April 21, 2021 Education Night Meeting

Dr. Chrystal Bruce is a Professor of Chemistry at John Carroll University. She received her PhD  in Physical Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research focuses on small molecule-protein and small molecule-DNA interactions, the teaching and learning of chemistry, and the importance of mentoring in the professional advancement of science faculty. Currently, she is the co-chair of the American Chemical Society Examinations Institute Physical Chemistry 2021 Exam Committee, co-PI on an NSF ADVANCE grant, and a member of the MERCURY Consortium for Computational Physical Chemists at primarily undergraduate institutions.

Dr. Bruce will speak on the process by which a committee of faculty works to create the suite of Physical Chemistry exams produced by the American Chemical Society Examinations Institute. ACS Exams are administered by higher education institutions across the country. Most chemistry students have taken at least one, either as a summative assessment as an undergraduate or as an entrance exam as a graduate student. The exams are independently created by a committee of chemistry faculty. Dr. Bruce will discuss the process of writing and evaluating the exam items as well as how the final version of the released  exams are set for the current iteration of the Physical Chemistry 2021 ACS Exams suite.