Chemistry For Your Life

What does it mean to teach chemistry like a scientist?
In this BCCE Community Conversation preview, Melissa talks with chemistry education researcher Ellen Yezierski about scholarly teaching: making evidence-guided decisions about how we teach and how students learn. They discuss why content knowledge alone isn’t enough, how educators can improve their teaching without becoming full-time researchers, and why some of the best chemistry teaching ideas come from asking better questions about learning.

 

Important Links

• bcce.divched.org/2026


• YouTube.com/@chemforyourlife


• chemforyourlife.com

 

Time Stamps

0:00 – Why Melissa loves BCCE and chemistry education
2:50 – Meet Ellen Yezierski and the idea of scholarly teaching
4:00 – Moving beyond intuition and using evidence to improve teaching
6:35 – What chemistry educators can learn from cognitive science and education research
8:30 – The biggest challenge: finding time to improve your teaching
11:00 – Why conferences and community matter for innovation
13:45 – Barriers to evidence-based teaching and the risk of changing what’s familiar
16:20 – Applying the same scientific scrutiny to old teaching methods
19:40 – A practical first step toward scholarly teaching
21:00 – Finding useful teaching research without getting overwhelmed
25:20 – Meet the panelists and the ideas they’ll bring to BCCE
29:10 – How the Community Conversation will work
32:35 – Why good teachers are made, not born
34:00 – Filling your teaching cup back up at BCCE

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#061

Be honest. Have you ever glued yourself with super glue? Everyone should accidentally make that mistake at least once, so you can literally feel the impressive stickiness of super glue. Well today, you can learn about the chemistry within super glue, without putting any fingers or other body parts at risk! Let's do this.

 

References from this episode

1. Introduction to Polymers R.J. Young and P. A. Lovell


2. http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/superglue/superglueh.htm


3. https://www.chemistryworld.com/podcasts/cyanoacrylate/6261.article


4. https://pubsapp.acs.org/cen/whatstuff/86/8624sci5.html


5. https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/education/students/highschool/chemistryclubs/March_ChemClubCal.pdf


6. https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/education/resources/highschool/chemmatters/articlesbytopic/bonding/chemmatters-dec2006-glue.pdf
   
   

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AI is everywhere in education right now, but is that the only technology chemistry educators should be thinking about?

In this bonus BCCE preview episode, Melissa talks with Resa Kelly about technology in chemistry education, from visualizations and videos to flipped classrooms and AI. What do we actually want students to be able to do in a technology-rich world? How should that shape our teaching? And how can educators stay curious without feeling pressured to adopt every new tool that comes along?

 

Important Links

• bcce.divched.org/2026


• YouTube.com/@chemforyourlife


• chemforyourlife.com

 

Time Stamps

• 0:00 – Introducing the Community Conversation on technology


• 1:11 – Resa Kelly’s journey into chemistry education research


• 2:20 – How visualizations and animations help students learn chemistry


• 3:31 – Why this conversation is about more than just AI


• 5:50 – Technology already shaping chemistry classrooms


• 7:20 – Staying curious even if you’re skeptical of new technology


• 9:10 – Time constraints and practical barriers for teachers


• 10:00 – Creative ways educators are using AI


• 14:15 – Teaching students to evaluate trustworthy information


• 17:13 – The central question: What should students be able to do in a technology-rich environment?


• 18:20 – Is technology helping students learn or just complete tasks?


• 19:00 – If AI gives answers, what are we really teaching?


• 24:00 – Why these conversations matter beyond BCCE


• 28:15 – Assumptions, AI, and trusting students


• 30:05 – Final thoughts and invitation to the conference conversation

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CSI makes forensic science look fast, easy, and almost magical. But how much of that is actually true?This week we’re joined by forensic chemist and graduate student Nicki Stewart to answer your questions about forensic science. We talk about crime shows, fingerprints, toxicology, illicit drugs, and what really happens inside a forensic laboratory. Plus, Nicki shares what surprised her most when she worked in a real crime lab and why forensic science is often much slower (and more complicated) than TV would have you believe.

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Time Stamps

• 0:00 – Do crime shows get forensics right?


• 1:20 – Nicki’s background in forensic chemistry and toxicology


• 6:15 – From forensic chemistry to chemistry education


• 9:10 – The “CSI Effect” and common TV misconceptions


• 12:30 – Breaking Bad, Project Hail Mary, and science accuracy in entertainment


• 14:10 – Transitioning from clinical chemistry to forensic chemistry


• 17:40 – The biggest misconceptions about forensic work


• 20:20 – Forensic chemistry vs. forensic biology


• 22:05 – How fingerprints actually form


• 26:35 – Can fingerprints be removed?


• 26:55 – How forensic labs identify illicit drugs


• 31:10 – Which shows portray science most accurately?


• 33:00 – What’s coming in our next forensic chemistry episode

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References from the Episode:

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Katrina Barnum-Huckins

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Brian Kimball

Kristina Gotfredsen

Timothy Parker

Steven Boyles

Chris Skupien

Chelsea B

Avishai Barnoy

Hunter Reardon

Support this podcast on Patreon
Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

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What happens when the world’s largest gathering of chemistry educators decides to try something new?
This summer we’re partnering with the Biennial Conference on Chemical Education (BCCE) for a special series of Monday episodes. In this kickoff conversation, Melissa sits down with conference organizers to talk about the vision behind this year’s event, why community conversations are replacing traditional keynotes, and how chemistry educators are thinking about the future of teaching and learning. Whether you’re attending BCCE or just curious about how people learn chemistry, this episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at one of the biggest conversations happening in chemistry education today.

 

Important Links

• bcce.divched.org/2026


• YouTube.com/@chemforyourlife


• chemforyourlife.com

 

Time Stamps

0:00 – Introducing our BCCE summer series
2:00 – Why Melissa loves BCCE
4:50 – Meet Ariel Vaughn and Ginger Schultz
7:00 – What are Community Conversations?
8:20 – Replacing keynote speakers with interactive discussions
9:00 – How the conversation topics were selected
13:40 – Empowering the community to shape the conference
14:40 – Previewing this year’s Community Conversation topics
16:00 – Neurodiversity, equity, and communities of practice
19:50 – Why community matters in chemistry education
25:20 – Meet BCCE General Chair Sam Pazicni
28:30 – The vision behind this year’s conference
29:00 – “Reflecting Back and Marching Forward” explained
32:30 – The six conference contexts and Community Conversations
37:20 – Who should attend BCCE?
39:00 – Tips for first-time conference attendees
41:00 – Remote attendance and recorded sessions
45:20 – Planning your schedule with the conference app
50:40 – What to wear and what to pack
57:30 – Madison food recommendations and cheese curds
1:03:50 – Special events, parking tips, and final advice
1:08:20 – Final BCCE details and registration information

Podcast Transcript

Support this podcast on Patreon

Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

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