Prepare" in 2nd semester
The textbook materials include RAMP analysis templates with instructor guides. These guides have been developed by the DivCHED Safety Committee and been revised as they have gotten feedback from instructors who have used them with their classes
#BCCE2026

2026-07-30 13:42:37 UTC

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Wieststock is telling us about the free Laboratory Safety eTextbook
(I have checked out this textbook, and found the Moodle interface awkward)
There are also learning materials to supplement the textbook, including a curriculum allocation worksheet to help instructors identify introductory, intermediate, & advanced topics within each section. The worksheet includes a table to help departments plan out which topics appear in which courses throughout the curriculum
#BCCE2026

2026-07-30 13:38:38 UTC

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Wieststock is reviewing RAMP:
- Recognize hazards
- Assess risks
- Minimize risks
- Prepare for emergencies
They have included a QR code link to the ACS Institute page on chemical safety and are giving an overview of what kinds of resources folks can find there: https://institute.acs.org/acs-center/lab-safety.html
#BCCE2026

2026-07-30 13:35:42 UTC

For this morning's first session, I'm headed to the chemical safety symposium. I'd be interested anyway, but I also have a co-authored talk in it
The first talk is from Steven Wietstock (University of Notre Dame, ACS Chair of Div Chem Ed Safety Committee) about RAMP templates; it's a summary of a workshop they led at BCCE yesterday
#BCCE2026

2026-07-30 13:23:28 UTC

It's the last day of #BCCE2026
Remote access to the conference had a rocky start and some rough patches, but the quality of the talks has been very high, and I am amazed again at how generous folks are with their expertise and materials
As the organizers put it in the daily overview email:
"You made it thoughtful, generous, creative, joyful, and full of possibility."
How many science conference are *joyful*? This one is, and it's why I keep coming back

2026-07-30 00:28:22 UTC

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I haven't had a sabbatical, and given my current uncertain employment, I don't expect one anytime soon, but I was really glad to hear folks sharing their experiences and resources
And one final note: there is power in a union!

2026-07-30 00:25:12 UTC

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I listened to the panel discussion while I crocheted. The topic of conversation was sabbaticals for teaching/non-tenured faculty
The panel shared their experiences and work-arounds & sheer persistence
They also shared stories of burnout and signs of departments built for efficiency instead of resilience. Teaching faculty are load-bearing supports! Remove them for a semester, and if they haven't been sufficiently supported and reinforced, things break

2026-07-29 22:15:29 UTC

I am exhausted after listening to so many talks. I probably should have taken a longer break, but the FOMO is strong (even when recordings are available)
And, having not learned a lesson about exhaustion, I'm planning to listen to a panel discussion tonight if the livestream works because the topic is interesting and the panelists are pocketfriends

2026-07-29 21:43:22 UTC

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Q about convincing administration to run the fermentation course
Smith notes that with the Fermentation Arts major, they make beer on campus and they have beer appreciation classes. In the fermentation class they avoided alcohol. in classes where there is alcohol, they take precautions: students must be ≥21, they consume <1 standard drink, and the drink is consumed at the beginning of the 3-hour class
#BCCE2026

2026-07-29 21:37:04 UTC

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Some examples of fermentation & food activities:
- taste test (salt, sugar, MSG, etc.)
- sensory comparison of soy sauces or hot sauces
- yeast metabolism
- kimchi or kraut made from cabbage the students grew from seeds (at the start of the fall semester) in the campus garden
- sourdough pancakes
- fermented tomato seeds
- kefir
- yogurt
- pickles
- tapache
#BCCE2026

2026-07-29 21:32:49 UTC

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Smith is now showing photos of their kitchen lab space and giving cost estimates for equipment they used (microwaves, hot plates, micropipettors, hygrometers, a mini GC, etc.)
#BCCE2026

2026-07-29 21:30:14 UTC

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The course textbook was The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Felix Katz
Smith also used a lot of podcasts
They're concerned about their students using AI, so they removed some writing and made other assignments more reflective. They also used Gemini Notebook as a place for getting summaries and vocabulary, since that tool can (in theory) be limited to the information that has been added to it
(I'm not loving the AI use)
#BCCE2026

2026-07-29 21:25:21 UTC

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Smith notes that there are lots of resources about the chemistry of beer
BUT Pennsylvania has strict (and weird) laws about alcohol
In WI (where BCCE is taking place) under 21 alcohol consumption is legal if a parent/guardian is present
In PA (where St Francis U is) under 21 cannot even buy or consume NON-alcoholic beer
#BCCE2026

2026-07-29 21:22:31 UTC

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Saint Francis U has a Bachelors program in Fermentation Arts (which began in the English & History departments! No microbiology at the start!) Chem Dept took over the program in 2022
Smith's background is in nanotechnology and thanks to taking over Fermentation Arts, they're learning how to be a food scientist
#BCCE2026

2026-07-29 21:20:01 UTC

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The next talk is from Benjamin Smith (Saint Francis U) about a Gen Ed class on fermentation
I spot photos of a SCOBY (kombucha?), kimchi, bread, and cheese on the title slide
#BCCE2026

2026-07-29 21:16:35 UTC

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Request for more detail of the escape room
The story was that Dr. Luminosity trapped the class in the lab and they had to decipher the notes to escape
#BCCE2026

2026-07-29 21:14:51 UTC

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Q about instrumentation
They used the UV-vis to look at a manganese solution (KMnO4 from their description?) and determine concentration
#BCCE2026

2026-07-29 21:13:07 UTC

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Lanning also had a "color diary" activity in which they took photos to notice color around them: lots of sunsets, but also artwork and photos of the human landscape (e.g. packaging in a store, light show at a concert)
They note that students were really interested in creative expression (e.g. creating artwork, one student wrote a song, another did an interpretive dance for their final project)
#BCCE2026

2026-07-29 21:09:05 UTC

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Lanning developed this course at Tufts Experimental University, and also taught a version of it at Curry College
The classes didn't have lab sections, but they did small lab activities, and some iterations of this class were able to do field trips to the zoo to talk about animal coloration
They created a escape room activity to help the students study
#BCCE2026

2026-07-29 21:04:27 UTC

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Lanning shows a photo of a research vessel on the ocean and points out questions students be able to answer by the end of the course (why is the sky blue? why does the ocean different colors in different places? why do clouds look that way? where do sunset colors come from?)
#BCCE2026

2026-07-29 21:00:41 UTC

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The next talk is from Nate Lanning (U New England), who teaches chemistry but doesn't have a chemistry degree! (They're a chemical oceanographer by training and their PhD is in environmental science)
Lanning's talk is about Chemistry of Color, a science elective for non-science majors
#BCCE2026

2026-07-29 20:57:33 UTC

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While developing the AI policy, Lhota let the students lead the discussion, using a worksheet to help structure their thinking (e.g. what do they value?), but Lhota did not share their own opinion or values at that point
The policy began with categories of "okay," "not okay," and "let's talk about it first"
#BCCE2026

2026-07-29 20:53:47 UTC

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Lhota made it through their talk quicker than planned so they're now doing a "bonus" topic of co-developing an AI policy with students; trying to get buy-in from students on the policy the class would use
Students (in different courses from previous part of the talk) wanted to be able to use AI for proofreading, organizing, and getting a first round of feedback; but the students strongly felt that it was important that their work have their own words
#BCCE2026

2026-07-29 20:47:50 UTC

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Lhota was outlining the initial design of the course as I arrived, so I didn't really catch that, but they're now talking about some of the changes they made: removing discussion boards and increasing in-class discussion via "socratic seminars" and science cafes
Socratic seminars: students prepared to discuss a topic, had an in-class discussion (possibly within groups?), then wrote a reflection; helpful but hard to grade equitably
Science cafes involved short presentations
#BCCE2026

2026-07-29 20:40:10 UTC

I have joined the afternoon session late because my first choice wouldn't load the livestream, but luckily there are many wonderful options to pick from, so I am now getting up to speed with a talk from Red Lhota (Chicago State U) on restructuring a Gen Ed chem course with collaboration with students
Lhota is the first speaker I've see wearing a mask, so kudos for that from a fellow masker
(I don't always get a view of the speaker, so maybe there have been others)
#BCCE2026

2026-07-28 21:12:08 UTC

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Fahlman describes a greenhouse effect activity: measure room temp, temp in a jar, and temp in a jar with CO2 from vinegar + baking soda, and students can see the difference in temp/warming when set in the sun
#BCCE2026

2026-07-28 21:10:09 UTC

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Fahlman's course includes an entire unit on climate change. They use the PhET sim on the greenhouse effect: https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/greenhouse-effect/about
Fahlman notes the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and the need to make the PhET simulations accessible (some are, some older ones aren't). Chem in Context links only to resources that are WCAG AA compliant or better
#BCCE2026

2026-07-28 21:06:09 UTC

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Fahlman speaks to the advantages of using current events (e.g. Canadian forest fires) to "hook" students with relevance
The Chem in Context text also includes "@ home" activities that can be done with supplies from pharmacies & big box stores
#BCCE2026

2026-07-28 21:03:00 UTC

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Link to Chem in Context text: https://www.acs.org/education/resources/undergraduate/chemistryincontext.html

2026-07-28 21:01:55 UTC

Bradley Fahlman (Central Michigan U) is talking about the challenges of Gen Ed Chem: many students come in intimidated by chem, this one course could be their entire experience in chem
Their class is small (20-25) and mostly elementary ed majors; it meets 2x weekly with lab sessions some weeks during the same time (not an additional meeting)
Fahlman uses the "context-first" approach and is editor of the Chemistry in Context text
#BCCE2026

2026-07-28 16:56:15 UTC

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In their summary, Wiebe-Friesen also mentions the value of having a "light" activity, like the cinnamon roll lab, late in the semester or right after the midterm point because students are tired and need a break
That's another topic we should talk about more. How do we plan the semester in terms of student energy?
#BCCE2026

2026-07-28 16:53:06 UTC

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Wiebe-Friesen is now talking about their role as an academic advisor and getting students to think about how their electives have interdisciplinary & transferrable skills (e.g. collaboration & leadership in music, public speaking via theatre)
I think this is the first talk I've heard about advising (aside from references to advising for grad school/med school), and now I think it's something we (chem ed folks) should talk about more
#BCCE2026

2026-07-28 16:50:10 UTC

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Now Wiebe-Friesen describes a cyanotype activity, carried out over 2 weeks: synthesize reactive compound in week 1, create cyanotype images in week 2. Preparing the paper in low light is a challenge because of their classroom's automatic lights
The students write a lab report and have to use their lab notes to work out the text about the method they used (no procedure given)
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2026-07-28 16:45:38 UTC

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Wiebe-Friesen's kitchen chem hands-on activity is baking cinnamon rolls, but there's also reading on celiac disease and a 2-3 min presentation during the next week of lab
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2026-07-28 16:43:35 UTC

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Wiebe-Friesen first tells us about a biochem lab activity with a long, kind of funny, "sciency" title that is actually just making cinnamon rolls
The lab activity came about because they were waiting for enzymes to arrive and needed a filler activity
They found a place to do the baking by asking the church across the street to borrow their kitchen. "If you're on a campus in the Midwest, there's always a church across the street" got some laughs
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2026-07-28 16:40:10 UTC

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Now we have Will Wiebe-Friesen (Bethel College, Kansas) who starts with a quote from Raymond Thornton Chandler on relationship between art & science
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2026-07-28 16:32:42 UTC

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Betush's students chose a process or ingredient to present on at the semester's end and also wrote a paper about the chemistry of a recipe and two changes they would suggest (and the chemistry reasons why)
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2026-07-28 16:29:25 UTC

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I'm enjoying Betush's use of food photos to illustrate their slides (sometimes photos for chem purposes, like muffins made with different processes, but sometimes just fun fancy looking cakes)
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2026-07-28 16:25:23 UTC

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Betush's main textbook was Fennema's Food Chemistry (5th ed), which is not a book I'm familiar with
(my department's chem of cooking course uses On Food & Cooking paired with The Food Lab and excerpts from a few other books)
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2026-07-28 16:21:35 UTC

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Next is talk about Chemistry of Baking from Ria Betush (Gannon University)
It's a 1-credit class that is part of a required special topics course (with rotating topics by semester); only pre-req is Gen Chem, but Organic & Biochem are recommended pre-reqs
Betush has experience as a cake artist!
They baked for the class each week (baking on the weekend, class was Monday) and the students got to eat the baked goods
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2026-07-28 16:12:47 UTC

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Marchak distinguishes somewhat between art and craft, but I didn't quite follow the distinction
In the Museum of Materials activity, students choose a material and craft a "non-conventional" but "chemically grounded" object, connecting the material properties to representations of the material, and writing an affective reflection on the process
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2026-07-28 16:06:12 UTC

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Marchak says the arts use different ways to encounter and understand the world, which is why art is a helpful way of learning chemistry, but I'm not convinced that these "different" ways are actually different, at least not based on the brief examples given (e.g. observation is really important in chemistry)
I'm reminded of the discussion earlier in the prior session of this symposium about whether discipline boundaries are even useful
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2026-07-28 16:02:10 UTC

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Next talk is from Debora Marchak (Tel Aviv U) on a museum-inspired activity
They start with a brief overview of sense-making and meaning-making (which are terms I don't know much about in a discipline-specific sense) and neuropedagogy (which is a new-to-me term)
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2026-07-28 15:54:37 UTC

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Jones wanted to know whether the assignment is an example of "meaningful learning"
Meaningful learning is active, constructive, intentional, cooperative, authentic (I am curious whose definition this is, would love a source)
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2026-07-28 15:50:56 UTC

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Jones' infographic assignment:
What students reported they learned: the mechanics/how-to of the assignment, sci comm skills, difficulty of making an infographic, more info about topics & chemists
What would students do differently? planning & time management responses are very common (That matches my experience with similar types of assignments)
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2026-07-28 15:46:33 UTC

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Jones collects feedback & reflections on the project right after the gallery walk. This talk focuses on analysis of that feedback, which they coded & analyzed via Reflective Thematic Analysis
A paper is in progress, to be submitted this fall. (Which is also to say, I'm not sharing details, just big-picture stuff and my impressions)
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2026-07-28 15:42:25 UTC

We're back in the chem + humanities symposium after the break
Rebecca Jones (George Mason University) is speaking about a semester-long infographic assignment they've used in several chem courses (Inorganic, Bioinorganic, Gen Chem), including a periodic table version
Rough drafts & peer reviews before the final presentation & product, ending with a (silent) gallery walk
Students left feedback during gallery walk using post-its (I love this idea)
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2026-07-28 14:46:48 UTC

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While trying to figure out which conversion error incidents the speaker meant (they couldn't recall if the Mars one was the rover or another mission), I stumbled across this site: https://usma.org/unit-mixups
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2026-07-28 14:45:36 UTC

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Q about siloing of chemistry vs humanities and the "why/when am I going to need this?" question
I'm struck how the replies so far have been about bridging chem from the humanities, rather than the other way around (i.e. why does chemistry matter to a humanities student, instead of why do the humanities matter to a science student)
Mention of conversion errors helpful for teaching relevance: Gimli Glider, Mars Climate Orbiter, Tokyo Disney roller coaster
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2026-07-28 14:38:45 UTC

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We now have a panel discussion, which I think includes speakers I missed
Q about teaching the writing part of a writing-intensive chemistry course
A speaker responds specifically about how students are reluctant about critiquing the "experts" they read – they say that developing critical reading is an important part of developing writing
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2026-07-28 14:34:30 UTC

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Mark Aparece (Northwestern University) is telling us about a reflective writing exercise in a co-created course on green chemistry
Students' reflections are in response to course readings. Aparece says they interpolate the students' readings & reflections with other resources to facilitate dialogue about green chem/environment/environmental justice issues and the underlying chemistry
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2026-07-28 14:29:28 UTC

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Corbin Livingston and Mary Schiavone (Beloit College) are talking about a chem history activity involving reading historical scientific texts
Schiavone is a librarian, who taught part of the course
They are very willing to share their materials, but I couldn't read the link they shared
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