Making Chemistry Accessible through Teaching

I consider teaching to be an important part of my position as a professor. Over the years, I have taught at levels ranging from first-year undergraduate through graduate courses. The courses I teach are generally based on general chemistry, quantum mechanics, computational chemistry, or numerical methods. In all cases, I strive to make clear connections between the material presented in class and the chemical concepts learned in other classes. Members of our group also teach as teaching assistants in various undergraduate courses; particuarly those involving elements of theoretical or computational chemistry.

Our groups efforts toward teaching have been recognized through several awards. I have been awarded, or nominated for, several prestigious teaching awards. Moreover, many of the graduate students in our group have earned TA awards.

In addition to teaching, I have been involved in the development of course materials.

A list of teaching materials I’ve prepared and, teaching awards earned by the group is given below.

“‘Ideally, all professors for this course should follow his example."

Anonymous student review

“‘After hearing rumours about 313 from upper years I was worried about taking the course. However, I think that Dr. Mosey is a phenomenal lecturer. Not only does he do a great job at teaching the material, he is also always available for help outside of class and really helps in breaking down problems in a way that makes learning the material straightforward and interesting."

Anonymous student review

CHEM 113/114: Online General Chemistry

I developed online versions of our first-year general chemistry course.

Chemistry: Student Activity, Chemical Reactivity

Bissesur, R.; Loppnow, G.; Mosey, N.J.; Carran, J.; Chik, J. “Chemistry: Student Activity, Chemistry Reactivity Workbook.” Nelson Education, Toronto (2011).

This publication is a study guide to be offered alongside the new textbook Chemistry: Human Activity, Chemical Reactivity published by Nelson Education. We were contacted directly by the publishers to write the study guide. I was responsible for writing ten chapters of the study guide.

Computer Simulations for Undergraduates

Rowley, C.N.; Mosey, N.J.; Woo, T.K. “A Computational Experiment of the endo versus exo Preference in a Diels-Alder Reaction.” Journal of Chemical Education, 2009, 86, 199.

This publication was based on an assignment we developed for a computational chemistry course when I was a graduate student. This assignment uses theoretical methods to identify the kinetic and thermodynamic products of the title reaction. In addition, it explores details related to accuracy and model design, such as exploring the effects of using a truncated system to perform high-level calculations or using a fully-substituted system with low-level methods.

Our Group’s Teaching Awards

2016: Gurpaul Kochhar. Fisher Scientific Teaching Assistant Award

2016: Nick Mosey. Graduating Class Award for Excellence in Teaching Chemistry

2014: Stephanie Whyte. Friends of Chemistry Award for Excellence in Teaching Assistance

2014: Nick Mosey. Graduating Class Award for Excellence in Teaching Chemistry

2012: Nick Mosey. Frank Knox Teaching Award Nominee (CHEM112)

2011: Gurpaul Kochhar. Din Lal Teaching Assistant Award.

2011: Nick Mosey. W.J. Barnes Teaching Excellence Award Nominee (CHEM112)

Contact Information

Nick Mosey
Associate Dean (Research), Faculty of Arts & Science
Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry
Queen’s University
Kingston, ON, Canada K7L 3N6
moseyn@queensu.ca  
613-533-2650