Sarah Keller is persistent. Or maybe she's a glutton for punishment. Either way, her path to success in teaching college chemistry was decidedly unconventional — taking on the course she disliked the most and had the most difficulty with when she was an undergraduate.
In fact, the senior-level physical chemistry course for biochemistry majors, at least initially, is probably the least favorite for her students too.
"They hate it. They dread it with complete passion. And then the faculty dread it because the students dread it so much," says Keller. "I'd like to prevent that pain for students."
She tries to work through that dread, to make the course meaningful and manageable for bright students, many of whom will need the coursework in their future lives, including medical school. For her efforts, the UW associate chemistry professor earned a Distinguished Teaching Award.
At its root, the course is freshman chemistry with calculus thrown in for good measure. The calculus helps to show exactly how and why the chemistry works, but Keller believes it also is the biggest psychological roadblock. Many students take calculus when they are freshmen or sophomores and don't think about it after, suspecting they'll never need it again. Then suddenly, highly competitive upper-level students not used to asking for help must resurrect principles from a dusty bookshelf and apply them in a new class. What's more, some of their futures might depend on how well they do, since typically one-third to one-half intend to go on to medical school.
"I want them to come out of this thinking this material is useful and can even be fun. And I also want them to think in terms of learning how to work together," Keller says.
She wants her students to learn concepts such as how to determine osmotic pressure, which is the pressure exerted by a solution containing solutes such as salts or proteins with respect to a pure liquid. Understanding the concept is crucial for a doctor who, for example, must use saline in a patient's intravenous drip rather than pure water. The solution that works best will have a concentration and osmotic pressure similar to blood, Keller says.
Keller also wants them to use science and mathematical acumen to estimate proper dosages for different people based on a variety of factors. Estimating is not a common talent, but she believes her course can help students become more skilled at it and comfortable doing it.
"I'm not going to make it an easy course. I want my doctor to know what osmotic pressure is. I want my doctor to think in terms of orders of magnitude when making dosage decisions," she said.
Keller won the Chemistry Department's outstanding teaching award in 2004, the first assistant professor to be so honored. She also has won the Cottrell Teacher-Scholar Award, which recognizes the nation's most talented researchers and instructors.
Kellie Vigna, a third-year student in the UW Medical Scientist Training Program, cites Keller's inspiration for her own path toward medical practice and research.
"My outstanding experience in physical chemistry with Sarah has helped me to embrace, rather than shy away from, the concepts taught in her class," Vigna wrote. "I am better able to understand many concepts in my cardiovascular and respiratory courses in the medical school."
Emily Terrell, a chemistry undergraduate, credits Keller for encouraging and inspiring original thinking in the laboratory.
"Sarah gives her students the chance to be independent," Terrell wrote. "Even as an undergraduate, I had my own project and I got to make all of the decisions on the specifics of that project. … After I obtained some results, Sarah asked me what I felt the next step should be rather than telling me where she thought the research should go."
Those are precisely the kind of results Keller seeks.
"My goal is not for them to become physical chemists. I know most of them are not going to do that. But I want to give them life skills and I can do that with physical chemistry, even if that makes the course more challenging."