Kelly E. Butler earned her Ph.D. at Bryn Mawr College, PA in Organic Chemistry. Her graduate work focused on synthesizing organic compounds that could eventually lead to molecular wires. While her original area of expertise in chemistry is organic, while at CHC, she pivoted from synthesizing organic compounds to specializing in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). With a focus on the Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) pedagogy, her scholarship has taken many forms, publishing a workbook of guided inquiry activities for physical organic chemistry, facilitating many workshops on pedagogy, and being a member of the steering committee of The POGIL Project for several years. The most exciting opportunity was to serve as a Fulbright Scholar in India for nine months, and she has continued to collaborate with Indian colleagues and to facilitate workshops for Indian educators, most recently via Zoom. While Dr. Butler has taught a wide range of courses while at CHC, including ones in graduate science education and in the Interdisciplinary Honors Program, the courses she teaches every year are Organic Chemistry and Organic Chemistry Laboratory. Computer programming is a more recent interest of hers, and she is now teaching Introduction to Programming in the computer science curriculum. In addition, Dr. Butler identifies as an (active) antiracist and as such focuses on diversity, equity, and inclusion, especially as it relates to education.
- Ph.D., Organic Chemistry, 2001, Bryn Mawr College
- M.A., Organic Chemistry, 1996, Bryn Mawr College
- A.B., Chemistry, 1993, Bryn Mawr College
- Organic Chemistry
- Advanced Physical Organic Chemistry
- Principles of Chemistry lab
- Chemical Education
- Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL)
- Graphite ribbons, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, and fullerenes
- Aromatic chemistry and photocyclizations
Fulbright Scholar, 2015-2016
Butler, K. Physical Organic Chemistry: A Guided Inquiry Workbook, Pre-Market ed.; Pacific Crest: Lisle, IL: 2010.
Mallory, F. B.; Butler, K. E.; Bérubé, A.; Luzik, E. D., Jr.; Mallory, C. W.; Brondyke, E. J.; Hiremath, R.; Ngo, P.; Carroll, P. J. Phenacenes: A Family of Graphite Ribbons. 3. Iterative Strategies for the Synthesis of Large Phenacenes. Tetrahedron 2001, 57 (17), 3715-3724.
Mallory, F. B.; Mallory, C. W.; Butler, K. E.; Lewis, M. B.; Xia, A. Q.; Luzik, E. D., Jr.; Fredenburgh, L. E.; Ramanjulu, M. M.; Van, Q. N.; Francl, M. M.; Freed, D. A.; Wray, C. C.; Hann, C.; Nerz-Stormes, M.; Carroll, P. J.; Chirlian, L. E. Nuclear Spin-Spin Coupling via Nonbonded Interaction. 8. The Distance Dependence of Through-Space Fluorine-Fluorine Coupling J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 4108-4116.
Mallory, F. B.; Butler, K. E.; Evans, A. C.; Brondyke, E. J.; Mallory, C. W.; Yang, C.; Ellenstein, A. Phenacenes: A Family of Graphite Ribbons. 2. Syntheses of Some [7]Phenacenes and an [11]Phenacene by Stilbene-like Photocyclizations J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1997, 119, 2119-2124.
Mallory, F. B.; Butler, K. E.; Brondyke, E. J.; Mallory, C. W. A new iterative synthesis of [n]phenacenes, a family of novel graphite ribbons.Book of Abstracts, 213th ACS National Meeting, April 13-17, 1997; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1997; Paper ORGN-018.
Mallory, F. B.; Butler, K. E.; Evans, A. C.; and Mallory, C. W. Phenacenes: A Family of Graphite Ribbons. 1. Syntheses of Some [7]Phenacenes by Stilbene-like Photo-cyclizations Tetrahedron Lett. 1996, 40, 7173-7176.
Selected Presentations:
Butler, K. E. POGIL as a Method to Improve Students' Learning. Presented at the International Conference on the Impact of Chemical Research on Environment, Parner, India, February 17-18, 2016.
Butler, K. E. An introduction to POGIL. Presented at the Two-day International Conference on Innovations in Teaching, Learning and Evaluation in Higher Education, Pune, India, January 29-30, 2016.
Butler, K. E. Process oriented guided inquiry learning method. Presented at the Innovative Methods in Chemistry Education, Lucknow, India, October 8-10, 2015.
Butler, K. E.;* Cherukuri, J.; Libby, R. D.; Kussmaul C. POGIL in India: A collaboration between U.S. and Indian educators. Presented at the2014 International Conference on Chemical Education, Toronto, Canada, July 13-18, 2014. Paper 430.
Butler, K. E.;* Kussmaul C.;* Libby, R. D.* Adapting POGIL workshops and implementation to colleges in Hyderabad, India: Lessons learned. Presented at the 2014 POGIL National Meeting, St. Louis, MO, June 1-4, 2014.
Butler, K. E., Keynote Speaker at the International Workshop on Reviving Education by Implementing Active & Guided Inquiry Experiences in STEM (REIMAGINE STEM) Disciplines through Active & Guided Inquiry Learning Experiences 2013, Hyderabad, India, August 7-9, 2013.
Butler, K. E. Student Centered Learning. Presented at a faculty development workshop, Arcadia University, Glenside, PA, May 18, 2011.
* Presenter(s)
Selected Workshops:
Kelly E. Butler,* Y. Bhanusree, An Introduction to POGIL. Given at The 7th IEEE International Conference on Technology for Education, NIT-Warangal, India, December 10-12, 2015.
Kelly E. Butler,* Clif Kussmaul,* International Workshop on Reviving Education by Implementing Active & Guided Inquiry Experiences in STEM (REIMAGINE STEM). Given at AITAM, Tekkali, India, August 3-7, 2015.
Kelly E. Butler, Incorporating High-impact Teaching and Learning Strategies: Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning. Given at Miami Dade College, Miami, FL, March 6 2015.
Kelly E. Butler,* Renee Cole, Introduction to POGIL. Given at the 2014 International Conference on Chemical Education, Toronto, Canada, July 13-18, 2014.
Kelly E. Butler, Co-facilitator of the International Workshop on Reviving Education by Implementing Active & Guided Inquiry Experiences in STEM (REIMAGINE STEM) Disciplines through Active & Guided Inquiry Learning Experiences 2013, Hyderabad, India, August 7-9, 2013.
Kelly E. Butler, Classroom Facilitation: Implementing Activities; Writing: Reviewing and Brainstorming; Writing: Authoring/Feedback; and Writing: Robust Models. Given at the POGIL 2013 Northeast Regional 3-Day Workshop. Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA, June 20-22, 2013.
Kelly E. Butler, Writing: Activity Structure; Writing: Author Coaching; and Classroom Facilitation: Improving Facilitation. Given at the POGIL 2012 Northeast Regional Workshop, Quinnipiac University, Hamden, CT, July 10-12, 2012.
Kelly E. Butler,* Colleen Conway, POGIL: Enhancing Classroom Facilitation. Given at the 2012 Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, July 29-August 2, 2012.
* Coordinating facilitator
