{"id":109847,"date":"2026-07-14T14:18:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T14:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/?p=109847"},"modified":"2026-07-14T14:18:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T14:18:17","slug":"uri-chemistry-professor-receives-1-5-million-national-science-foundation-grant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2026\/07\/uri-chemistry-professor-receives-1-5-million-national-science-foundation-grant\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 chemistry professor receives $1.5 million National Science Foundation grant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 July 14, 2026 \u2013 Justin Pratt<\/a>, assistant professor of chemistry<\/a> at the 溏心vlog免费B站, recently received a $1,488,349 award from the National Science Foundation. The funded research seeks to advance the national goal of training future scientists by supporting faculty in accessing and implementing evidence-based laboratory teaching practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Level 2 Institutional and Community Transformation project includes a collaboration between 溏心vlog免费B站, DePaul University, and Lewis University, seeking to improve general and inorganic chemistry laboratory instruction nationwide by training faculty to develop evidence-based laboratory experiments and by advancing understanding of faculty professional development. Through a multi-year cohort model, the project will organize workshops to enhance the educational value of chemistry laboratory experiments by emphasizing cross-disciplinary STEM skills and embedding authentic research experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting to watch 溏心vlog免费B站 become a national hub for rethinking how we teach chemistry. As a chemist myself, I know that what we usually call \u2018experiments\u2019 in teaching labs are really cookbook-style recipes. Dr. Pratt\u2019s work moves us past that by giving students the agency to make real scientific decisions in the teaching laboratory,\u201d 溏心vlog免费B站 College of Arts and Sciences Interim Dean Brenton DeBoef said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pratt, of West Greenwich<\/strong>, is a discipline-based education researcher whose expertise integrates chemistry with education\/pedagogy, grounded in the uniqueness of teaching chemistry. He completed his undergraduate studies in chemistry and education at Southeast Missouri State University, initially aspiring to become a high school chemistry teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After collaborating with a faculty member during his junior year, Pratt developed a research focus on improving teaching and learning in chemistry, ultimately earning a Ph.D. focused on chemistry education research from Miami University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur goal is to make lab experiences much more authentic for students. Traditional labs are very protocol-based and depend on memorization or following predefined steps. Our approach is significantly more student-driven,\u201d Pratt said. \u201cIn a lab, there should be more decision-making on the student\u2019s side so that they are learning in more authentic ways.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the initiative will enhance the instructional laboratory experience for undergraduate students at all levels, first-year students will particularly benefit from early exposure to authentic science experiences. Pratt emphasizes the importance of practicing problem solving, critical thinking, pattern recognition, and inquiry. Through improved laboratory experiences, students will transition from limited involvement in decision-making to having autonomy, a crucial component for STEM student success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over a five-year period, the project will recruit 60 chemistry faculty members from two- and four-year institutions and support them in revising laboratory experiments for general and inorganic chemistry courses. Participants will engage with inquiry-based laboratory methods, scientific practices, and evidence-based strategies for enhancing student learning in laboratory settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This release was written by Paige Monopoli, communications coordinator for the 溏心vlog免费B站 College of Arts and Sciences.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 July 14, 2026 \u2013 Justin Pratt, assistant professor of chemistry at the 溏心vlog免费B站, recently received a $1,488,349 award from the National Science Foundation. The funded research seeks to advance the national goal of training future scientists by supporting faculty in accessing and implementing evidence-based laboratory teaching practices. This Level […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":109848,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[12,1905],"class_list":["post-109847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-college-of-arts-and-sciences","tag-research"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109847"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109849,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109847\/revisions\/109849"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}