ONCSE Annual Education Conference

The ONCSE conference is organized around a series of themed conversations that combine brief presentations from invited contributors with moderated discussion and audience participation. Rather than focusing solely on formal presentations, these conversations are designed to encourage the exchange of ideas, experiences, and practical approaches to teaching, scholarship, and professional growth.

AI and Teaching and Learning

Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing higher education, creating new opportunities and new challenges for STEM educators. Contributors will explore classroom implementation, assessment, academic integrity, student learning, and the broader implications of generative AI for higher education.

Representative talks:

• Where and How Does AI Fit? Exploring Its Role Before, During, and After Class

• Designing meaningful learning experiences in chemistry with GenAI

• Tailored Tutor vs. Generative AI: Student Outcomes and Lessons Learned

• Beyond Efficiency: Rethinking AI as a Partner in Lesson Design

Creating Evidence-Based Resources for the STEM Education Community”

STEM educators often extend their impact beyond their own classrooms and institutions by developing instructional resources that can be adopted and adapted by others. Grounded in educational research and evidence-based teaching practices, these resources help translate scholarship into practice across the broader STEM education community. Contributors will discuss the motivations behind creating these resources, the process of developing and disseminating them, and how this work contributes to teaching, educational scholarship, and professional growth.

Representative talks:

• Building fluency in basic STEM skills: Why, how, and which skills?

• Organic Education Resources: A Community of Transformation for Organic Chemistry Instructors

• Personalizing Problem-Solving Instruction with Interactive Video-Enhanced Tutorials (IVETs)

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) provides a framework for investigating questions about teaching and student learning while contributing to the broader STEM education community. Contributors will share experiences with getting started with SoTL research, discuss findings from their own work, and explore how educational scholarship can contribute to professional growth.

Representative talks:

• Getting Started with SoTL: Turning what you notice into what you test.

• Building a Campus SoTL Ecosystem

• From Research to Teaching: Engaging with the Education Literature

• Lessons Learned from SoTL practice

Innovations in Teaching, Learning, and Student Success

This conversation highlights initiatives that strengthen teaching and learning through innovative programs, collaborative teaching practices, course redesign, faculty partnerships, and strategies that foster student success and a sense of belonging. Contributors will discuss how institutional innovations are developed, evaluated, and sustained, and how these efforts can inspire broader change across STEM education.

Representative talks:

• Intentional course design & teaching practices to personalize the student experience in large classes

• Piloting a Standards-based Grading System in Calculus 1 and 2

• Rethinking Grades: How Grading Practices Shape the Student Experience

• No-homework journal clubs for active learning in large classrooms

• Perception of learning versus actual learning in active-learning recitations

• Adapting a PhET-Based Greenhouse Gas Lesson for High School Chemistry