Pratibha Varma-Nelson
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| Professor
Organic Chemistry/Chemical Education
Executive Director-Center for Teaching and Learning
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B.S, Poona University, India, 1970.
Ph.D., University of Illinois-Chicago, 1978.
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola
University, 1977-1979.
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| Phone: |
(317) 278-3425
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Email: |
pvn@iupui.edu
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Research |
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Publications |
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Awards
James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in Teaching Chemistry, 2008
Project Kaleidoscope Delegate to the People's Republic of China, 2005
Teacher
/Scholar Award, Saint Xavier University School of Arts and Sciences, 2002
American
Chemical Society delegate to Havana, Cuba, 1998
Nominated for the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Council for the Advancement and
Support of Education - US Professor of the Year Program, 2004 and 1998.
Other Professional Affiliations
Member, Advisory Board, Chemical & Engineering News, 2007-2010,
Member, Editorial Board, Journal of Science Education and Technology, 2006-present
Program Director, National Science Foundation, Division of Undergraduate Education,
2006-2008.
Founding Chair, New Member Committee, Division of Chemical Education, American
Chemical Society, 2002-2006.
Member, External Advisory Board, Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL)
National Dissemination Project, 2003-2006,
Member, 2002-present, Long Range Planning Committee, Division of CHED, American
Chemical Society.
Member, Advisory Board, International Gordon Research Conference on Science
Education and Visualization held at Mount Holyoke College, CT. August 5-10, 2001.
Member, National Visiting Committee, NSF funded, Molecular Science Project, UCLA,
Chemistry, 1996-2000.
Research
Since 1995 I have been involved in the development, implementation, evaluation and
dissemination of the Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) model of teaching in Organic
Chemistry and the GOB courses. I have also studied the effect on professional lives of
undergraduate students that serve as peer leaders. I am currently interested in
studying the effectiveness of exporting pedagogies developed in chemistry such as
PLTL to the humanities. In addition I am interested in developing and evaluating the
effectiveness of Peer-Led Team Learning workshops for online courses for national
and international audiences and studying the differences in the discourse that takes
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Peer Reviewed Articles
L. Gafney and P. Varma-Nelson "Evaluating Peer-Led Team Learning: A Study of
Long-Term Effects on Former Workshop Leaders" Journal of Chemical Education
2007, 84, 535-539.
P. Varma-Nelson "Peer-Led Team Learning" Metropolitan Universities Journal: STEM
Innovation and Dissemination: Improving Teaching and Learning in Science,
Technology, Engineering and Mathematics 2006, 17, 19-29.
G. Weaver, D. Wink, P. Varma-Nelson, F. Lytle, R. Morris, W. Fornes, C. Russell and
W. J. Boone "Developing a New Model to Provide First and Second-Year
Undergraduates with Chemistry Research Experience: Early Findings of the Center for
Authentic Science Practice in Education (CASPiE)" The Chemical Educator 2006, 11,
1-5.
G. C. Weaver, P. Varma-Nelson, D. Wink, R. Morris and F. Lytle "Experiencing
Research in a First or Second Year Science Course - Preliminary Results and
Reflections on the Goals and Progress of the Center for Authentic Science Practice in
Education (CASPiE)" The Chemical Educator 2005, 11, 125-129.
Books and Manuals
J. Kampmeier, P. Varma-Nelson, C. Wamser and D. Wedegaertner Peer-Led Team
Learning: Organic Chemistry, 2nd Ed.; Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2006.
P. Varma-Nelson and A. E. Dreyfuss The Peer-Led Team Learning Dissemination
Manual, 2001. [URL:http://www.pltl.org/ ; under
Dissemination Materials].
P. Varma-Nelson and M. S. Cracolice Peer-Led Team Learning: General, Organic, and
Biochemistry; Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2001.
J. A. Kampmeier, P. Varma-Nelson and D. K. Wedegaertner Peer-Led Team Learning:
Organic Chemistry; Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2001.
D. K. Gosser, M. S. Cracolice, J. A. Kampmeier, V. Roth, V. Strozak and P. Varma-
Nelson Peer-Led Team Learning: A Guidebook; Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ,
2001.
P. Varma-Nelson and R. Van Lanen Laboratory Manual: Small Scale Organic
Chemistry and Biochemistry Experiments; Saint Xavier University, Chicago, IL, 2001.
Chapters
J. A. Kampmeier and P. Varma-Nelson "Peer-Led Team Learning: Organic Chemistry"
In The Chemists' Guide to Effective Teaching Vol. II, M. M. Cooper, T. Greenbowe and N. Pienta, Eds.; Prentice Hall Publishing: Upper Saddle River, NJ. 2007.
P. Varma-Nelson and D. Gosser "Dissemination of Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL)
and Formation of a National Network Embracing a Common Pedagogy" In
Teaching
Inclusively: Diversity and Faculty Development, M. Ouellet, Ed.; New Forums Press:
Stillwater, OK;
2005, pp. 503-518.
P. Varma-Nelson, M. Cracolice and D. Gosser, D. "Peer-Led Team Learning: A
Student-Faculty Partnership for Transforming the Learning Environment" In Invention
and Impact: Building Excellence in Undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics (STEM) Education, Proceedings of an April 2004 Conference Cosponsored
by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Undergraduate
Education (DUE) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science
(AAAS) Directorate for Education and Human Resources Programs (EHR) -Retrieved
May 21, 2007 [URL: http://www.aaas.org/publications/books_reports/CCLI/]
P. Varma-Nelson and B. Coppola "Team Learning" In The Chemists' Guide to Effective
Teaching; M. M. Cooper, T. Greenbowe and N. Pienta, Eds.; Prentice Hall Publishing:
Upper Saddle River, NJ; 2005.
J. L. Sarquis, L. J. Dixon, D. K. Gosser, J. A. Kampmeier, V. Roth, V. S. Strozak and
P. Varma-Nelson "The Workshop Project: Peer-Led Team Learning in Chemistry" In
Student-Assisted Teaching: A Guide to Faculty Student Teamwork; J. E. Miller, J. E. Groccia and M. S. Miller, Eds.; Anker Publishing Company: Bolton, MA; 2001, pp. 150
-155.
J. A. Kampmeier and P. Varma-Nelson "Institutionalizing The Workshops" In Peer-Led Team Learning: A Guidebook; Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ; 2001.
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