Great teaching doesn’t happen in isolation—it happens in community. In this bonus BCCE Community Conversation preview, Melissa talks with chemistry educator Dr. Joanne Stewart about communities of practice: groups of educators who come together to share ideas, solve problems, and help one another grow. They explore why teaching is hard to improve on your own, how these communities support both faculty and students, and why meaningful change in chemistry education depends on building relationships, not just sharing resources.

Important Links

• Submit a Question for Community Conversations
• bcce.divched.org/2026
• YouTube.com/@chemforyourlife
• chemforyourlife.com

• 0:00 – Introducing the BCCE Community Conversation series
• 2:40 – Meet Joanne Stewart and her work in chemistry education
• 5:10 – What is a community of practice?
• 8:20 – How educators can get involved (even as a “lurker”)
• 11:50 – Sharing teaching resources and learning from one another
• 15:30 – Building a “community of communities” in chemistry
• 18:50 – What this year’s Community Conversation will explore
• 23:50 – Why lasting educational change requires strong networks
• 29:20 – BCCE events, communities to explore, and final invitations

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What happens when some listeners challenge one of our past episodes? This week we’re revisiting our silicone episodes after several listeners pointed us toward new research. Along the way we answer questions about mosquito wristbands, waterproof mascara, stubborn adhesives, and whether amino acids may have formed on the early Earth after all. It’s an Ask a Chemist episode full of updates, follow-ups, and a reminder that science is always a work in progress.

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

Timestamps

• 0:00 – Revisiting our silicone episodes after new research
• 2:00 – Does silicone really leach into food, and should we be worried?
• 10:30 – What we know (and don’t know) about silicone safety
• 17:30 – Do mosquito patches and wristbands actually work?
• 23:30 – How does waterproof mascara stay waterproof?
• 27:20 – A chemistry detour: removing paint and stubborn adhesives
• 30:20 – The Miller–Urey experiment and the origin of amino acids
• 33:20 – Wrap-up + send us your chemistry questions

References from the Episode:

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What if chemistry classes were organized around real-world problems instead of chapters in a textbook?In this bonus BCCE Community Conversation preview, Melissa talks with Vicente Talanquer about helping students think like chemists rather than simply memorize chemistry. They explore why authentic, real-world problems can transform learning, how instructors can make meaningful changes without rewriting an entire course, and why teaching chemistry is about developing a way of thinking—not just delivering content.

Important Links

• Submit a Question for Community Conversations
• bcce.divched.org/2026
• YouTube.com/@chemforyourlife
• chemforyourlife.com

More on Chemical Thinking Curriculum: https://sites.google.com/site/chemicalthinking/

General Chemistry - CLUE textbook & activities: https://www.chemistry.msu.edu/clue/general-chemistry.aspx

Organic Chemistry OCLUE textbook & activities: https://www.chemistry.msu.edu/clue/organic-chemistry.aspx

Time Stamps

0:00 – Why Melissa loves BCCE and chemistry education 2:50 – Meet Ellen Yezierski and the idea of scholarly teaching 4:00 – Moving beyond intuition and using evidence to improve teaching 6:35 – What chemistry educators can learn from cognitive science and education research 8:30 – The biggest challenge: finding time to improve your teaching 11:00 – Why conferences and community matter for innovation 13:45 – Barriers to evidence-based teaching and the risk of changing what’s familiar 16:20 – Applying the same scientific scrutiny to old teaching methods 19:40 – A practical first step toward scholarly teaching 21:00 – Finding useful teaching research without getting overwhelmed 25:20 – Meet the panelists and the ideas they’ll bring to BCCE 29:10 – How the Community Conversation will work 32:35 – Why good teachers are made, not born 34:00 – Filling your teaching cup back up at BCCE

Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

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