Chemistry Solutions

My Aunt Betty lived to be 99, and her doctor attributed her longevity, in no small part, to her innate curiosity. She was always asking why, how, or who. For example, I remember my father once tried to use his laptop to show her a personalized slideshow he had put together. As nice as the slideshow was, I remember Aunt Betty being just as interested in learning about my father’s laptop itself!

I have often heard the recommendation that one should try to learn something new every day. My Aunt Betty didn’t come up with that suggestion, but she did seem to live it.

I also enjoy adhering to it myself — always keeping myself open to learning something new. What I have found, through the years, is that the more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.

I think it is incumbent on us, as teachers, to model that curious mindset for our students. Being willing to admit you don’t know something can be a humbling experience, but it is crucial for us as teachers to show that learning isn’t something that only “happens” in school. We may not learn new chemistry every day, but we can certainly learn something new and interesting every day — as long as we stay curious.

One way that I have found to acquire new chemistry and pedagogy knowledge is to attend professional education conferences. This summer, I spent a few days with several hundred chemistry educators at one such conference, ChemEd, in Golden, Colorado. ChemEd is a biennial conference for chemistry educators held in the summers of odd-numbered years. During even-numbered years, there is a different but equally engaging conference, the Biennial Conference on Chemical Education (BCCE).

Today, both of these conferences attract K-12 chemistry educators as well as those teaching at post-secondary levels, from across the U.S. and around the world. ChemEd initially targeted high school teachers, but has expanded to include pre-high school, while BCCE started with college chemistry education researchers, and has since grown to include K-12 teachers. Two other major differences are that BCCE draws approximately twice the number of educators as does ChemEd, and that BCCE has a lot more presentations involving formal chemistry education research.

ChemEd

The most recent ChemEd event, held at the Colorado School of Mines, offered research-focused presentations, where teachers discussed either how they conducted their research, or how they applied its results. There were also sessions focused on technology integration in teaching, and presentations where educators shared valuable, classroom-ready lessons and activities.

At ChemEd, there’s something for teachers at every point in their careers. For attendees who are either new teachers or who just want more experience with chemistry demonstrations, the AACT lab session, “Teaching Essential Chemistry Content Through Demonstrations” was a welcome offering. It allowed attendees to try some new demos in the safety of a well-stocked lab, with experienced instructors on hand to guide them or serve as sounding boards as they explored their own ideas. Many participants particularly loved the Milk of Magnesia Magic demonstration!

Meanwhile, for more experienced teachers, these very same lab sessions were a chance to learn novel approaches to old challenges that they may not have previously considered. An example of this for me was the PASCO lab session, where we used a drop counter to do a potentiometric titration. As an experienced teacher, I have a tried-and-true titration lab based on conductivity that I love. But realizing that I could use a drop counter to simplify data collection could well become a real game-changer for me. The automated data recording would reduce the time needed to collect data, allowing students more class time for group analysis and discussion.

BCCE

BCCE is sponsored by the ACS’ Division of Chemical Education (DivCHED). Traditionally, BCCE had focused on research in chemistry education at the college level. But over the past several years, organizers have made a concerted effort to include solid programming for teachers of pre-college chemistry, with AACT playing an important and active supporting role.

The design of the programs at BCCE has similarities to that of ChemEd. There are various symposia, which may last from 2-4 hours, that include line-ups of educators who each give a 20-minute presentation, often revolving around a common goal, theme, or focus. There are also hands-on laboratory sessions where participants can learn new educational strategies for either creating or running effective student labs.

While attending BCCE in the summers of 2022 and 2024, I decided to branch out beyond the high school sessions to hear some presentations from college chemistry educators and chemistry education researchers. I enjoy the blending of high school and college science ideas at these conferences, because the college educators bring perspectives that make me think about things a bit differently.

I remember one presentation where a professor talked about a demonstration with a magnetic stirrer, a basic solution with phenolphthalein, and a burning candle — all positioned inside a see-through container. Students were asked to observe the demonstration several times during the semester, with the focus shifting to different content connections each time, such as kinetics, acids, bases, and thermochemistry, to name a few. At the end of the semester, the professor met with each student individually and used the demonstration to spur an oral assessment portion of the final exam. Though I might not use that exact demonstration, the session inspired me to think in new ways about how I use demos, and about the potential of incorporating an oral component in my assessments.

Plan to learn

The author, middle, posing with other educators at ChemEd 2025

When considering options for professional development, teachers often need to think about funding — unless they are fortunate enough to work for a school with a budget that supports teacher learning. Fortunately, there are a variety of grant opportunities that can help support teachers wishing to experience conferences. This fall, the ACS Hach Professional Development Grant will open for applicants, and it is a perfect opportunity to fund professional experiences for teachers — like attending ChemEd, BCCE, or other educational conferences.

As this new school year moves forward, I encourage you to seek out ways to learn new things. Maybe you could attend a science education conference in your state. Maybe you’re fortunate enough to have a conference or a workshop nearby that is specifically for chemistry teachers.

Alternatively, you could even learn from the comfort of your own home. AACT is offering 2-3 webinars each month as part of its free webinar series each school year to support teachers’ professional growth. As an added bonus, you can search the AACT archives and find free-to-watch recordings of more than 200 other webinars on a large variety of topics. Perhaps you could even share some of your own knowledge by submitting a proposal to be a presenter!

As you explore the September 2025 issue of Chemistry Solutions, I hope you are inspired by the many ways our fellow teachers have followed their curiosity. You might even be inspired to share some of what you’ve learned over your career. Do you have a unique or interesting way to answer one of the questions below? Consider submitting an idea for writing your own Chemistry Solutions article, or contributing a classroom resource that you have created. If you have some trouble getting started, we can help!

• Was teaching your first career? Second? Fifth? Read about how staying open to change and to learning new things eventually led to one teacher’s fulfilling teaching career change.
• Do you have a favorite topic or a background that gives you some kind of useful expertise? Learn how a veteran teacher blended a passion from his graduate research work with a science department initiative to build a unique experience to bring his students into the world of science outside the classroom.
• How do you build critical thinking skills? Try out the new Escape Room game from AACT that addresses some early-year topics, such as chemical measurements and laboratory safety, while also requiring students to connect subtle clues to solve a clever puzzle.
• Do your students know when a flask is a better choice than a beaker? The Chemistry Fun activity this month is a card-sort game that goes a step beyond memorizing the names of different items students will use in the lab.
• How do you engage students when doing chemistry demonstrations? AACT’s previously published article, Magic Monday, makes an encore appearance this issue, and is filled with links, ideas, and teacher notes for engaging your students with example demos.
• What are your most effective activities for teaching the nature of science? Read a teacher’s account of how her school in Singapore embraces student research through the International Baccalaureate (IB) program.
• How do you manage to fit everything you need and want to teach into the time that you have available? Check out Take Home Labs, which I wrote a few years ago to share my strategy for how to do more with less time. Included are links to seven of my take-home labs in the AACT Resource Library.

There are plenty of opportunities, both large and small, to develop yourself professionally … all while networking with other chemistry educators and learning new things. All you need to do is stay curious and humble, keep yourself open to new ideas, and maybe apply for a grant!



Aimee Modic
Board President, AACT
2025–2026