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Undergrad thesis presentations
What a weird way to end the semester! Congratulations to Josh and Katie who pulled through with fantastic virtual presentations of their thesis work. Josh wrapped up analyzing his pilot eye-tracking data with some very cool findings for us to explore in future work! Katie completed a huge amount of work with her in-depth textbook…
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Commonwealth Chemistry Congress 2020
Prof. Bongers was selected to represent Canada at the inaugural Commonwealth Chemistry Congress in Trinidad and Tobago! The theme of this first congress is ‘Partnership for the Goals‘ and she will present our work in sustainable chemistry education.
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2019 Poster Presentations
Katie and Josh gave excellent poster presentations last week about their 4th year research projects. Nice work!
Chemistry, Cognition, and Learning
Amanda’s research group studies how chemistry is taught and how people learn. Our lab is interdisciplinary and bridges the social sciences with cognitive science and neuroscience.
OUR RESEARCH GOALS
When people learn, they are processing information: encoding, retrieving, and using information to make decisions. Research in our lab explores how people learn in chemistry, where we rely on models and diagrams since molecules are invisible to the eye. We ask questions like:
- How do novices encode diagrams, and what does this reveal about learning?
- What neural processes are involved?
- What skills are needed to learn in chemistry, and do they overlap with other sciences or the arts?
- How can educators design materials or activities to help students learn?
Amanda Bongers 