Gabriela Mirowitz, an assistant dean of advising in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, co-edited "Digital Learning and Teaching in Chemistry," a book published in July by the Royal Society of Chemistry. Mirowitz also worked with senior lecturers Jia Luo and Bryn Lutes and chemistry librarian Rhiannon Iha to co-author a chapter on digital outreach during the pandemic. The book, which includes contributions from chemistry researchers and instructors across nine countries, explores trends in online and remote learning as well as the technologies that make it possible to conduct experiments without entering a lab.
The chapter written by WashU authors highlighted the efforts of chemistry instructors - including authors Luo, Lutes, and Iha - during the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters, a time when the pandemic forced teachers in every field to rethink their approach to instruction. "Digital tools have been used even before the pandemic, but we all had to become more adept," Mirowitz said.
