James Lab

Interdisciplinary Chemistry Knowledge Activation

Many of the pressing challenges facing us today—such as global climate change, energy production, antibiotic resistance—transcend the traditional scientific disciplines. Because chemistry is the ‘central science,’ it has broad applications in the interdisciplinary contexts addressing these major challenges. Materials chemistry in particular is highly relevant to many of these contexts, but little is known about the teaching and learning of materials chemistry topics. Research in the James lab investigates the interrelated questions of: 

  1. How do students activate their chemistry knowledge in unfamiliar, interdisciplinary contexts?
  2. What are the core, foundational concepts and skills in materials chemistry, and how do we support the teaching and learning of these skills?

In our work, we emphasize the importance of equity-centered research frameworks to guide our study design. This ensures our research findings and outputs support the needs of all students and works toward more inclusive and accessible education in chemistry and STEM.