OrganicERs: Fostering a Community of Practice for Organic Chemistry Instructors through Workshops and Online Faculty Learning Communities
This paper presents recent developments within the Organic Education Resources (OrganicERs) community of practice, focused on transforming how organic chemistry is taught through evidence-based instructional practices. From 2021 to 2024, OrganicERs expanded its impact by organizing national workshops and facilitating online faculty learning communities that support instructors in implementing active learning strategies. Building on more than a decade of prior work, this new phase emphasized virtual engagement and sustained peer support, enabling educators to create and share resources, reflect on teaching practices, and collaborate on course transformations. We also implemented a new leadership model to develop a more sustainable leadership team. The paper highlights the design of professional development activities, participant outcomes, community growth, and implications for future professional development efforts in chemistry education.
Authors
- Jennifer L. Muzyka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3948-3540)
- Justin B. Houseknecht (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2274-8031)
- Catherine O. Welder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2439-0969)
- Alexey Leontyev (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0219-709X)
Institutions
- Dartmouth College (US)
- Centre College (US)
- Dakota State University (US)
- Wittenberg University (US)
- Division of Chemistry (US)
- Dartmouth Hospital (GB)
- North Dakota State University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Chemical Education
- Published
- 2026-03-11
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.5c01229
- Primary Topic
- Various Chemistry Research Topics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00