Medical Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Science Professional Development Projects with Dublin schools

Lecturer: Claire Mc Donnell

As part of Medical Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences Degree (DT 261, School of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Science, Faculty of Science, DIT) second year students taking Professional Skills have participated on a variety of Students learning with communities projects

One such project required students to prepare a poster and / or demonstration to convey an understanding of the application of Chemistry in everyday life to second level students. The groups presented the posters and / or performed the demonstrations in a variety of contexts including Science Week at DIT, the RSC (Royal Society of Chemistry) Chemistry at Work day and in secondary schools.

More recently groups of three Year 2 students have visited schools to give presentations on science courses & student life at DIT (Professional Skills DT 203-2, with Leslie Shoemaker). Students are assessed on presentation content & delivery and are required to compile the statistics from evaluation forms they circulate as well as write a short reflective piece. Click here for an example of a school presentation.

What do students get from it?

Students develop a range of skills including information literacy, communication and team work skills.

What does the community get from it?

The presentations give the local second level students a chance to consider going to college and to ask questions about chemistry and college life directly to chemistry and pharmaceutical science college students who are close to them in age and interest. It offers the opportunity to second level students to look at chemistry and science with fresh eyes and to consider it as an attractive career option.

Community Partners:

Read Claire’s paper in the Resources section. See also a presentation made by Claire on her Chemistry Students Learning With Communities Projects. Claire was also recently awarded the 2009 RSC Education Division's Higher Education Teaching Award. The award acknowledges her contribution to developing approaches to teaching and learning chemistry including her work on communiyt-based learning projects.