The Non-Conventional Chemist - American Chemical Society

Chapter 19

The Non-Conventional Chemist

Downloaded by UNIV OF FLORIDA on October 27, 2017 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date (Web): October 26, 2017 | doi: 10.1021/bk-2017-1256.ch019

Ashley Neybert* Independence Science, 3000 Kent Ave., West Lafayette, Indiana 47906, United States *E-mail: [email protected]

Who can be a chemist? While many of us would like to proudly declare to students that they can be anything they’d like to, our teaching style often sends a very different message. Addressing the issues of accessibility, not only for those with disabilities, but also for those who learn differently than what the standard teaching model gives is imperative to making the statement to students that they can make success a reality and end the norm of those who manage to make it through despite the current system. This article also provides advice and guidance to teachers who provide instruction to non-conventional chemistry students.

Introduction When shown the magic of chemistry, many students aspire to become a chemist themselves or at least have an interest in the sciences. Yet for some reason, many of us have also witnessed that excitement dissolve. This is especially true amongst disabled students. While we like to promote the illusion of inclusivity, the truth is many students with disabilities, and other students, who simply do not fit into the cookie-cutter mold we have set up at many institutions, are discriminated against. It may be directly based on a profiling of one’s potential abilities or the more common and dangerous form: accidental discrimination. This accidental discrimination is frequently caused by the curriculum, which will be discussed later. I myself have been a victim to both types of discrimination as a blind autistic person who frequently experiences debilitating migraines, as well as several lesser disabilities. I am the non-conventional chemist that no one ever expected to succeed.

© 2017 American Chemical Society Nelson and Cheng; Diversity in the Scientific Community Volume 2: Perspectives and Exemplary Programs ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.


The Non-Conventional Student in the Classroom and Laboratory How many scientists do you know that have disabilities? Unless you are actively searching for them, that number is likely fairly low. Many assume that these already dismal numbers are always perpetuated by the existence of those who outright state that they believe those with disabilities do not belong within the classroom. While those kinds of people do in fact exist, the truth is in fact that the the more likely cause of this is teachers that wish to include these students but display an unconscious bias towards them as a result of simply being overwhelmed by how to accommodate them. Some teachers have no idea what to do with a disabled student and don’t know whom to ask. Others believe they have an idea of what to do and have done their research, but while they are more informed, they are often neglecting a student’s individual needs in favor of what is frequently seen as good for those with a specific disability as a whole. Through this practice, even teachers who have good intentions can scare the student away from their field. The solution to this is that we need to have teachers that are more informed while appreciating that a student’s particular disability is simply a part of them which must be dealt with on an individual basis. The only true expert on a student’s disability is the student. There is nothing special about the disability in and of itself that lowers a student’s ability to succeed; it is just something that might require a slightly different approach to accommodate. For example, in some cases a first-generation college student might need a little extra help at first, or they might not. There is nothing about the fact that a student is a first-generation college student that would change their chance of success with the proper amount of help just as there is nothing impeding the success of a disabled student with the right amount of help. The key here though is to properly determine how much help a student needs to achieve success, without babying them or stifling their potential in an attempt to make their life better. A frequent example of said stifling is experienced with blind and visually impaired students. This is commonly rooted in the fact that many people assume that if a student is blind it means that they have no vision whatsoever. On the contrary, there are many blind people who have what is often referred to as residual vision. Though this residual vision might be rather blurry, in some cases it is still of benefit as long as the student knows when they can and cannot rely on this vision. Many times, this is found in the classroom environment as the ever complicated question, “What format should I use for the papers to be given to my blind or low vision student?”. This is complicated as many people want to go directly to audio, but it is important to remember that the loss of vision does not necessarily mean that a student is an audio learner. Okay, then perhaps if the student still has some vision large print might be the best option. This is when it is imperative to ask your student what they need specifically, as large print can be defined as anything 14 point and larger. It is equally imperative that the student should be specific otherwise the following scenario might ensue: At one point I had told my instructor that I needed large print, but the first paper I recieved was a font that, while still defined as large print, was still too small for me to read at length without 206 Nelson and Cheng; Diversity in the Scientific Community Volume 2: Perspectives and Exemplary Programs ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.


getting a headache. When I asked again for them to make it larger, I got back papers with one large letter per page with a blank page to denote word spacing. While I could in fact read the second version, it took so much time to comprehend an entire problem that by the time I read the whole thing I had often forgotten the beginning of the problem. This scenario could have been circumvented had I simply given specific directions to the instructor. Thus, it is important to remember that the student needs to be as involved as possible in their own learning since ambiguous terms make it hard for teachers. Another useful avenue to consider of course is Braille (1). It is important not to discourage a student from using Braille even if they have residual vision since for many, myself included, print reading is slow, but possible, yet after awhile it begins to cause mental fatigue and sometimes eye pain or headaches. If a student can read Braille and feels comfortable with it, I suggest this option as the student can then focus the mental power that would be used to read print onto solving the problem itself. Do note however that getting things converted to Braille by the Access office, or whatever department students with disabilities go through for accommodations, frequently takes time. If there is a blind or low vision student coming to your class, you need to know as soon as possible; at least a four-month lead is highly desirable so that the student can have the text on time. Another example of where it is important for a blind or visually impaired student to know when they can and cannot rely on their vision is in the laboratory. In my case, I know I can successfully distinguish between colors of the indicator bromothymol blue when it changes from yellow to blue; however, for the commonly used indicator phenolphthalein, I cannot successfully rely on my sight to distinguish the initial pink color from the colorless form without over-titrating it. For this I revert to what is referred to as alternative techniques, or simply doing something in a different way than what is considered typical. For the phenolphthalein example, I have many options at my disposal I could: 1) Put a darker piece of paper behind the reaction in order to enhance the color contrast 2) Use a drop counter for the reaction 3) Use a sighted assistant to tell me if the color has changed 4) Use a color identifier (a tool that announces the color of an object in real time). It is important to remember though that while all these options might be available to me, they will not be workable for all students, hence it is critical to check each individual student’s needs. It is also important to remember that while a sighted assistant might be beneficial, it is important not to rely too heavily on this type of assistance. An assistant is to be used for verification purposes only, such as to answer the questions “Could you tell me when this beaker is half full?” or “What does the mixture currently look like?”. One should never have the assistant or a lab partner doing all of the work and the blind or visually impaired student should never be sitting on the sidelines and only taking notes or collecting data from others! 207 Nelson and Cheng; Diversity in the Scientific Community Volume 2: Perspectives and Exemplary Programs ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.


It is useful to remember that stifling occurs in many other populations as well. For example, a high functioning autistic student or a student with autism might want to know in advance if there are going to be loud noises, hence this should not be left as a surprise, lest you chance scaring the student away from what could be a passion. Another precaution that is often needed with high functioning autistic students or those with autism is the fine balance between an interest (which is good) and an obsession (which is not for classroom time). It is difficult when you have a student so excited about learning that they want to ask a million questions. You want to keep this passion alive, but it is important that the student understands that office hours are a much better time for these questions. Frequently, those with autism and a specific interest may ask questions that are above the level of their peers and potentially beyond even the scope of a specific course itself. It is important that the student’s interest is still piqued while not mortifying the other students with things that are above their level, but which they might feel the need to understand since the material was discussed. The easiest way to curtail this problem, while encouraging the student, is to simply tell the student privately where they can get the information they seek. For instance, you can state, “That is a wonderful question! That topic isn’t addressed until (insert name of class or degree this is covered in here) so the best way to find out is to do some research right now, and then take (insert whatever courses are needed to get to that class or degree here) in order to find out!” This gives the student a goal while not requiring you to answer questions that might not fully be in your expertise, as well as preventing the other students in the class from becoming overwhelmed. There are any number of instances and circumstances where a student might accidentally be stifled. All in all the basic thing that is essential to remember is that any student, when given the right amount of help and patience, has the potential to succeed. It is important to understand that success isn’t always a one-size-fits-all goal.

Balancing the High Achieving and the Struggling Student As stated earlier, success is not a one-size-fits-all goal and every student can be successful. Now what on earth does that mean? Simply stated, success for one might not be the same as what is defined as success for another. Perhaps who you consider your best student in your class always gets high marks on everything and perhaps who you consider your worst student always makes bad marks. Perhaps the second student is not even passing, yet it is possible by my definition that the first student is not successful and the second student is. This is possible in that while the first student always gets high marks, perhaps he or she already knows all of the material; he or she was not successful as our goal as teachers is to help a student learn and if no learning was done we have failed in our efforts. As for the second student, even if ultimately he or she ends up failing the class, it is possible that the student has tried his or her hardest and took some new information away from the class. To me, success is not based upon marks but what is gained. Keep in mind that marks are still very important for classification purposes but they are not the sole definition of success. In other words, if a student gains some knowledge 208 Nelson and Cheng; Diversity in the Scientific Community Volume 2: Perspectives and Exemplary Programs ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.


of a discipline in a class, it is a success as now they have at least have a base to build more knowledge upon which makes it easier to obtain a workable knowledge of a subject that can be used in life. Now comes the tricky part: balancing that high-marks overachiever and the low-marks struggling student while making sure they are both successful. This is a tricky balance as every classroom regardless of student abilities is a chaotic mixture of that student that might be the next Einstein all the way to that student that you secretly question how they ever made it past the prerequisites to get into your class. As many usually do, it is useful to give a sort of pre-quiz in order to determine what students do and do not know in your class. As someone who has been on the receiving end of this, I offer the caveat that it is very important to make sure that students with disabilities have the opportunity to take such a pre-quiz with the proper accommodations! It does not matter if the pre-quiz is worth a portion of the grade that you consider inconsequential or even if it has no weight on the final grade at all; there is no better way to freak out a student and turn them off from your class than to give a pre-quiz without proper accommodations. Never try to convince them that they should take the pre-quiz without their accomidations. Not only does that chance messing up your results but also potentially traumatizes the student. Many of my instructors always tried to counter this by the fact that they could throw out those results, they wanted to keep such an exam a surprise so students didn’t try to study things at the last minute, or even that they wanted to keep the exam under “standard conditions” only. These are poor excuses as how would you feel if your scores were the ones to be purged from what is supposed to create the norm of the class? Excluding people from your data set not only invalidates your intentions to find the norm of your entire class’s knowledge, it also sends the message that said students and their success are unimportant to you. I am also aware that many standardized tests throw out numbers for those with “non-standard conditions” which could include anything from having it in another format such as Braille or having extra time, but I have never understood this practice as students who receive these accommodations have gone through numerous hoops in order to get these accommodations which have often been medically determined not to give the student an advantage but to level the playing field and provide equal access of that material that the other students have. If we truly believe this is the case, then we might as well be throwing away data points at random since all students are on a level playing field and if we do not believe this is the case then it is a duty as teachers to ensure that every student gets a fair chance and advocate that these systems are changed. These tests may still be given as a surprise, but simply ask in advance if any students need testing services; if so, they please schedule with the appropriate office to be there when you plan to give this pre-quiz. You do not need to tell them what is on the pre-quiz just that this is your policy for the class. If word gets out to the other students about some form of an exam, there need not be any worry as no one knows what to study for anyway, and if they do try to study, is it really a harm to you that the student looked over material for your class in advance? Once you have surveyed your middle ground, I suggest looking out for the outliers. Many instructors look out for the struggling students, but these are not the only students you need to keep an eye on; you also need to watch the high 209 Nelson and Cheng; Diversity in the Scientific Community Volume 2: Perspectives and Exemplary Programs ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.


achievers. Remember that we are counting success as what is gained from the course so simply suggesting tutoring for struggling students is not enough; there should also be tutoring for the overachiever. Note that these two are not the same type of tutoring though: the one for the struggling student is what one might traditionally think of as tutoring while tutoring for high achievers might be inviting students to special topics seminars that are more in-depth than class work or even asking your students what they are interested in within your subject and holding discussions that are as shallow or in-depth as those in attendance would care for them to be. Another tip would be that since many students associate the words “tutoring” and “office hours” with things that are only necessary when at or near the verge of failing, try simply referring to them as something along the lines of “lecture recaps” or “(insert topic) take two” for the struggling students and “digging deeper” or “enhanced discovery sessions” for the high achieving tutoring sessions as well as office hours. Basically, call them anything that does not infer that the student is failing by going. I remember how for me the connotations of office hours and tutoring had managed to make such a deep impression of negativity ahead of time that at first I was terrified to meet my instructor lest they mark me as stupid for “needing” to come in. Once that stereotype is superseded though, many students, myself included, find such a resource invaluable.

The Battle of Interest and Motivation versus Innate Ability Now that we have become masters at balancing struggling and high achieving students, we still need a better way to classify which of our students fit into each of these groups. This is where the battle of interest and motivation versus innate ability lies. Now you might not have even been aware that such a battle existed within your classroom, but this is what could define a struggling student from an overachiever as well as adding a murky gray area between these two camps. First we have the student who is innately gifted in a subject area, so gifted that they can get cocky or even bored in class. Then we have the student that is for whatever reason very interested in a topic and through this interest is often motivated to learn but does not have an innate ability within that subject. Most students fall in between these two categories but we still must figure out how to deal with the two extremes. It is important to know that as stated earlier both of these types of students can be successful and some of them might even surprise you in terms of how successful they can really be. It is important to keep the students with an innate ability entertained and focused on learning. This is frequently taken care of the same way that was suggested for the high achieving student, but another thing to watch for is the student that solely appears to have an innate ability. It is possible that a student might have already encountered some of the course topics somewhere else in life and thus appears to understand them perfectly but may not have such an ability for the whole class. It is important to watch for this and make sure that the students you thought had it down do so only for a time and then they fall by the wayside later on in the semester as by that point they may be reluctant to ask you for help. 210 Nelson and Cheng; Diversity in the Scientific Community Volume 2: Perspectives and Exemplary Programs ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.


The best way I have found to watch for this are small classroom quizzes that focus not on getting an answer itself but how to do each of the steps in a problem, i.e., grade based on shown work and not simply the answer. Even though this takes longer, it is often well worth the effort in order to know where it is that your students are struggling or confused. It is important though to make sure that you are grading on the individual student’s method and not necessarily just on the method you taught. It is useful to teach students that science requires free thinking and problem-solving and that your way is often not the only one. Who knows, by doing this you might even discover a method you would rather teach in the future. Now we have the struggling student. All too often, people think that “struggling student”, “bad student”, and “student with poor grades” are synonyms, but this is not always the case. A struggling student is simply a student that for one reason or another is having a harder time learning the material. This can happen for many reasons including but not limited to a student that has way too many life-related responsibilities outside of your class, students with disabilities, students who have different learning styles, as well as the students that just don’t care. As with every student, this needs to be dealt with on an individual basis, but there are some things you can do to help with struggles. Students with responsibilities outside of class might need help sometimes with deadlines, but usually many of these students find it helpful simply knowing that you understand that it is hard. Sometimes simply suggest that the counselor’s office is there if it is needed. Having a disability can be difficult in any classroom and these students are more likely to fall into the category of struggling than most, not due to lack of ability but for lack of the proper tools for assistance towards success. Many of these students have been told that they cannot do what they want for whatever reason and it is frequently difficult for a student not to simply believe them. When I was working on my undergraduate degree, I fell into the struggling student category. Based on the common misconception that not having a disability somehow made you better, I spent most of my time almost failing out of class because I was trying to pass as the conventional run-of-the-mill student and ignored the fact that I needed help. I was lucky in that I had a wonderful instructor who not only tolerated my endless questions as I tried to understand things in office hours, but who also took the time to help me understand that my differences did not make me stupid, simply unique so it was okay to accept who I am and get accommodations. I think it is important to do the same kind of thing in making sure to have patience with your students and letting them know there is no shame in using whatever approved accommodations they need in order to be as successful as possible. It is also important to remember that even if they do not have any form of disability, some students simply learn differently than the way presented in class. For instance there might be one student that struggles in a lecture class because they learn better in a hands-on environment such as a laboratory. It does not always work, but I have always found it helpful for both instructor and student to try to have the information presented in multiple ways within the classroom such as maybe doing slides on one day and another day presenting the same concept with 211 Nelson and Cheng; Diversity in the Scientific Community Volume 2: Perspectives and Exemplary Programs ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.


a demonstration or song when possible. You can also let students know that they are welcome to come into office hours so that you might be able to help more with their learning style. Lastly, there is the student that is most closely associated with being called “struggling”, and that is the student that for one reason or another does not care. Maybe someone else is paying for this student’s school and they want to party, maybe your class is something that they think is not relevant to their major, or perhaps they have had a bad experience with your field. This is where it is important to remember that our definition for success was that something was gained by the student. I personally think even if a student fails the class but learned something from it, even if that something was that your field is definitely not the right one for them, that there was some form of success. I have met many teachers whose main goal is to get all of their students interested in their subject. As much as we would all love it if all of our students decided to become Chemistry majors at the end of our class because we were so inspirational, that is simply unreasonable to hope for and seems to put too much stress on the instructors trying to convince students to love their field. My perspective is that I would rather have students come into my class thinking that they want to be chemists and leave deciding they would rather work in another discipline because they have discovered they are not as into it as they thought than to have a student try to push through something they do not enjoy.

The Non-Conventional Teacher Many times we focus so much on our students that we forget that the same diversity of our students is also present in our instructor populations. I have known many instructors who do not fit into people’s ideas of a conventional teacher due to various differences be it ethnicity, disability, or something else entirely. These instructors often have a hard time convincing both students and other staff that they are capable of completing their work despite the fact they were hired for their job and therefore qualified. Many of these instructors need only to be accepted as fellow professionals but in some classes there will be differences in the way they teach or run their classroom. As I have been a TA for classes in both Biology and Chemistry, I have made several accommodations that my students must follow in order to make my teaching as effective as possible for both the students and myself. When I teach classes, students must state their names for attendance as well as when they have a question if they would like to be counted as present and they would like their question answered (2). Despite how often I repeat this rule, there is always the student that gets counted absent because he or she raises their hand instead. I see this as a show of how important it is to follow rules especially in a laboratory for the safety of those around them. Some students comment that they like that people have to state their names because it helps them get to know their classmates as well. Next everyone has to announce if they are carrying things in the lab as they walk through. For instance as students walk through my lab you hear things like “Coming behind you with a beaker of sulfuric acid.” This is not only helpful for 212 Nelson and Cheng; Diversity in the Scientific Community Volume 2: Perspectives and Exemplary Programs ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.


me, but also helps prevent accidents because as we know even sighted people have blind spots or get distracted. This also helps eliminate wondering what was in a beaker if an accident were to happen thus minimizing injury. Students also get better training in how to understand their experiment through descriptions. There are so many times that students simply want an answer so they try to show you something and ask what they did wrong. More frequently than not their reply is met by the fact that I cannot tell what it is they are pointing to, so if they want help they will need to tell me what they are asking about. It seems more often than not that these students realize their mistake about halfway through telling me what all they did. This helps to make the job easier for both of us and helps improve their communication skills for the future. Lastly, my students get a lot more hands on demonstrations than most. I find that many things can be explained via demonstrations using cheap methods such as modeling out of play dough, pipe cleaners, or using magnet boards to understand concepts. This is not only helpful for blind or visually impaired students but also adds a fun child-like flair to learning for the other students as well.

Conclusions While balancing variances in learning styles, abilities, and other aspects of difference, it is important to remember to embrace our differences for both students and staff and to remember that these differences if approached properly will not impede the success of anyone when success is defined by gaining a takeaway from the class and not simply success via marks. It is these differences that bring strength to our field, and acceptance of this diversity is the key for the success of the Chemistry of the future.

Acknowledgments Special thanks to both the University of Northern Colorado Biology Department and Rockhurst University Chemistry Department for letting me be a teaching assistant in their laboratories, to the American Chemical Society Chemists with Disabilities Committee for fostering the idea that “We all can!”, and to all who have believed in and supported me on this journey.

References 1.

2.

Wedler, H. B.; Boyes, L.; Davis, R. L.; Flynn, D.; Franz, A.; Hamann, C. S.; Harrison, J. G.; Lodewyk, M. W.; Milinkevich, K. A.; Shaw, J. T.; Tantillo, D. J.; Wang, S. C. J. Chem. Educ. 2014, 91 (2), 188–194. Supalo, C. J. Chem. Educ. 2005, 82 (10), 1513–1518.

213 Nelson and Cheng; Diversity in the Scientific Community Volume 2: Perspectives and Exemplary Programs ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017.

The Non-Conventional Chemist - American Chemical Society

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