SLICE

Sign Language Incorporation in Chemistry Education

2022 Diversity and Inclusion Prize

Our team is thrilled to be this year's recipient of the Royal Society of Chemistry's Diversity and Inclusion Prize Awardee. We are so excited to share our work with you and we know our work is not done yet. We are humbled by this honor and emboldened to continue this important work.

Using our hands to recognize trends and rationalize stereochemical outcomes is the greatest advantage

Syn-3

Halogenation

Syn-3

Oxymercuration

Syn-3

Epoxidation

Using your hands to model a concept or even move your hands to mirror a transition state is a powerful way for students to think about the electron pushing formalisms we write on paper and recognize mechanistic and repetitive trends. Using our hands as models changes the two-dimensional static framework of writing reactions into 3-D opportunities for students to conceptualize the repercussions of the transition state. Students can learn the process of using their hands as models as guided through a REActivity.

Interested in incorporating your hands as models to represent the 3-D nature of a reaction? We have the tools for you.

SLICE REActivities are organized by transition state motifs and can be done as workshops (dry labs). It's important to note that we took some liberties in naming a few of the motifs. This has helped students with categorizing the trends for electron pushing and helps when students try communicating what mechanism they are employing for a given reaction. Downloadable pdfs of each SLICE Reactivity and the videos for each motif are available.

See how SLICE was conceived by our team

Mechanistic Motif: SN2

sn2 vedit_kc edit qrcode changes.pdf

Beta-REActivity: SN2

Mechanistic Motif: SN1

sn1 questions vedit2_kc edit qrcode changes.pdf

Beta-REActivity: SN1

Mechanistic Motif: E-1

e1 vedit_kc edits qrcode changes.pdf

Beta-REActivity: E-1

Mechanistic Motif: E-2

E2 vedit_kc edits qrcode changes.pdf

Beta-REActivity: E-2

Mechanistic Motif: Pi-base

pibase vedit kc_edit qrcode changes.pdf

Beta-REActivity: Pi-base

Mechanistic Motif: Syn-3

Syn3 vedit2_kc edits qrcode changes.pdf

Beta-REActivity: Syn-3

Mechanistic Motif: Syn-4

syn 4 vedit2_kc edits qrcode changes.pdf

Beta-REActivity: Syn-4

Mechanistic Motif: 1,2-Addition

Mechanistic Motif: 1,2-Substitution

12-add_sub vedit2_kc edits qrcode changes.pdf

Beta-REActivity:
1,2-Addition/1,2-Substitution

Deaf Culture and Audism

If you’ve enjoyed learning the ASL signs and narratives for these organic chemistry concepts and would like to learn more about Deaf Culture and Audism, please read Understanding Our Culture by Asma Sheikh.

Comprehensive Organic Chemistry ASL

If you are deaf or are an ASL interpreter and are interested in learning about the comprehensive vocabulary and narrative expansions for organic chemistry, please visit the ASLcore website.

Meet the ASLcore Organic Chemistry Team

Asma Sheikh BS '19

ASL translator, SLICE team language creator and video signer / Undergraduate student


Kaitlyn Clark BS '20 MS '22

ASL translator, SLICE team language creator and video signer / Undergraduate student


Jonathan Dominguez BS '20 MS '22

ASL translator, SLICE team language creator and video signer / Undergraduate student


Michelle Mailhot BS '20

ASL translator, SLICE team language creator and video signer / Undergraduate student


Ashley Gleeson BS '20

ASL translator, SLICE team language creator and video signer / Undergraduate student


Cody Cummings BS '20

ASL translator, SLICE team language creator and video signer / Undergraduate student


Jennifer Swartzenberg

SLICE coordinator, Co-PI/ Deaf Support Faculty and Senior Lecturer


Tina Goudreau Collison

SLICE content expert, PI / Organic Chemistry Professor

Other REActivites To Try

First Day of Lab

Column Chromato-graphy

SN1/SN2

Bromination

Data Analysis

Virtual Lab Videos

Contact Information:

Christina Goudreau Collison

Professor of Chemistry

Rochester Institute of Technology

585-475-2634

cgcsch@rit.edu

The authors acknowledge our ancestors and their contributions to chemistry.

The REActivities team is grateful for the generous support of the National Science Foundation, Rochester Institute of Technology, the National Institutes of Health, the University of New Mexico, Northern Arizona University, and Southwestern Indian Polytech Institute for their generous support with our design and development of these materials.