Karen Timberlake addresses a variety of learning styles.

KAREN C. TIMBERLAKE has been teaching foundations of chemistry for thirty-five years at Los Angeles Valley College in California. She received her bachelors degree in Chemistry from the University of Washington in 1962 and masters degree in Biochemistry from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1965. She has been writing chemistry textbooks for 26 years, emphasizing the application of chemistry concepts to real life situations concerning health and the environment. As a speaker at conferences and educational meetings, she leads instructors through a variety of student-centered teaching methods that can be used in the chemistry classroom to promote the learning success of students.

BC | Your 1-semester book has reached a lot of students, what kind of response have you gotten from students who have used your book?

KT | Not only have I received comments from students in my classes but also from students who are using my textbook that email me from different parts of the U.S. as well as foreign countries. I am always pleased that they take the time to drop me an email. They seem so delighted to have passed their chemistry class that they want me to know it was my textbook that made the difference. Students tell me that the text is more readable than others they have used and that they like the way I go over topics and use different ways to explain the concept. They like the art because it is not intimidating and some say they learn more from visual explanations than by reading.

Students have also told me that the text keeps them interested and involved by doing problems on a small section of information. By doing problems quickly, they don't feel overwhelmed by the problem sets in a chemistry text. Students and sometimes their professors comment that they really like the Health Notes because they help relate chemistry to situations they are familiar with in health care. Some of my students really enjoy doing the Explore Your World activities with their children especially if they have a science day at their school.

BC | How has that feedback influenced your 2-semester book

KT | In the new 2-semester book I incorporated the pedagogical framework of my 1-semester text such as the Sample Problems, Health and Environmental Notes, and Problems and Questions at the end of each section rather than placed only at the end of the chapter. The student interest in health careers is addressed by chapter openers that include a photo of a health professional and an interview that describe his or her work in a particular area of health care. More details of each health-related career are found on the website. The expanded art program now uses photos, diagrams, and chemical structures to connect familiar materials of the macroscopic world with the microscopic world.

BC | In your experience, what motivates students to succeed in the GOB course?

KT | Students are often intimated by the chemistry requirement for a career in health science such as nursing or respiratory therapy. Initially the primary motivation for many students to succeed in the GOB is to simply get through the course. They don't expect to like it, but feel they can grit their teeth and manage. However, that approach is not often successful. My first effort in motivating students is to reduce their anxiety about taking a chemistry course and improving their interest and ability to learn chemistry. I try to provide a support base in terms of many pedagogical structures that appeal to different learning styles. One student may choose to read a Health Note, or do an Explore Your World activity, while another student prefers to work all the Sample Problems and check the Solutions. As chemistry professors we easily convert words in a chemistry text to understanding, especially after we teach the course for several semesters. However, students new to a chemistry class do not have the ability to convert words to mental images and need more visual representations of chemistry ideas. Thus I provide a plentiful assortment of photos and diagrams to develop a chemical concept.

BC | How do you get this across to professors?

KT | Over the years I have given many workshops at a variety of chemistry and science teacher conferences and Strategies Workshops on how to use my text in developing active-learning techniques in the classroom. I illustrate methods that a professor can use to move from an instructor-centered classroom to a student-centered classroom. These methods are found in a paper and a PowerPoint presentation on my teaching and learning system LecturePLUS (Participation, Learning, Understanding, and Success), which are contained on my website. After a workshop or seeing my website, instructors have contacted me to learn more about student-centered methods. For me personally, student-centered methods have been very successful.

BC | Who has been the biggest influence on your career and why?

KT | There have two wonderful influences on my teaching career of over 35 years. One has been the students in my classes who have motivated me to learn more about learning. The other influence is my husband, also a chemistry instructor, who patiently listens and helps me develop new ideas.

My greatest delight is to watch students develop a positive attitude about chemistry and actually begin to enjoy the class. I have been told many times by students that they never expected a chemistry class to become their favorite class. They are quite amazed at that result and very pleased with their success in chemistry. Once students begin to enjoy chemistry, self-confidence grows, and they are anxious to learn more and to do well. They find that chemistry is very interesting and strongly related to their career interests in the allied health sciences. Often their success in chemistry carries over into the other science classes required for health science careers.