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Department of Chemistry
Faculty of Science
University of Alberta
Gunnng Lemieux Chemistry Centre
Edmonton, AB T6G 2C2
Tel: (780) 492-9704
Email: glen.loppnow@ualberta.ca |
A colleague says that Glen enables his undergraduates to climb Mt. Everest without oxygen while most students who encounter the mathematically-based Physical Chemistry course are content to examine the summit from the base camp. First to use clickers in his department, Glen gets the overwhelming majority of his students in very large classes to engage, enjoy, and adjust to new rhythms of learning. Using "citizenship" group projects, Chemistry and non-Chemistry majors are challenged to provide local solutions to global issues.
A student writes, "You seem passionate about making sure we actually LEARN." Using live experiments and demonstrations, such as measuring the reaction rate of contact explosives, puts Glen’s life on the line but instantly transforms a dry course into one that students call spectacular. His risk taking has not only inspired colleagues but has accelerated a revolution in the undergraduate curriculum. Glen has organized and participated in numerous workshops that have created a network of instructors from Western Canada that share his vision. His creative endeavors have led to his becoming an executive for the Education Division of the Chemical Institute of Canada and the Alberta representative to the Board of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Glen’s personal journey has been as transformative as his unrelenting efforts to change the teaching culture in his classroom, his department, and the research-intensive University of Alberta. |
