Mackiewicz Research Lab

Laboratory of Nanostructured Materials at Oregon State University

Teaching Interests

Current Courses at Oregon State University

CH420X/520X: Transferable Professional & Scientific Skills (previously CH320X)

This course is designed to enhance and enrich your overall learning as an emerging cohort of professionals in science. The weekly modules are designed to provide you with opportunities to develop transferable skills as a student that will greatly enhance your success in research, industry internships or jobs, and academia. These skills are not traditionally taught in the undergraduate or graduate curriculum and are absolutely essential for your success as B.S., M.S.; and Ph.D students and future careers in chemistry. At the end of this course you will be more prepared for diverse research environments and for advanced coursework that requires you to work in teams and know the scientific literature. ALL of these are essential skills that companies are seeking from STEM graduates. Let us help you be ready!

CH417X and CH517X Coordination and Bioinorganic Chemistry

Created, designed, and taught in Spring 2022. This is the first bioinorganic chemistry course in the chemistry department designed by Marilyn Rampersad Mackiewicz (MRM) to fill a critical need for our chemistry majors and graduate students. This bioinorganic course is focused on classical bioinorganic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and nanobioinorganic chemistry. This is a 3-credit course, which drew 10 students (6 graduate students (materials and analytical), and 4 undergraduate students) from diverse disciplines (analytical, bioengineering, biochemistry, and chemistry). The course covers fundamental inorganic chemistry and biochemistry, metal binding to proteins, hydrolysis, electron transfer, transport and storage of metal ions, medicinal inorganic chemistry (imaging and therapeutics), and nanobioinorganic chemistry. A hybrid flipped classroom model is used to engage students in peer-to-peer discussion so that students can critically think, interpret, retain knowledge, and extend their knowledge in coordination chemistry to demonstrate proficiency. Students are assessed by midterms and peer-to-peer discussions and have the opportunity to extend their content knowledge by developing a 6-page interdisciplinary proposal using an NIH format, based on the first module on grant writing skills, where they can apply their problem-solving skills by tackling challenging chemistry problems in human health, the environment, and energy. By working in teams, they develop communication, leadership, and teamwork skills. Students also build on their pedagogical and communication skills by co-teaching one of the topics in the course.

CH232H Honors General Chemistry

MRM implemented a remote flipped classroom learning environment during COVID-19 for honors general chemistry in Winter 2021, which had 44 students. To manage student stress during the pandemic and encourage student engagement MRM worked on creating a psychologically safe environment where students were free to express the challenges they were facing and that impacted their learning. MRM created several study guides to help students acclimate to online learning and opportunities for engaging students in productive student discussion. Strategies for enhancing student learning included creating an inclusive classroom environment where students felt comfortable turning their cameras on, sharing their thinking and misconceptions without fear of ridicule, and peer-to-peer discussions in breakout rooms where students were able to solve problems together with the help of a learning assistant and graduate student TA. This course also introduced a special topic in materials chemistry, which accompanied a virtual lab on silver nanoparticle synthesis designed and implemented by MRM to connect students with research happening at OSU.

CH220 Careers in Chemistry

MRM used her prior experience working with first-generation and marginalized students in STEM disciplines to completely redesign course content, structure, and learning outcomes. CH220 is also part of MRM’s educational plan in the NSF CAREER award 2145427 (2022). This course is comprised of a well-structured set of lesson plans, notes, and interactive course content for CH220 for an adaptable virtual learning (Fall 2020) and in-person learning environment (Fall 2021). Weekly modules in this course focused on mentorship, networking, negotiation, and self-advocacy, learning about undergraduate research experiences and how to be successful, career pathways in chemistry, and imposter syndrome. It also included many guest speakers and panelists representing industry, academia, small start-up companies, and instructors for students to engage with. The course utilized peer mentors to help build a cohort community of students who shared the same experiences. Peer mentors shared their experiences with the CH220 students and were provided with peer-to-peer mentor training so they can be empathetic, supportive, and culturally responsive peer mentors to CH220 students in the course. The developed peer mentoring training document is used by the Chemistry department to support graduate student peer-to-peer mentoring. In addition to the peer mentors, MRM also worked on the transfer of knowledge on the various topics and culturally relevant pedagogical practices to Dr. Kyriakos Stylianou (Co-Instructor in Fall 2020) ensuring that more than one instructor can teach this content for future years. Peer mentors also help to develop transferable products for students such as videos and infographics disseminating knowledge on professional development. MRM worked with CH220 students to develop OSU branded infographics focused on telling the stories of diverse chemists from underrepresented backgrounds, that are highlighted on the departmental monitors for all students to see representations of themselves. Students also wrote pieces of advice for the next incoming class about how to be successful in chemistry. This course connected students with the chemistry community and was designed to enhance the retention of first-generation and marginalized who struggle in their first year. With a 91% response rate from ESET evaluations, students positively indicated this course was significantly beneficial to them and wanted more time in the course as well as an extension of the topics. Students in this course also participated in the CH220 and CH320X networking events described above.

Courses taught at Portland State University

  • University Studies Senior Capstone: Empowering and Advancing Women and Underrepresented Students in STEM
    This capstone focuses on building skills in effective communication, negotiation, leadership, networking, mentoring, and professional development (leading focus groups and interviewing). These are skills traditionally not learned in a classroom and are essential to advancing successful STEM careers. Capstone students will work in teams to design, implement, and evaluate a 1-day workshop to coach and transfer STEM career preparation skills to students in the Apprenticeships in Science and Engineering program” (ASE).
  • NIH BUILD EXITO Enrichment Programming
  • Course Developer CHEM+BIO CURE
  • Portland State Metro STEM Center
    • Connect2Science Workshop: Energy
    • Connect2Science Workshop: Energy and Matter
    • Connect2Science Workshop: Physical Sciences
    • 3-Dimensional learning and practices in the Next Generation Science Standards
    • Practices in culturally relevant pedagogy
    • Prepared demonstrations
    • Demonstration of science and engineering practices
  • General Chemistry Lectures 221 Fall 2009
  • General Chemistry Lectures 223 spring 2010
  • General Chemistry Lectures 221, and 223 summer 2010

Chemistry courses taken at Texas A and M University

  • Bioinorganic Chemistry
  • Organometallic Chemistry
  • Group Theory
  • Kinetics and Mechanisms
  • Physical Methods
  • Structure and Bonding
  • Special Studies in X-ray Crystallography
  • Seminar Preparation
  • Frontiers in Chemical Research
  • Ethics in Research and Scholarship
  • Methods in Teaching Chemistry Laboratory
  • Seminar

Courses taught at Texas A and M University

  • Teaching Assistant: Advanced Inorganic Synthesis Laboratory
  • Teaching Assistant: Organometallic Chemistry Lecture
  • General Chemistry Laboratory