Faculty Profiles
Silvia Laura Porello Lecturer, Chemistry |  |
Education
- B.S., Professional degree in Clinical Biochemistry, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina.
- Ph.D., Biological Chemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Thesis Title: “DNA Repair Enzyme MutY: Substrate Recognition Properties and Kinetics of Adenine Glycosylase Reaction”
Teaching Interests
I teach primarily introductory chemistry courses, and I deeply enjoy teaching first-year students. Being the student’s first encounter with science in a higher education setting, introductory courses represent a challenge and a huge responsibility for me. It is an important time in the development of the student’s connection with the sciences, and it is likely to shape their future careers.
As an instructor, I make every effort to look beyond the immediate concerns of the discipline and focus on the long-term goals of creating scholars and valuable members of the campus community and the society at large. One of my goals when teaching chemistry is to help students find the relevant applications of the course materials to their personal interests and their future career.
Research, Scholarship or Creative/Artistic Interests
One of my most important professional goals focuses on science education strategies and tools. I work closely with students to develop educational content that enhances and improves learning outcomes in chemical education.
Since becoming a member of the Muhlenberg community, I have worked on designing new laboratory experiments and activities for general chemistry with a focus on scientific relevance and current technology. The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a huge challenge to education, particularly in fields that require hands-on experiences, such as chemistry. Since March 2020, my efforts shifted towards creating a curriculum that uses home-based experiments. This project was supported by two undergraduate students Hannah Morris ‘23 and Camryn Griffon ‘23, a Dana Scholars intern.
In addition, I work on evolving assessment tools to evaluate teaching strategies and learning outcomes in the ever-changing landscape of science education. To this end, I joined the American Chemical Society Examination Institute, which defines metrics to assess learning outcomes and chemistry proficiency across the USA. The ACS Examinations Institute produces nationally normed exams for chemistry courses ranging from high school through the entire undergraduate chemistry curriculum. I serve in the GC21 committee, writing the next General Chemistry (full year) exam, due to be released in 2022.
