Contact Information:
Department of Chemistry
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77842
Phone: (979) 845-3256
Fax: (979) 845-4719
kennicutt@mail.chem.tamu.edu

Wendy Keeney-Kennicut
Senior Lecturer

Ph. D., Chemical Oceanography, Texas A&M University

Awards:

• Associate Director, First Year Chemistry Program
• Member, TAMU Chemistry Road Show

Areas of Interest:

• Chemical Education

Kennicutt Chemistry Courses

My Course Portfolio for Chemistry 101

My activities include teaching in the First Year Chemistry Program, as well as being the Associate Director and the Webmaster for the program. I also am a member of the TAMU Chemistry Road Show, which carries the excitement of Chemistry to local and regional schools from grade 3 through 12.

I have been teaching in the First Year Chemistry Program since 1984. Even though I have worked at other professions (senior scientist, laboratory supervisor and assistant research scientist), as listed in my vita, teaching has always been the most personally rewarding.

Additional teaching experiences include (1) 13 years as the Chemistry Specialist, in "The Bridge to Medicine," a 6 week program for disadvantaged medical school applicants, sponsored by the TAMU College of Medicine and (2) running the chemistry component of a 4 week enrichment program (TAMUPREP) for 7th and 8th grade students in the last four summers.

My teaching philosophy is simple: teach your students in the same way as you would want to be taught - with enthusiasm, and with love for the subject combined with respect and compassion for the student. This involves time, dedication and the incorporation of lots of non-stressful, active classroom learning. I met other college educators with the same philosophy at the 1996 and 1999 Wakonse Conferences on Lake Michigan. We shared experiences and learned how to further improve our teaching. In the Chemistry Department, I am a part of the Chemical Education Interest Group.

The rewards for quality teaching are primarily intrinsic, however the Texas A&M Association of Former Students presented me with the Outstanding Teaching Award for the College of Science in 1991; the students of Texas A&M chose me as a namesake for a summer orientation camp (Fish Camp) for incoming 1993 freshmen; and I was given the 1998 Outstanding Teacher Award from Gamma Sigma Delta, the Honor Society of Agriculture.

My future plans include the further honing of my teaching skills and doing research in chemical education. I am particularly interested in quantitatively correlating the study tools used by chemistry students with (1) their final grades, (2) their attitudes toward Chemistry and (3) their professor's teaching style.

"Solutions Manual to Accompany General Chemistry, 6th edition, by Whitten, Davis and Peck." W. L. Keeney-Kennicutt and Y.-N. Tang. Saunders College Publishing. (1999).

"Using the Web to Augment Student Learning in the Classroom," The Wakonse Conference on College Teaching (1999).

"How to Succeed in First Year Chemistry," Genetics and Biochemistry Enrichment Experience (GaBEE), TAMU (1999).

"One Chemist's Life - A Series of Choices," Women's Studies 200, TAMU (1995).

TAMU Chemistry Road Show presentations, 47 shows to 5780 students, 1995 - present

National Science Foundation Undergraduate Faculty Enhancement Workshop on Chemical Education Research at the 14th Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, Clemson University, SC (1996).