Chemistry Students Discover Formula to Teaching By Eric Prater

Chemistry students at the Southwest Campus of Jefferson Community and Technical College tackled a new and exciting challenge. For a change they became teachers instead of students. General Chemistry II students recently completed a community service project. The project’s goal was for students to teach chemistry subjects to a group of either students or coworkers.

Kaya Muller, Instructor of Chemistry, presented this project to students during her 5 years teaching at the Southwest Campus. “By teaching the material to others, students learn the material far better than if they didn’t have to teach it,” she said.

The project was inspired by similar projects presented by Charlie Purvis, Microbiology Instructor. Muller claims most students enjoy it because it takes chemistry to a personal level. “You are able to take a topic, and personalize it.” This makes students more interested in the project.

Student Jonathan Buckman’s project is an example of this. He talked about the use of radioactive iodine for medical purposes. “It’s a good chance to go over material,” Buckman said. “Basically, just get up there and relax, be comfortable answering questions.” His audience consisted of 15 coworkers from Jewish Hospital.

Brandon Ward, another student, also showed his excitement for the project. “I wanted to go back to my old school.” Ward graduated from Holy Cross in Shively in 2008. He planned to give his presentation on gas laws to students there. He is a major in pre-pharmacy, just like Buckman. This is one of the many types of majors students working on this project have pursued.

Many of the students in Muller’s class study for a health-related degree or are working in the field. She says this influenced the topics they chose. “[They] are very relevant for their coworkers. It’s a nice professional development for them.” Other topics chosen were because of their prominence. Popular topics include the periodic table and equilibrium. “Some form of equilibrium is always picked, equilibrium is everywhere.”

Unfortunately, not all the students enjoy the project. A small group of students just treat it as another assignment. Muller expressed their opinions, “They claimed that because they had no desire to be a teacher that forcing them to teach material to people was a waste of time. They could have used that time studying.” However, she believes that teaching the material forces you to look at your subject in a different light. “When you go to teach, you must be prepared to answer questions that you don’t intend to cover,” Muller explained.

Students usually perform well on these projects. In the five years students completed this project, the results were spectacular. Every project has received an A from the supervisor in the audience except for one. “They are all positive,” she said about the evaluations. She has been surprised at the amount of work some students put in them. “The first time, there were students that were spending 50 to 60 hours on it.” There were only a small number of those people. She tells students they can do a good job with only ten hours. “They don’t have to be a work of art.”

Muller enjoys solving puzzles, which led to her teaching chemistry. “A lot of chemistry problems are simply puzzles, I just always thought it was fascinating, how do these chemicals react.” She lets the students create puzzles of their own with the project exam. The project exam is created by students. A project requirement is to create five questions based on their presentation. The questions are then adjusted by Muller if necessary.

She admits that this can be one of the more difficult parts of the project, “It’s difficult to write a good question.” It is usually the student’s first time at attempting to write questions. The students admit how tough writing the questions can be. This leads to a deeper understanding of what a teacher has to go through, another learning experience.

Muller believes that her class requires a level of dedication. “It is doable, but it’s a challenging course.” Her students share the same viewpoint. Ward said, “The class is demanding, you have to dedicate yourself.”

Students pursuing chemistry aren't sure what they need to do sometimes. Muller stresses the point that understanding the material is more important than grades. “You have to understand the branch that you want to go in.” She admits that teaching never even crossed her mind until she was in college. “Quite frankly, through elementary school and high school I’d thought I’d never be a teacher, that it’d be too much work.” Ultimately, students end up appreciating teaching more after completing this project.