Chemistry Education

Chemistry Education Research (or CER) is concerned with teaching and learning in chemistry, investigated through a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods. Researchers in chemistry education explore a broad range of areas, including mechanisms by which students construct understanding of chemistry principles and barriers that impede that construction; the development of instruments that measure understanding, attitudes, identity, and other affective constructs; how evidence about student learning can be incorporated into curriculum design; and how to measure the impact of curricular transformations. Graduate students in chemistry education may specialize in a variety of chemistry subdisciplines as appropriate for their project. For example, a student intent on characterizing organic chemistry learning environments may benefit from enrolling in a graduate-level physical organic chemistry course. In addition to chemistry coursework, it is expected that graduate students in chemistry education will enroll in appropriate methods courses in the Department of Educational Psychology and/or the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at UW. Training in CER is useful for a whole host of careers including science policy advisor, CER-focused R1 professor, high school teacher, professor at primarily undergraduate institution, curriculum developer, science education consultant and program officer. Students who specialize in CER may also choose to conduct research with faculty from other paths.