Title: Rethinking how we teach organic chemistry: Innovations afforded by universal design

Abstract: 

Using sign language to convey a concept or describe a transition state is a powerful way for students to think about the electron pushing formalisms we write on paper and recognize mechanistic trends. Using our hands as models transforms the two-dimensional static framework of writing symbolic drawings on our page into 3-D opportunities for students to conceptualize a molecule or even a transition state. The Sign Language Incorporation in Chemistry Education (SLICE) project was initiated by a group of faculty and Deaf/Hard of Hearing (D/HH) students at the Rochester Institute of Technology to address the language vacuum of STEM signs in organic chemistry. The result of our work has had a positive impact on the classroom culture and performance gains of D/HH students taking the organic chemistry courses.  Now, efforts have begun to address STEM signs in general chemistry and biochemistry. Our studies are also now exploring the impact of universal design across all students in the organic chemistry curriculum.   

Bio:

Dr. Christina Goudreau Collison is a Professor of Chemistry at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and, since 2017, the President of REActivities, LLC. She has written a student-guided organic chemistry lab textbook called REActivities, and co-authored the student-guided Chemistry and Culture Lab textbook serving as the pedagogy expert. Dr. Goudreau is also the pioneer of the Sign Language Incorporation in Chemistry Education (SLICE) project, which seeks to make chemical sciences more accessible to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (D/HoH) community. Her team developed a specialized sign language lexicon that greatly changed the classroom landscape for D/HoH students taking organic chemistry and the results were published in J. Chem. Educ. The sign lexicon is disseminated via the website www.ASLcore.org and www.reactivities.org. Training videos for interpreters, students, and other instructors are found on both her website as well as her YouTube channel. Her efforts as an ally and creating inclusive experiences in the lab and the classroom have resulted in an RIT Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching and gained recognition in Nature and Nature Reviews Chemistry. For this groundbreaking work, her team earned the 2022 Royal Society of Chemistry Diversity and Inclusion Prize.