Towns, Marcy H. - Purdue University - Department of Chemistry

个人简介

B.A., 1985, Linfield College; M.S., 1990, Purdue University; Ph.D., 1994, Purdue University

研究领域

There exists a rich literature regarding the content and pedagogy of laboratory, both in chemistry and in related disciplines such as physics. Currently we seek to characterize the diversity of faculty goals for the undergraduate chemistry laboratory, the array of strategies faculty implement in the name of those goals, and the assessments faculty utilize to measure the extent to which they meet those goals. Factors such as type and size of institution, size of program, the use of TAs, the chemistry discipline (organic versus physical chemistry), and the level of course (lower versus upper division) are being explored. We plan to develop one or more taxonomies to convey the findings of this research, such that faculty can use these taxonomies to characterize their current undergraduate laboratory environment, identify the target states they wish to move to, and the key intermediate states in between their initial and final conditions. In the future we will use this research to explore student goals for undergraduate chemistry laboratory as well. An on-going research interest has been small-group learning, especially how it is constructed and implemented in an on-line environment. The field of computer supported collaborative learning is an emerging one, and we have contributed to the literature in this field through the “Physical Chemistry On-Line” project.

近期论文

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Bain, K., Moon, A., Mack, M., & Towns, M. H. (21014). A Review of Research on the Teaching and Learning of Thermodynamics at the University Level. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, DOI: 10.1039/C4RP00011K. Auchincloss, L. C., Laursen, S. L., Branchaw, J. L., Eagan, K., Graham, M., Hanauer, D. I., Lawrie, G., McLinn, C. M., Pelaez, N., Rowland, S., Towns, M., Trautmann, N. M., Varma-Nelson, P., Weston, T. J., and Dolan, E. L. (2014). Assessment of Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences: A Meeting Report. CBE-Life Sciences, 2014, 13(1), 29-40; doi:10.1187/cbe.14-01-0004. Towns, M. (2013). New Guidelines for Chemistry Education Research Manuscripts and Future Directions of the Field. Journal of Chemical Education. 90 (9), pp 1107–1108. DOI: 10.1021/ed400476f. Bruck, A, & Towns, M. (2013). Development, Implementation, and Analysis of a National Survey of Faculty Goals for Undergraduate Chemistry Laboratory. Journal of Chemical Education. 90, 685?693. dx.doi.org/10.1021/ed300371n. Harle, M & Towns, M. H. (2013). Students’ Understanding of Primary and Secondary Protein Structure: Drawing Secondary Protein Structure Reveals Student Understanding Better Than Simple Recognition of Structures. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education. Vol. 41, No. 6, pp. 396-376. DOI 10.1002/bmb.20719 Harle, M. & Towns, M. (2012). Students’ Understanding of External Representations of the Potassium Ion Channel Protein Part 1: Affordances and Limitations of Ribbon Diagrams, Vines, and Hydrophobic/Polar Representations. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education. Vol. 40, No. 6, pp. 349–356. DOI 10.1002/bmb.20641. Harle, M. & Towns, M. (2012). Students’ Understanding of External Representations of the Potassium Ion Channel Protein Part II: Structure–Function Relationships and Fragmented Knowledge. Biochemisty and Molecular Biology Education, Vol. 40, No. 6, pp. 357–363. DOI 10.1002/bmb.20620. Becker, N., Rasmussen, C., Sweeney, G., Wawro, M., Towns, M., & Cole, R. (2013). Reasoning using particulate nature of matter: An example of a sociochemical norm in a university-level physical chemistry class. Chem. Education Res. and Pract. 14, pp 81-94. DOI: 10.1039/C2RP20085F. Lowery Bretz, S., Fay, M., Bruck, L., Towns, M. (2013). What Faculty Interviews Reveal about Meaningful Learning in the Undergraduate Chemistry Laboratory. J. Chem. Ed., 90, pp 281-288. DOI: 10.1021/ed300384r. Shadle, S. E., Brown, E. C., Towns, M. H., & D. L. Warner (2012). Rubric for Assessing Students’ Experimental Problem-Solving Ability. J. Chem. Educ., 2012, 89 (3), pp 319–325. DOI: 10.1021/ed2000704. Towns, M. and Kraft, A. (2012). The 2010 Rankings of Chemical Education and Science Education Journals by Faculty Engaged in Chemical Education Research. J. Chem. Educ., 2012, 89 (1), pp 16–20. DOI: 10.1021/ed100929g. Raker, J. R., & Towns, M. (2012). Designing undergraduate-level organic chemistry instructional problems: Seven ideas from a problem-solving study of practicing synthetic organic chemists. Chemistry Education Research and Practice. Advance Article. DOI: 10.1039/C1RP90073K. Raker, J. R. & Towns, M. (2012). Problem types in synthetic organic chemistry research: Implications for the development of curricular problems for second-year level organic chemistry instruction. Chemistry Education Research and Practice. Advance Article. DOI: 10.1039/C2RP90001G. Towns, M., Raker, J.R., Becker, N., Harle, M. & Suttcliff, J. (2012). The biochemistry tetrahedron and the development of the taxonomy of biochemistry external representaitons (TOBER), Chemistry Education. Research and Practice, Advance Article. DOI: 10.1039/c2rp00014h. Becker, N., Towns, M. (2012). Students' understanding of mathematical expressions in physical chemistry contexts: An analysis unsing Sherin's symbolic forms. Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., Advance Article. DOI: 10.1039/C2RP00003B. Cole, R., Becker, N., Towns, M. H., Sweeny, G., Wawro, M., & Rasmussen, C. (2012). Adapting a methodology from mathematics education research to chemistry education research: Documenting collective activity. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 10, 193-211. Bruck, L. B., Towns, M., & Bretz, S. L. (2010). Faculty perspectives of the undergraduate chemistry laboratory: Goals and obstacles to success. Journal of Chemical Education, 87(12), 1416-1424. Harle, M., & Towns, M. (2010). A review of spatial ability literature, its connection to chemistry, and implications for instruction. Journal of Chemical Education, 88 (3), 351–360 Holme, T., Bretz, S. L., Cooper, M., Lewis, J., Paek, P., Pienta, N. J., et al. (2010). Enhancing the role of assessment in curriculum reform in chemistry. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 11(2), 92-97. Raker, J. R., & Towns, M. H. (2010). Benchmarking problems used in second year level organic chemistry instruction. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 11(1), 25-32.