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Toxicology and green chemistry have been adopted in research throughout academia, industry, and government. While significant progress has been made to explain how chemicals impact human health and the environment, there is still a lack of proper training to incorporate these concepts into the curriculum to prepare the next generation of scientists for interdisciplinary careers. The Molecular Design Research Network (MoDRN) has developed and class-tested activities that allow integration of green chemistry and toxicology concepts into an undergraduate or high school curriculum. These activities challenge students to think about Safety Data Sheets and the toxicological and environmental impacts of sunscreen products while meeting American Chemical Society’s Standards and Guidelines for curriculum development in the areas of Safety, Health, and Laboratory Experience. Survey data from class testing the Biology of Sunscreen Module found that 97% of students said the laboratory experiment positively impacted t...

A quality picture book can enhance instruction and build positive and meaningful connections that enable students to visualize and engage in mathematics. To learn more about how preservice teachers analyze and select quality picture books in their mathematics lessons, a study was conducted over two semesters during a required field experience component of an undergraduate teacher education program. The preservice teachers were required to use a picture book to explore a mathematical concept in three mathematics-focused lesson plans. Data was collected through preservice teachers’ lesson plan reflections, summative reflections over the experience of integrating picture books and mathematics, and focus group interviews. The qualitative data analysis revealed that in planning mathematics lessons to incorporate quality picture books, preservice teachers most often selected a book based on the topic to be taught or based on previous use by their university instructor. The quality of the selected picture books did not appear to be a critical criterion for selection. As a result, it is important for teacher educators to model ways of assessing and selecting quality picture books and provide opportunities for preservice teachers to incorporate these techniques.

Green chemistry can strongly attract students to chemistry. We, therefore, developed a green chemistry educational game that motivates students at the undergraduate and advanced high school levels to consider green chemistry and sustainability concerns as they design a hypothetical, chemical product. The game is intended for incorporation into any chemistry course for majors and non-majors that teaches sustainability and/or the Principles of Green Chemistry at the undergraduate level. The game is free of charge and encourages students to think like professional chemical designers and to develop a chemical product with respect to function and improved human and environmental health. This computer simulation has been assessed by educators and can be seamlessly integrated into an existing curriculum.

Herein, we provide an overview of a research network that is aimed at fostering interdisciplinary collaboration between chemists and toxicologists with the goal of rationally designing safer commercial chemicals. The collaborative is the Molecular Design Research Network (MoDRN) that was created in 2013 with funding from the EPA-National Science Foundation Networks for Sustainable Molecular Design and Synthesis (NSMDS) program. MoDRN is led by 4 universities, Baylor University, University of Washington, The George Washington University, and Yale University. The overarching goal of the network is to enable and empower the design of safer chemicals based on the fourth Principle of Green Chemistry that states, "chemical products should be designed to preserve efficacy of function while minimizing toxicity."

Integrating literature in mathematics is a powerful strategy used by many teachers to meet the reformative goals outlined by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. This article reports a ...

Despite advances in active learning pedagogy and other methods designed to increase student engagement in the chemistry classroom, retention and engagement issues still persist, particularly with respect to women and minorities underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programs. Relevancy also remains elusive in the chemistry classroom, where real-world issues of social justice, health, and the environment are largely missing from chemistry curricula. As a result, students struggle to understand their role as change agents and global citizens with leadership responsibility toward developing solutions to these justice issues, particularly as they relate to chemistry and manufacturing industries. Green chemistry curriculum developed by groups such as the Molecular Design Research Network, Beyond Benign, Greener Education Materials for Chemists, and others is available for faculty to seamlessly integrate topics of social, health, and environmental justice problem-solving in...

It has been determined that some 60% of wetlands worldwide have been destroyed in the last 100 years, and, for more than a decade, researchers have warned of a global freshwater imperative. In the context of these environmental deteriorations and ecological crises, teaching about environmental issues and ways to preserve the world's environment has become increasingly important at both national and international levels. Additionally, these issues highlight the necessity of developing wetland centers and determining a means for building understanding of wetlands, water conservation, and water reuse. This study investigated the impact of an onsite wetland environmental education (EE) experience on educators’ attitudes and efficacy. Participants were 13 selected educators currently teaching elementary, middle school, and high school level students. Pre- and post-experience data were collected through an environmental teaching perceptions instrument [Ko, A., & Lee, J. C. (2003). Teachers’ perceptions of teach...

Children's literature involving mathematics provides a common, natural context for the sharing of mathematics. To learn more about how preservice teachers included children's literature in their mathematics lessons, a study was conducted over two semesters during a required field experience component of an undergraduate teacher education program. The preservice teachers were required to use a children's literature book to explore a mathematical concept in three mathematics-focused lesson plans. The qualitative data analysis revealed that in planning mathematics lessons to incorporate children's literature, preservice teachers tended to focus on basic approaches. Specifically, the preservice teachers most often used a book as context for review, to develop a concept, or to use with manipulatives. As a result, it is important for teacher educators to provide the opportunity for preservice teachers to learn more about the various ways of integrating literature and provide the necessary support for incorporat...

Questioning is considered a powerful tool in mediating students’ knowledge construction and conceptual understanding. In this qualitative study, the mathematics-focused lesson plans of elementary education prospective teachers provided data to determine the ways that the approach of literature integration in mathematics influenced prospective teachers’ planned questions. All prospective teachers were required to incorporate children’s literature within the mathematics lessons they planned and presented during a field-based teaching experience. Analysis revealed variances in the numbers, types, and foci of prospective teachers’ planned questions. These findings allow speculation that the utilization of mathematics literature integration allowed many of the prospective teachers to create reform-oriented, constructivist mathematics-focused questions and experiences for their students.

Although the importance of field experience is supported and attended to by teacher education programs across the United States, there have been numerous national reports and research findings stressing the need for major improvements in the preparation of teachers with an emphasis on more authentic experiences. Quality field experiences have the potential to advance multiple benefits for participants, and context presents an aspect that may significantly influence the quality of a field experience. Recognition of the importance of field experience in the development of preservice teachers alongside an acknowledgment of the many factors that influence field experiences led to the formulation of this study; discerning the potential influence of contextual variances within two distinct field experiences on preservice teachers' perspectives and beliefs toward mathematics teaching and on their development as mathematics educators. Findings of this qualitative study suggest that contextual variances in field-b...

The integration of children's trade books in the mathematics classroom has experienced a dramatic surge in its popularity; yet, though the positive benefits of this strategy have been well documented, these benefits may only be realized if the literature is of high quality. Utilizing a mathematics trade book evaluation instrument, this inquiry explored the impact of varied backgrounds and perspectives on determinations of quality. Utilizing 30 reviewers from five distinct groups and conducting more than 180 evaluations of six trade books, it was found that the background of the reviewer and the number of reviewers involved in the evaluation affected quality determinations. The results indicate that though instruments such as Hunsader's provide a valuable tool for evaluating mathematics literature, the evaluation process, including the number and the background of those involved in the review, greatly affects evaluation results. Subsequently, it is vital that teachers and other educators who either incorpo...

(2006). A Teacher's Indispensable Qualities: A Freirean Perspective. Journal of Latinos and Education: Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 163-165.

This synopsis centers on Eleanor Duckworth’s ideas about the relationship between education and intellectual development. Specifically, Duckworth described the essence of intellectual development as the “having of wonderful ideas” and the essence of pedagogy as the creation of occasions to “have wonderful ideas.” As opposed to accepting the persistent, pernicious educational belief that there is a single, best way to understand and a single, best way of explaining this understanding, Duckworth determined that all children can come to comparable, equally satisfactory, wonderful understandings when provided occasions to do so.