Welcome to the Cooper Research Group

7/29/2018 - BCCE 2018

The whole group made the trek to South Bend to present talks and workshops at the 2018 Biennial Conference on Chemical Education.

7/10/2018 - ICCE 2018

Melanie traveled Australia to present at the 2018 International Conference on Chemistry Education held at the University of Sydney. She also took this opportunity to see the local wildlife.

6/12/2018 - From Personal Empiricism to Evidence, Theory, and Informed Practice

Melanie and Ryan publish a review in Chemical Reviews providing an overview of the development of the field of chemistry education research. It was also awarded ACS Editors' Choice!

6/9/2018 - PER Gordon Research Conference

Melanie and Kinsey presented talks at the Physics Research and Education Gordon Research Conference and Seminar focused on Novel Research in Energy Topics, and Transformative Methods for Teaching Undergraduate Students About Energy Concepts at Bryant University in Rhode Island

5/5/2018 - Katie Graduated!

Katie successfully defended her dissertation and received her Ph.D. Congratulations Katie!

4/13/2018 - UURAF Presentations

Robby and Matt presented posters at MSU’s Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum. Robby’s poster also won first prize in his section!

4/6/2018 - Melanie Featured in MSU Today!

Melanie was featured in an MSU Today article highlighting exceptional women in science here at MSU.

3/22/2018 - Energy Connections and Misconnections

Katie and Melanie co-authored the article “Energy Connections and Misconnections across Chemistry and Biology” published in CBE – Life Sciences Education

3/5/2018 - Erin Receives Award

Erin attended the American Physical Society March Meeting where she was recognized as a finalist for the Justin Jankunas Doctoral Dissertation Award.

1/5/2018 - Welcome Kinsey!

Dr. Kinsey Bain joined the group as a postdoctoral researcher. She received her Ph.D. from Purdue University where she studied physical chemistry education research with Dr. Marcy Towns. Welcome Kinsey!

12/12/2017 - Adapting Assessments to Support 3D Learning

Melanie co-authored “Adapting Assessment Tasks to Support Three-Dimensional Learning” published in the Journal of Chemical Education.

9/22/2017 - Practicing What We Preach

Ryan and Melanie published “Practicing What We Preach: Assessing “Critical Thinking” in Organic Chemistry” in the Journal of Chemical Education.

8/14/2017 - Welcome Samantha!

Samantha Houchlei has joined the group as a graduate student! Samantha received her B.S. from Aquinas College in Chemistry and Mathematics. Samantha comes to us from Grand Rapids, Michigan with her plants Kevin, Harry, and Champ (left to right).

8/14/2017 - Welcome Samantha and Keenan!

Samantha Houchlei and Keenan Noyes joined the group as graduate students! Samantha received her B.S. from Aquinas College and Keenan received his B.S. from MSU.

7/30/2017 - CER Professional Development Conference

Oscar, Ryan, Chris and Olivia presented posters at the Chemistry Education Research Graduate Student & Post-Doc Professional Development Conference.

7/5/2017 - TRUSE Conference

Chris presented a poster at the Transforming Research in Undergraduate STEM Education conference.

7/1/2017 - Welcome Erin!

Dr. Erin Duffy has joined the group as a postdoctoral researcher. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she studied vibrational spectroscopy on cryogenic ions with Dr. Etienne Garand. Erin comes to us from Wisonsin with her 7-year-old kitty, Alchemy!

6/21/2017 - Sketching the Invisible to Predict the Visible

Melanie co-authored the article “Sketching the Invisible to Predict the Visible: From Drawing to Modeling in Chemistry” published in Topics in Cognitive Science.

6/18/2017 - Gordon Conference

Ryan, Olivia, Oscar, and Melanie attended the Chemistry Education Research and Practice Gordon Research Conference. Melanie presented an invited talk and Ryan, Oscar, and Olivia presented posters.

4/7/2017 - UURAF Presentation

Robby presented his poster “Adapting a Transformed Undergraduate Chemistry Curriculum for High School” at MSU’s Undergraduate Research and arts forum. His poster also won first prize in his section! Congrats Robby!

3/16/2017 Building up or Drilling Down-

Melanie co-authored “Core Ideas and Topics: Building Up or Drilling Down?” published in the Journal of Chemical Education.

3/16/17 - Royal Society of Chemistry

Dr. Cooper was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Congratulations Melanie!

2/24/2017 - Project-Based Cooperative Lab Activity

Justin and Melanie co-authored “A Glowing Recommendation: A Project-Based Cooperative Laboratory Activity To Promote Use of the Scientific and Engineering Practices” published in the Journal of Chemical Education.

2/10/2017 - CREATE for STEM Mini-Conference

Justin, Ryan, Katie, Chris, Oscar, Olivia, Keenan, Delaney, and Robby presented posters at the CREATE for STEM mini conference.

1/11/2017 - Congratulations Justin!

Congratulations to Dr. Justin Carmel on his new position of Assistant Professor at Florida International University.

12/7/2016 - Honorary Doctorate from USF

Dr. Cooper was awarded an honorary doctorate in science by the University of South Florida during their winter commemncement.

11/1/2016 - Welcome Ryan!

Dr. Ryan Stowe has joined the Cooper Research Group as a postdoctoral researcher. He obtained his Ph.D. from The Scripps Research Institute, where his advisor was Prof. William Roush. Ryan comes to us from Florida with his fiancée Megan and their ridiculously cute dog Joe.

7/31/2016 - 8/4/2016 Melanie, Justin, Katie, Chris, Oscar, Olivia, and Keenan attended the Biennial Conference on Chemical Education at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, CO.

• More about BCCE 2016

10/15/2015 Dr. Cooper and Dr. Underwood are part of the AAU team at MSU that has recently published in Science.

• More about the AAU Science publication

8/12/2015 Dr. Melanie Cooper presented the keynote address in the Research and Practice session on Open Innovation for Enlightening Chemistry Education at the 2015 IUPAC conference in Bexco, Buson, Korea.

• More about IUPAC-2015

7/20/2015 Dr. Justin Carmel has joined the Cooper Research Group as a postdoctoral researcher. He obtained his Ph.D. from Miami University, where his advisor was Dr. Ellen Yezierski.

7/20/2015 Congratulations to Dr. Leah Williams on the succesful defense of her dissertation.

7/6/2015 Congratulations to Leah Williams on her new position of Postdoctoral Fellow at Emory University in Atlanta, GA.

7/6/2015 Congratulations to Dr. Sonia Underwood on her new position of Assistant Professor at Florida International University.

• More about Chemistry at FIU

• More about the STEM Transformation Institute at FIU

5/30/2015 Sonia, Hovig, Katie, Chris, and Oscar presented talks at the ACS Joint Great Lakes / Central Regional Meeting in Grand Rapids, MI.

• More about the 2015 JGLCRM

4/16/2015 Dr. Melanie Cooper was awarded the 2015 Michigan State University AT&T Faculty-Staff Instructional Technology Award for Best Technology Enhancement

• More about the Dr. Cooper's award

• More about all 2015 MSU AT&T Instructional Technology awards

2/25/2015 Sonia, Katie, Chris, Oscar, and Keenan presented posters at the CREATE for STEM mini conference.

• More about the Create4STEM mini conference

10/11/2014 Katie Kohn won a poster award in the Graduate Division of the Midwestern Symposium on Undergraduate Research in Chemistry (MSURChem)

• More about the MSURChem

8/1/2014 - 8/7/2014 Melanie, Sonia, Nicole, Hovig, Leah, Katie, Chris, Oscar, and Keenan attended and presented talks at the Biennial Conference on Chemical Education at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI.

• More about BCCE

3/19/2014 Dr. Melanie Cooper accepts the Award for Achievement in Research for the Teaching and Learning of Chemistry at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society in Dallas, TX.

• More about the ACS award

2/20/2014 Jana, Sonia, Nicole, Leah, and Katie presented posters at the CREATE for STEM mini conference.

• More about the Create4STEM mini conference

2/3/2014 Congratulations to Dr. Nicole Becker on her new position of Assistant Professor at the University of Iowa.

• More about Chemical Education at Iowa

11/15/2013 Dr. Melanie Cooper accepted the James Flack Norris award for Outstanding Achievement in the Teaching of Chemistry.

• More about the award

9/9/2013 Dr. Melanie Cooper was awarded the 2014 American Chemical Society Award for Achievement in Research for the Teaching & Learning of Chemistry sponsored by Pearson Education. The award will be presented at the Spring 2014 ACS Meeting in Dallas, TX.

7/26/2013 Leah Corley presented a poster at the 2013 CER Graduate student conference at Miami University in Oxford, OH.

• CER 2013 site

6/23/13 Melanie Cooper was recently featured in an article highlighting a current project funded by the Association of American Universities (AAU) to improve STEM education at Michigan State University.

• Read the Article

6/22/13 Melanie was awarded the 2013 James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in the teaching of chemistry.

• Read about the Award

6/6/13 Melanie, Nicole, Sonia, and Leah attended the 2013 Gordon Research Conference on Chemistry Education Research and Practice at Salve Regina University in Newport, RI.

• More About the GRC

5/6/13 Nicole and Sonia presented a poster at the Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF) day on Capitol Hill and described the Cooper Group’s work to many interested members of Congress and their staff.

• More about CNSF day

5/7/13 Melanie gave the keynote address at the CREATE for STEM Institute MiniConference 2013 several group members presented posters of their current research.

• More About the Conference

4/7/13 Nicole and Melanie presented a talk at the Spring Meeting of the American Chemical Society in New Orleans, LA.

• Read about ACS New Orleans

4/6/13 Leah and Sonia presented a talk at the 2013 National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) Annual International Conference in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.

• Read More about NARST 2013

3/22/13 Melanie was installed as Lappan-Phillips Professor of Science Education in the Michigan State University (MSU) Department of chemistry at an investiture ceremony in the MSU’s Wharton Center for the Performing arts.

• Read the Article