Brian P. Coppola

"Discipline-centered teaching and learning" is the interdisciplinary area in which all faculty members participate, regardless of their preparation for it. Discipline-centered teaching and learning is a synthesis of two things: (1) a deep understanding of the subject matter, both content and the process of science, that comes with a comprehensive doctoral education, and (2) an application of the principles of teaching and learning that are derived from the learning sciences (i.e., from the fields of Education, Psychology, etc.). Expertise in the discipline creates a proper foundation from which a faculty member can do everything from designing effective instruction for a class of 400 first-year students to managing the doctoral education of graduate students in a research group.

As a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry, I have divided my work between a number of areas: (1) exemplifying discipline-centered teaching and learning in the design, implementation, documentation, and evaluation in organic chemistry education; (2) as a mechanism for preparing future faculty, broadening the concept of a "research group" (which is the mechanism by which faculty members get big-idea research done) to the idea of forming "teaching groups;" and (3) the internationalization and globalization of science education.

As the department's Associate Chair for Educational Development and Practice, I direct and oversee four programmatic areas: (1) CSIE|UM, our future faculty program, which involves chemistry's undergraduate and graduate students, and post-doctoral associates, who wish to add a more formal experience in teaching and learning to their chemistry education. By partnering with faculty members who want to get involved in educational development, these students provide the needed time and energy - as they do in the laboratory - to see ideas about teaching and learning moved into practice; (2) CALC|UM, our parallel program for students who are interested in careers in industry, government, and other parts of the private and public sectors; (3) our BS/MS and freestanding MS degree programs; and (4) liaison with the U-M administration to assist faculty colleagues in developing international agreements for cooperative research, student exchange, etc.

CSIE|UM program (Chemical Sciences at the Interface of Education)
CALC|UM program (Chemistry Aligned with Life & Career)
Masters programs in Chemistry
Michigan Associates (International Program)

Other Positions

• Associate Chair, Educational Development and Practice
• Director, University of Michigan REU Site in Chemistry
• Director (CSIE|UM): Chemical Sciences at the Interface of Education
• Director (CALC|UM): Chemical Sciences at the Interface of Education
• Editor, "The Hexagon" (Quarterly Publication of Alpha Chi sigma)

Awards

• U-M Science Learning Center - Faculty Champion 2019 (Inaugural awardee)
• University of Michigan Rackham Distinguished Graduate Mentor   2018
• University of Michigan Provost's Teaching Innovation Prize    2016
• Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year 2016
• ACS Fellow, 2015
• L. Carroll King Lecturer, Northwestern University    2013
• Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching    2012-14
• Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching (Finalist )    2011
• University of Michigan Provost's Teaching Innovation Prize    2011
• CASE/Carnegie U.S. Professor of The Year    2009
• LSA Dean's Excellence in Teaching Award    2008
• Fulbright Senior Specialist    2007
• James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Teaching of Chemistry 2006
• CASE/Carnegie State of Michigan Professor of the Year    2004
• Society for College Science Teachers (SCST)/Kendall-Hunt Outstanding Undergraduate Science Teacher Award (OUSTA)    2004
• NSTA Outstanding Undergraduate Science Teacher Award    2003
• Arthur F. Thurnau Professor    2001
• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science    2001
• Amoco Undergraduate Teaching Award    1999
• Pew Scholar-The Carnegie Foundation    1998
• Undergraduate Computational Science Award (Ames Laboratory-UCES)    1996
• Center for Research on Learning and Teaching Faculty Associate    1995
• University of Michigan "Golden Apple" Award    1994
• LSA Dean's Excellence in Teaching Award    1991-1997
• Sigma Xi Teaching Award    1990
• Phi Lambda Upsilon Teacher of the Year    1988, 1994
• Collegiate Fellows Teaching Award    1988
• Center for Research on Learning and Teaching Postdoctoral Teaching Award    1987

Publications

Coppola, B. P.; Pontrello, J. K. “Student-Generated Instructional Materials” In J. J. Mintzes & E. M. Walter (Eds), Active Learning in College Science: The Case for Evidence Based Practice. N.Y.: Springer, 2019 (Ch 24).
An introduction to the topic, plus an essay on the case against evidence-based practices as they are currently conceived.

Coppola, B. P.; Plough, I. C.; Sun, H. “Purple Dragons and Yellow Toadstools: A Versatile Exercise for Introducing Students to Negotiated Consensus” Science and Engineering Ethics 2019, 29, 1261-1269.
Best Title Ever. A useful and easily adapted exercise for getting people to come to consensus before they getting into their more contentious or high stakes discussions.

Boothe, J. R.; Barnard, R. E.; Peterson, L. J.; Coppola, B. P. “The Relationship Between Subject Matter Knowledge and Teaching Effectiveness of Undergraduate Chemistry Peer Facilitators” Chem. Educ. Res. Pract. 2018, 19, 297-304. 
An in-depth study, using video data, that explores whether errors that are corrected in a training course for peer-instructors are (or are not) propagated into their teaching, and whether teaching errors (when observed) can be tracked back to what was going on in the training course.

Barnard, R. A.; Boothe, J. R.; Salvatore, J.; Emerson, K.; Boone, A.; Sandler, C.; Coppola, B. P. “Course-based Support for Peer-Led Study Group Facilitators in Large Instructional Team” Journal of College Science Teaching 2018,47, 21-29. 
A paper describing the development and implementation of a subject matter training course for peer instructional leaders.

Coppola, B. P. "Barry Martin Trost: Educator" Organic Chemistry Frontiers, 2016, 3, 1225-1227.
Editorial essay commemorating the 75th birthday collection of papers in this issue, concerning the broad educational values embraced by Barry Trost and reflected through my own career, including anecdotal contributions by other former group members.

Coppola, B. P. "Broad & Capacious: A New Norm for Instructional
Development in a Research Setting" Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 2016, 48:2, 34-43.
Historical development of CSIE|UM (future faculty) and CALC|UM (future professionals) program in U Michigan Chemistry department. Background, development, critical features, and feedback are all included.

Coppola, B. P. "An Inevitable Moment: US Brain Drain" Change, 2015 47 (4), 36-45.
Young Western Scientists are being hired, fresh off their postdocs, into Chinese Universities, with good support, good space, and enthusiasm. What might the future hold?

Coppola, B. P. “Do Real Work, Not Homework” In, Garcia-Martinez, J.; Serrano-Torregrosa, E., Eds. Chemistry Education: Best Practices, Opportunities and Trends. Weinheim, Germany: Wiley-VCH, 2015;pp. 203-257.
 This chapter identifies and gathers practitioner-level features for what we call "Real Work" principles, which derive from a combination of authentic instruction and situated learning.

Coppola, B. P.; Krajcik, J. S. “Discipline-Centered Postsecondary Education Research: Distinctive Targets, Challenges and Opportunities,” Journal of Research in Science Teaching 2014, 51 (6), 679-693.
 Introduction to the second JRST Special Issue on the titular topic, the essay explores the unique features of post-secondary science education research and sets out some challenges to advance and elevate the work.

For a complete listing of publications, please visit Coppola Home Page.

Research Areas(s)

• Organic Chemistry
  Chemistry Education