Dr. Kowalski is interested in knowing more about how people learn chemistry. She has an on-going longitudinal study looking at patterns of activity in classrooms. In previous work she looked at whether guided inquiry changes the level or complexity of exam questions and how introducing a multi-step synthesis lab into Organic Chemistry II changed student and faculty perceptions of the course. More recently she has been studying equity of outcomes for various groups in chemistry courses. She is also exploring how teaching equilibrium as a system of equations provides opportunities not available in typical textbook presentations.
