MAY 30, 2024
Leveraging high-impact practices in the chemistry curriculum with molecular modeling
Undergraduate research (including course-based experiences, or CURE), capstone projects, and community-based learning (CBL) are integral components of the chemistry curriculum at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine. To leverage gains from these existing high-impact practices, students at SJC use molecular modeling tools throughout their learning in Organic Chemistry I & II. As a regular part of both classroom and laboratory activities, students build technical competency and diversify their media for learning critical concepts and applications of organic chemistry. This year, organic chemistry students have also designed a CBL project focused on sharing molecular modeling tools with local high school chemistry students, as part of a larger on-going curriculum at SJC. For those students who take Medicinal Chemistry in their junior or senior year, their familiarity and competency with computational molecular modeling serve as a critical foundation for designing and carrying out a drug discovery project in this CURE-based class.
This talk will share how molecular modeling is weaved through multiple chemistry courses at SJC, best practices that we have learned from our pilot years, and our current plans to expand student access and competency in this area. Importantly, it will discuss why tools such as Teaching with Schrödinger has been so instrumental in supporting high-impact practices in chemistry, modernizing the organic chemistry classroom, and ultimately, better equipping STEM students with the skills and resilience needed to tackle new challenges and questions in the future.
Our Speaker
Yi Jin Gorske
Saint Joseph’s College of Maine
Dr. Yi Jin Kim Gorske is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Saint Joseph’s College in Standish, Maine. She received her B.A. in Molecular and Cell Biology from University of California-Berkeley, before completing her Ph.D. work in Organic Chemistry at University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she focused on synthetic methodology development and natural product total synthesis. Prior to entering academia, Dr. Gorske worked on antibacterial research & development as a medicinal chemist at a biopharmaceutical company in New Jersey. She currently teaches Organic Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry at Saint Joseph’s College, where she focuses on the design and synthesis of small molecules that can be used as antiviral and antibacterial agents.