As I outline the content for the textbooks for General, Organic, and Biochemistry (GOB) and Introduction to Chemistry, I am also keeping a list of topics I want to include in the textbook to tie the content back to the real world. Both of these classes satisfy Goal 10: People and the Environment through the Minnesota State System. In GOB, these topics will include chemical links to health science issues, such as the impact of pesticides and fertilizers on human health and the environment, the impact of Thalidomide when we discuss isomers, and mRNA vaccines when we cover nucleic acids. In the Introduction to Chemistry course, I want to take a more historical perspective, as I love to explore the intersection of science and history. Events I want to highlight in that textbook include the Cuyahoga River Fires, nuclear disasters such as Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, and the Love Canal chemical waste dump. I have been using an assignment on the Cuyahoga River Fires in Introduction to Chemistry for years. Students seem to enjoy the assignment and many have indicated they had never heard of a river that was so polluted it caught fire at least 13 times. My goal is to make the course content more relatable and applicable to students. I want them to understand that education isn’t just about getting a job after graduation, it’s also about being an informed citizen and developing critical thinking skills.
To improve students’ understanding of today’s complex environmental challenges. Students will examine the inter-relatedness of human society and the natural environment. Knowledge of both bio-physical principles and socio-cultural systems is the foundation for integrative and critical thinking about environmental issues.
H5P
I attended the monthly Teaching with H5P webinar organized by the Network for Educational Development (NED). I also considered other uses for H5P in my classes. I identified four case studies to develop interactive content for my online and hybrid courses and am outlining how to best organize them in H5P. I am also constructing regular concept check assignments for students taking Introduction to Chemistry. My goal is to develop simple interactive homework assignments that provide instant feedback for students and allow me to assess students’ understanding and offer additional support as needed. Some faculty already use programs that provide homework to students; however, these programs cost the students money. Additionally, I have used these programs as a student and am unimpressed with them. I think I can improve upon this concept using H5P at no additional cost to the student.
My primary driver for learning H5P and Libretexts is to create course content for students that is free for them to use. Creating concept check questions using H5P is another step in my journey to providing free course content and resources for students.
Books Read
Peak Mind
…the battle for your attention is the battle for the resources to live your life.”
Peak Mind, pg 299
This month, I read Peak Mind: Find Your Focus, Own Your Attention, Invest 12 Minutes a Day by Amishi P. Jha, PhD. This is the October Leadership Read. This book discusses our inability to focus (or lack thereof) and provides scientific evidence supporting the positive effect of mindfulness and meditation on attention. Dr. Jha outlined her work on mindfulness and collaboration with the military, business leaders, and other organizations to help leaders improve their ability to be present. She also provided several tools, including a 4-week plan for using these tools to begin a mindfulness practice.
A note about Leadership Reads: While the books we read in this group aren’t specifically education-related, educators are leaders. The ideas and tools I have gathered from this group over the past 5 years have been invaluable to my growth as an educator and to the guidance and support I can provide my students. I see myself not just as a chemical educator, but also as a coach and mentor to my students. I have a more holistic view of my role with students because of Leadership Reads.
Other Identified Reading
I love to visit bookstores. I keep a map of Midwest Indie Bookstores and visit them whenever I travel. As a result, my library is constantly growing. Below are other science titles I have recently found and hope to read during sabbatical.
- The Devil’s Element by Dan Egan
- Symphony in C: Carbon and the Evolution of (Almost) Everything by Robert M. Hazen
- Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky
- Sugar: The World Corrupted from Slavery to Obesity by James Walvin
- The Story of Carbon Dioxide is the Story of Everything by Peter Brannen
- The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science: A Scientist’s Warning by Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD
Other Learning
The Nobel Conference
I was fortunate to attend the Nobel Conference at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peters, MN on October 7. I have attended this conference many times since moving to Minnesota. While the conference has been live-streamed for the past few years, I find I get much more from the conference when I attend in person.
This year’s topic was Sugar. The speakers chosen provide an interdisciplinary discussion of the year’s topic. I heard four speakers present and purchased several books from the Gustavus Bookstore. My favorite speaker was Dr. Carolyn Bertozzi, researcher at Stanford University and the winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2022. She discussed her research on Glycans: The Sugars Coating Our Cells. Her presentation is an example of spectacular science communication (click link to view video, cued to start at the beginning of her presentation). I was in awe of her ability to break down complex scientific ideas for an audience that included PhDs, students, and community members. I felt smarter just by being in the same room as Dr. Bertozzi. I plan to use her speech in my GOB class, though I haven’t figured out how I want to incorporate it yet.
National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) Presentation
I began work on my presentation for the upcoming NSTA conference in Minneapolis. I will present on how I incorporate ocean acidification as an overarching research project in my General Chemistry II class. I processed data from past semesters, outlined how I use this topic of study to connect chemistry concepts, and gathered instructor resources to share with others online. My primary goal in my presentation is to provide other educators with ideas and resources they can use to incorporate this line of investigation into their chemistry classes.
Syllabus Template Update
In June 2025, I completed a short course on creating accessible documents through the NED. I am using this knowledge as I complete work on the Libretexts and H5P components of my sabbatical project. Additionally, I will be updating all of my classes to meet accessibility guidelines later in my sabbatical.
During this short course, I updated my course syllabus to meet accessibility guidelines. After the course ended, I realized that the syllabus template Riverland provides to faculty needed updating. I updated the syllabus template to meet accessibility guidelines, align with Riverland’s syllabus policy, and consulted with Riverland faculty before submitting the updated template to the Academic Affairs and Standards Council (AASC) for review and approval. The AASC is a faculty-led committee that reviews and approves all curriculum changes. The updated template passed a first read in October 2025 and is on the agenda for final approval at the November 2025 AASC meeting.
References
Jha, A. (2021). Peak Mind: Find Your Focus, Own Your Attention, Invest 12 Minutes a Day. First edition. HarperOne, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers.