Tina Lyn Overton

Employers of chemistry graduates are seeking a range of transferable skills from prospective employees, and academics are increasingly seeking to build employability skill development opportunities into the undergraduate curriculum. However, research suggests that undergraduates do not recognise or value such skill development without prompting. This recognition is essential if graduates are to be able to articulate their skills in the employment process.

Alex Johnstone was a giant in the UK and global chemistry education communities. He published some seminal papers and won international awards for his work, including the Nyholm prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry (1979) and the American Chemical Society award for Achievement in Research for the Teaching and Learning of Chemistry (2009). I first met Alex when I was co-opted onto the RSC Education Division Council over 20 years ago.

The aims of teaching laboratories is an important topic of discussion amongst teaching staff in universities. It is often assumed that both teaching staff and students are implicitly aware of these aims, although this is rarely tested or measured. This assumption can lead to mismatched beliefs between students and teaching staff and, if not corrected, could lead to negative learning experiences for students and become a source of frustration for teaching staff.