Research and Practice in Chemistry Education Advances from the 25th IUPAC International Conference on Chemistry Education 2018

Madeleine Schultz has completed significant projects in chemistry education that have generated important practical outcomes for tertiary teachers and have had a direct impact on the teaching practices of many Australian chemistry academics. She founded the Chemistry Discipline Network, an active community of practice of chemistry educators in Australia. Her recent work characterises the practices of expert teachers and collated teaching strategies to accelerate the development of novice tertiary chemistry teachers. In 2017 she was awarded a Citation from the Chemistry Education Division of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute. She moved to Deakin University in 2018.

Siegbert Schmid’s research interests at the University of Sydney’s School of Chemistry lie in the synthesis and structural characterisation of aperiodic and other materials with potential technological applications. At the same time, he supports a chemistry education research group, supervising both PhD and honours students. The focus of his education research is improving current teaching and assessment practices to demonstrate learning outcomes for tertiary level students. He was awarded the Chemistry Education Division of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute Commemorative Medal in 2016.

Gwen Lawrie is an Associate Professor at the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences (SCMB) at the University of Queensland (UQ). Successfully translating from a bench chemistry research career to chemistry education research in 2006, her projects address the diversity and engagement of students through blended learning environments, collaborative inquiry tasks; and mechanisms for provision of formative feedback to support self-regulated learning in online environments. She is the recipient of a 2013 Australian Teaching Excellence Award and, in her role as Director of First Year Chemistry Curriculum & Assessment, led the teaching team to a 2017 National Award for Programs that Enhance Learning.