Tamara Powers, Ph.D.

Laboratory Instruction. My main area of interest lies in laboratory instruction. Through teaching the Advanced Inorganic Laboratory at Texas A&M I have been able to experiment with different teaching techniques (see below) as well as develop an interactive, nontraditional, laboratory environment. The Advanced Inorganic Laboratory is an upper level lab designed to teach research independence, while introducing students to common inorganic experimental techniques. In lieu of a traditional laboratory manual, students are given a list of target compounds and literature references, which they must use to determine a synthetic protocol. This approach allows students to take ownership of their learning by thinking critically about the literature, the chemistry concepts, and the experimental results associated with their projects. My ultimate goal for this capstone course is to create a learning environment similar to that of an independent research experience. The structure of this approach avails students with the opportunity to design their own experiments that would be suitable for publication in educational journals, while simultaneously teaching key techniques and characterization methods specific to inorganic chemistry.

 

Flipped Lectures. In the summer of 2016, I completed a project with the Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) that resulted in the publication of 15 videos covering synthetic inorganic techniques, inorganic chemistry concepts, and characterization methods. I have subsequently incorporated these videos into my laboratory class as a means of “flipping” the classroom. Having students watch the videos before lab allows me to focus on problem solving and discussion during pre-labs. In cases where I implemented this technique, I saw significant improvement both in the hands-on laboratory experience, as well as in written lab reports. 

 

Active Learning. In lieu of traditional lectures, I prefer to foster discussion and teamwork problem solving by incorporating active learning techniques into my courses. Some engagement/assessment activities I have implemented in lectures for all of my courses include: polling, think-pair-share, guided notes, and one-minute papers. 

​

Mentoring. As an educator, it is important to not only educate my undergraduate students, but also to mentor graduate students, who play the vital role as teaching assistants (TAs) in my courses. With limited time during graduate studies to practice teaching and the competitive market in higher education, it is imperative to provide hands-on teaching opportunities to TAs. Five of my TAs chose to give lectures in my courses. After each lecture, I provided feedback, focusing on their strengths and areas in which they can improve. I have served as a faculty mentor to two students who have taken the STEM Teaching Professional Development Course organized by the Center for Teaching Excellence at Texas A&M and assisted a graduate student in a Teaching as Research Project on blogging and modified energy-shift lectures. Finally, three of my TAs assisted with the JoVE publications, resulting in co-authorship on those videos. All five of my TAs who have applied for primarily teaching positions at universities have started/will be starting their teaching career immediately following graduation. 

​

Graduate Advisor. In the fall of 2022, I will be taking on the role of Associate Graduate Advisor. In this role I will be coordinating graduate recruiting activities and advising current graduate students.