Developing and Implementing a Collaborative Teaching Innovation in Introductory Chemistry from the Perspective of an Undergraduate Student

At present, many faculty members in chemistry are calling for reform in teaching. Efforts have been made to garner student interest in chemistry and to help students better understand the material. Thus far, these efforts have been championed by teachers. However, collaboration between faculty and students may prove an even better way of addressing current issues in chemical education. The Karen T. Romer Undergraduate Teaching and Research Award (UTRA) at Brown University offers students the opportunity to work with professors to improve the curriculum for existing courses. This unique program has fostered the student-teacher collaboration necessary to improve the first-year chemistry laboratory course at Brown University and may provide a promising model for teaching innovation at other academic institutions. This commentary is written from the perspective of an UTRA student.