Flipping Chemistry

Abstract

We are pleased to hear from Dr Erica Smith, the 2018 Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) Educator of the Year about how she flipped the classroom in her first year chemistry lectures. Erica holds a Bachelor of Science with Honours from the University of Sydney, a Master of Science with Distinction from the University of Greenwich (UK), and a Doctorate in Theoretical and Computational Chemistry from the University of Houston (USA). She was an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Lonestar College (USA) before returning to Australia to take up a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the CSIRO, where she worked on computational animal genetics for livestock breeding. She is currently a Senior Lecturer in Chemistry at the University of New England (UNE). Dr Smith’s scientific research utilises computer simulations to gain atomic level understanding of biological and industrial systems, with a focus on processes that occur at interfaces. <br/> Dr Smith is a passionate and dedicated educator. She has extensive experience with school outreach programs, including leadership of two programs designed to inspire students and create equity within Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. She has received a UNE Excellence in Teaching Award, an Australian Awards for University Teaching Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK).