Biochemistry Education

Thomas J. Bussey a biochemist and chemical education researcher. His research focuses on students' visual literacy of abstract and emergent science depicted by external representations-e.g., pictures, animations, and simulations-and measured through qualitative analysis of students' perceptions and quantitative analysis of students visual behaviors. Dynamic biochemical systems constitute a unique focus in his work. Thom earned a B.S. with honors in biochemistry and music from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a M.Ed. in secondary science with an emphasis in technology and his Ph.D. in chemistry with a research focus in chemical education from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He is currently an assistant teaching professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego where he teaches courses in biochemistry, general chemistry, and science education. Kimberly Linenberger Cortes is a biochemistry education researcher who has been investigating how to best teach and learn biochemistry for the last 12 years publishing multiple articles and presenting her work at numerous conferences. Her work has been funded by the National Science Foundation. Cortes earned a B.S.Ed. in chemistry from the University of Central Missouri and a Ph.D. in chemistry (chemistry education) from Miami University. She is currently Associate Professor of Chemistry Education at Kennesaw State University. There, Cortes currently teaches general chemistry and a one semester biochemistry survey course. She also works with biology and chemistry educators across secondary and post-secondary degree programs to integrate biological and chemical concepts in their instruction. Rodney C. Austin started using the Process Oriented Guided Inquiry (POGIL) approach to teaching chemistry and biochemistry in 2009. He has worked with biochemistry faculty from across the country in developing POGIL curricula, including contributions to the POGIL book, Foundations of Biochemistry. Austin has co-organized symposia related to biochemistry lecture instruction at three Biennial Conference on Chemistry Education (BCCE) meetings. Also, he has given presentations about implementing active learning instruction at BCCE and the Ohio Project Kaleidoscope conferences. Rodney received a B.S. in chemistry at Mount Vernon Nazarene University and a Ph.D. in chemistry (biochemistry) from the University of Cincinnati. He is currently Associate Professor of Chemistry at Geneva College. There he teaches courses in chemistry, including an interdisciplinary travel course focused on water issues.