Spring 2025

UConn ECE MELD

Posted on by

UC MELD

May 2025

More than 240 students from 12 high schools—Rocky Hill High School, O.H. Platt High School, Enfield High School, Berlin High School, The Woodstock Academy, University High School of Science and Engineering, Jonathan Law High School, Joseph A. Foran High School, Daniel Hand High School, Bristol Eastern High School, Academy of Information Technology & Engineering, and Lewis S. Mills High School—across Connecticut gathered at the University of Connecticut’s Chemistry Building for the annual ECE Chemistry Lab Day. Held over two sessions on May 20 and May 22, 2025, the event provided students with immersive, hands-on laboratory experiences that offered exposure to UConn lab environments and research practices.

The MELD (May ECE Lab Day) event was coordinated by the UConn Early College Experience Program Office and Dr. Fatma Selampinar, Professor in Residence and UConn ECE Chemistry Faculty Coordinator. Science activities were hosted by Assistant Professor Dr. Michael Kienzler. Following Dr. Kienzler’s presentation, students transitioned to six undergraduate teaching laboratories, where they conducted a series of experiments designed by Dr. Kienzler. These sessions were supervised by graduate students, providing participants with hands-on experience in a collegiate laboratory setting. This collaborative effort offered high school students an immersive introduction to advanced chemical research and methodologies, fostering early engagement with the scientific community at UConn. Students synthesized three different derivatives of the dye azobenzene, a compound known for its photoswitching properties—changing structure when exposed to specific wavelengths of light. The students then investigated the properties of the azobenzene they made using ultraviolet/visible spectroscopy and thin-layer chromatography. These experiments mirror ongoing research going on in Dr. Kienzler’s lab.

Beyond the laboratory work, participants engaged with UConn’s advanced scientific equipment. Dr. Selampinar coordinated sessions introducing students to Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, while graduate students provided insights into mass
spectrometry techniques. These experiences aim to familiarize students with tools and methodologies prevalent in modern chemical research. The UConn ECE Chemistry Lab Day not only enriches students’ understanding of chemistry but also fosters
connections between high school students and UConn faculty and graduate students. Such initiatives underscore the UConn ECE and Chemistry Department’s commitment to bridging secondary education with higher learning, inspiring the next generation of scientists.

Professional Development Workshops

Posted on by

By Caroline Lynch, UConn ECE Graduate Assistant, Master’s Student, UConn, Higher
Education and Student Affairs

We’ve had yet another eventful semester for the UConn Early College Experience Program, including 22 unique professional development experiences for our certified ECE Instructors. A mix of on campus and virtual events were held, for our wonderful instructors from Allied Health, American Sign Language, Animal Sciences, Art, Asian & Asian American Studies, Digital Media and Design, Earth Sciences, Education, Educational Psychology, Environmental Science, French, German, History, Human Development & Family Sciences, Italian, Kinesiology, Latino & Latin American Studies, Political Science, Spanish, and Statistics as well as our Library Media Specialists. Please enjoy a brief overview of the professional development highlights from the Spring 2025 semester!

February 26, 2025: Political Science Workshop

For our first professional development event of 2025, we hosted a virtual conversation with our Political Science instructors on the theme Bringing Politics into the Classroom. The morning opened with a faculty discussion surrounding the effects of rising authoritarianism in world politics, with the goal of equipping instructors with strategies for teaching their students to understand and recognize harmful trends
and their consequences. A major highlight of the day was a guest address by Denise Merrill, UConn alumna and former Connecticut Secretary of State.

March 12, 2025: Animal Sciences Workshop

Animal Science instructors met on the Storrs Campus in early March, where they had the opportunity to observe a class section of ANSC 1602: Behavior and Training of Domestic Animals. The true bonus highlight of the day was a trip to the UConn Dairy Bar, where instructors got to experience our world-famous UConn ice cream!

March 14, 2025: French Workshop

On March 14th, our ECE French Instructors convened on the UConn Storrs Campus for their annual professional development conference. The morning consisted of a lecture on the theme of childhood and its manifestations in French cinema, led by Assistant Professor in French
Studies, Dr. Raphaël Koenig. Then, in the afternoon our instructors were given the opportunity to visit UConn’s Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry for a tour and a lecture on puppetry in France and French-speaking countries led by Dr. John Bell, Director of Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry and Associate Professor in the Dramatic Arts Department.

April 4, 2025: Italian Workshop

Our Italian instructors took a field trip to the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, CT for a private tour of the galleries. Following the tour, instructors got to experience an informative lecture courtesy of Stephanie Barnett, School & Teacher Programs Manager for the Atheneum.

April 11, 2025: Spanish Workshop

Marking our largest professional development workshop of the semester, over 85 certified Spanish instructors joined us on the Storrs Campus on April 11th. The group was joined by Professor Oscar Martin, chair for the Department of Languages and Literatures at Lehman College. Professor Martin delivered a lecture entitled “Estudiantes, hay camino y se hace camino al andar” (Translation: “Students, there is a path, and the path is made by walking”). Following the keynote address, instructors had the opportunity to work on a collaborative group project with their peers.

April 25, 2025: EDLR 2001 Workshop

It was a beautiful day in Storrs when we were joined by a group of 15 EDLR 2001: Contemporary Social Issues in Sport instructors. Thanks to the continued efforts of Dr. Danielle DeRosa, our Faculty Coordinator for Educational Leadership, this group has grown to include teachers from a variety of unique disciplines, including History, English, Health/Physical Education, and Social Studies. Each provides a unique lens through which to teach their students about the industry of sport. Instructors were given the opportunity to meet with Eric Schneider, Associate Director of Athletics and Compliance at UConn, to discuss the ever-evolving landscape of college athletics, including NIL (name, image, and likeness) policies. The afternoon was topped off by a walking tour of several of UConn’s athletic facilities, including Gampel Pavilion, the flagship site of the “Basketball Capitol of the World”, along with the baseball, softball, volleyball, and ice hockey facilities.

April 24 and 25, 2025: English at the 14th annual Conference on the Teaching of Writing

This semester, our ECE English instructors were invited to attend the 14th annual Conference on the Teaching of Writing, entitled “Joy to You and Me: Making Space for Joy in the Writing Classroom.” This conference challenged our instructors to embed joy into their pedagogy, finding it in unexpected places amongst upheaval and dread, and encouraging their students to embrace it. The keynote address, titled “Hell Yes, Joy is a Strategy: Reclaiming Play in Writing Assessment,” was delivered by Dr. Stephanie West-Puckett, Associate Professor of Writing & Rhetoric at the University of Rhode Island. Attendees of the conference were treated to a wide variety of sessions and workshops to choose from and had the opportunity to connect with individuals across the UConn First Year Writing community and beyond. It’s been an incredible semester! To find more information and photographs from these and the rest of our professional development events, please feel
free to visit the “ECE PD Blog” on our website. As the spring comes to a close, we extend our thanks to our Faculty Coordinators, guest contributors, and instructors for their time and commitment to the ECE program. We’ll be back come Fall with plenty more professional development experiences, and we look forward to seeing many of you then!