Photo by Jennifer Raudebaugh
One could say that Dr. Matt Cremeens takes an interdisciplinary approach to teaching Organic Chemistry. He attempts to integrate psychology and art into his teaching methods, and anecdotal results so far are promising.
Dr. Cremeens came across an article recently that said students tend to retain concepts better if they are challenged immediately after being introduced to the information. That’s why he quizzes his students every day after each of his lectures. “Something about the adrenaline spike that comes from being quizzed is supposed to help students retain the information,” he said. And that’s the goal of the quizzes. He doesn’t collect them, let alone score them, although he provides the solution. That’s not the point. He’s just trying to help his students do better.
It seems to be working. One student, who struggled with the quizzes, indicated that he was going to have to work much harder to do well on the actual exam. “He turned on the after burners and did a fine job on the exam,” Dr. Cremeens said. “It really saved his grade.”
And then there’s Dr. Cremeen’s use of art in the classroom. Organic chemistry students are required to draw and recognize diagrams of molecules. It’s harder than one would think. “It’s kind of like having to learn to write in a new language using a different alphabet,” he said. To help his students with these tasks, Dr. Cremeens gives them basic drawing exercises to help develop their eye-hand coordination.” The goal, in this case, is to help students draw faster and more accurately so that more time can be spent problem solving on exams rather than on drawing.
Dr. Cremeens considers himself to be a learner as well as teacher. “I am a student of the students,” he said. “I’m always interested in learning more effective ways to teach.”
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Story by Carol Bonino, Gonzaga University