Community-Driven Projects - Project Ionic: Intellectual Online Network of Inorganic Chemists Building VIPEr: Virtual Inorganic Pedagogical Electronic Resource

Project name: Project Ionic: Intellectual Online Network of Inorganic Chemists Building VIPEr: Virtual Inorganic Pedagogical Electronic Resource

Project lead(s):

• Margret J. Geselbracht, Professor of Chemistry, Reed College
• Ethan Benatan, Director, Computer User Services, Reed College

Key collaborators:

• Adam R. Johnson, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Harvey Mudd College
• Hilary J. Eppley, Associate Professor of Chemistry, DePauw University
• Barbara Reisner, Associate Professor of Chemistry, James Madison University
• Joanne Stewart, Professor of Chemistry, Hope College
• Lori Watson, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Earlham College
• B. Scott Williams, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Joint Science Department of the Claremont Colleges

Summary:

Inorganic chemistry, one of the main subdisciplines of chemistry, is defined principally by what it is not. It is not organic chemistry, which focuses primarily on the chemistry of carbon, but covers everything else, essentially the chemistry of the entire periodic table of elements. As such, the field of inorganic chemistry is extraordinarily broad and diverse. Faculty trained in inorganic chemistry each develop a deep specialization in a different subfield: bioinorganic chemistry, coordination chemistry, organometallic chemistry, or solid state and materials chemistry to name a few. At any given primarily undergraduate institution (PUI), there is typically only one inorganic chemist on the faculty, trained in-depth within their subfield but expected to represent the entire field of inorganic chemistry to their students. This narrow specialization coupled with a sense of professional isolation can hinder curricular innovation, particularly in subfields that are outside an individual’s “comfort zone.” In courses this leads to challenges in developing a complete set of curricular materials that reflects the diversity of inorganic chemistry in the lecture and laboratory.

IONiC, the Intellectual Online Network of Inorganic Chemists, was founded to combat these issues and to foster communication, collaboration, and networking among inorganic faculty at PUIs with the ultimate goal of advancing teaching and research in inorganic chemistry across a range of institutions.

Intended outcome:

• To develop and launch VIPEr v1.0, a web-based collaborative learning environment for faculty containing a wide range of curricular resources and enabling such items as userbased ratings systems, wikis, discussion boards, podcasts, visualization tools, remote access technologies, and other emerging tools for virtual, asynchronous networking
• To forge collaboration on curricular reform that makes use of the shared expertise within different sub-disciplines of inorganic chemistry
• To build a vibrant intellectual community amongst inorganic chemistry faculty at PUIs to support, encourage, and mentor inorganic faculty, thereby attenuating the adverse effects of professional isolation
• To build networks and collaborations between

Through its multitude of resources and collaborative tools, it is envisioned that VIPEr v1.0 will serve the needs of inorganic chemistry faculty throughout their careers. In particular, the myriad classroom and human resources available through VIPEr v1.0 will be invaluable assets to the junior faculty member, sabbatical replacement, or colleague who, for a variety of reasons, may find themselves teaching outside of their comfort zone. However it is students who will be the true beneficiaries of these efforts. Their experience of inorganic chemistry in all its complexity will be richer and will more accurately reflect the current frontiers of the field.

Project timeline:

• May 2007:
  • Finalize design and storyboarding for VIPEr v1.0
• June –July 2007:
  • Professional programming of VIPEr v1.0 platform
  • Content collection by the IONiC Leadership Council
• August 2007:
  • Implementation of initial collaborative tools (ratings, discussion threads, wikis)
  • Final review of VIPEr v1.0 before public launch August 20, 2007
• September 2007–May 2008
  • Modifications and editorial oversight for growth and evolution of VIPEr v1.0

• Project Ionic: Intellectual Online Network of Inorganic Chemists Building VIPEr: Virtual Inorganic Pedagogical Electronic Resource Award Letter