Introduction
The current mission and vision of the CERC, which were established in 2018, are copied below. This is a reiteration from the previous report:
Purpose: The mission of the Chemical Education Research (CER) Committee is to inform educators about chemical education research and to foster scholarship and encourage improvement in the quality of chemistry education research.
Vision: The CER committee endeavors to provide 1) a variety of avenues for chemical educators to learn about chemical education research, 2) platforms for the dissemination of research, and 3) highlights of work and methods within the field.
The current leadership of the CERC (Alena Moon, Nikita Burrows, and Ryan Stowe) have several reservations about the historic mission and vision of this committee. These include:
- Most of our communications are monologues rather than dialogues (except the webinar)
- We spend little time/effort on trying to build connections with other scholarly communities (e.g., science education, STS, educational leadership & policy)
- We do not position folks who are not ChemEd researchers as knowers
We question whether the historic emphasis of the committee on legitimizing chemistry education research to other chemists is the best use of the committee’s time and effort. Reconsidering what the focus of this committee could and should be will be the focus of activities undertaken during the next reporting period
Information Since Last Report
Administrative Tasks & Funding Decisions
- Submitted annual reports to ExComm.
- Currently determining the distribution of ~$750 in travel funds.
- Evaluating potential updates to the handbook.
- Clarifying the process for funding disbursement with Heather.
Reviewing the Future of New and noteworthy (N&N)
- Considering whether to continue, revise, or discontinue N&N, given the workload and lack of clear guidelines.
- Plan to survey the community to gauge interest and direction.
Potential Structural Changes & Collaborations
- Interest in an ECCES professional development conference, similar to previous initiatives.
- Exploring synergy between CERC and the program committee to reduce redundancy, possibly through a jointly appointed representative.
Mentorship & Community Building
- Strong interest in establishing structured mentor-mentee relationships within the CERC/ECCES community.
- Potential strategies include mentor matchmaking and capacity-building conversations.
Communications & Outreach
- Standing communications committee may take over the listserv.
- Revisiting plans for a PR survey to improve outreach.
CERC Priorities & Programming
- Focus areas include mentorship, streamlining redundancies, and increasing recognition for CERC webinars on the ACS main site.
- Efforts to highlight early career scholars while fostering meaningful dialogue between junior and senior members.
- Addressing practitioner interest in learning more about how CER is conducted, despite previous pushback within CERC.
Future Plans
Structural and Organizational Enhancements
- Finalize decisions on the future of N&N based on community feedback.
- Clarify funding disbursement procedures and establish transparent guidelines.
- Continue discussions on shared event with ECCES
- Explore a more integrated relationship between CERC and the program committee to streamline efforts.
Mentorship Initiatives
- Develop a structured mentorship program within CERC/ECCES, including mentor recruitment and matchmaking.
- Organize capacity-building sessions for mentors to foster effective mentoring relationships.
Professional Development & Outreach
- Support the development of an ECCES professional development conference.
- Conduct a PR survey to assess and improve communication and outreach efforts.
- Work towards gaining ACS main site recognition for CERC webinars.
Enhancing Community Engagement & Dialogue
- Address concerns about engagement in dialogue between early career and senior scholars by fostering supportive discussion spaces.
- Continue efforts to highlight early career scholars and their contributions with webinars
- Explore ways to bridge the gap between CER researchers and practitioners interested in learning about research methodologies.
Communications & Sustainability
- Potentially transition the listserv management to the standing communications committee.
- Establish long-term strategies for maintaining effective communication within the community.