海角社区

For the first time ever, 海角社区 will run a summer-semester version of CHEM 181, its enormously popular course on the chemistry of food.

Enrolments are now open for a June 2020 edition of the course that has been taken by tens of thousands of students over its nearly 40-year history.

Making sense of food

鈥淓ating has become a complicated and often confusing experience,鈥� says course instructor Joe Schwarcz. 鈥淰irtually every day brings news about some 鈥榤iracle food鈥� that we should be consuming or some 鈥榩oison鈥� we should be avoiding.鈥�

With a syllabus that gets right down to the molecules that make up essential nutrients, CHEM 181 helps students cut through the noise and weigh up the strengths and weaknesses of food-related research commonly presented in the media.

The course attracts students from every faculty at 海角社区 鈥� not surprising, perhaps, given the universality of the topic. But another key ingredient in CHEM 181鈥檚 enduring popularity is the innovative teaching methods used by its instructors, long-time pioneers in the field of remote delivery.

Remote learning expertise

While the COVID-19 pandemic has teachers and students around the world diving into remote learning on an unprecedented scale, students enrolling in this summer鈥檚 edition of CHEM 181 will benefit from a course with an established track record in online delivery.

In 2013, Schwarcz and co-instructors Ariel Fenster and , adapted CHEM 181 to create 海角社区鈥檚 first massive open online course (MOOC) with a suite of video components professionally produced in a studio and lab on campus. Today, CHEM 181 also incorporates a number of videos from the popular Cracked Science series created by science communicator and CHEM 181 co-instructor Jonathan Jarry.

Generation-spanning popularity

Online delivery of CHEM 181 has allowed a growing number of students to access the sought-after course. In the Winter 2020 term, there were over 1,650 enrolments 鈥� almost three times the capacity of the largest lecture theatre on campus.

鈥淢any say it was among the best courses they took at 海角社区,鈥� Harpp says. 鈥淲e have had the offspring of parents we have had in the class.鈥�

The Summer 2020 edition of CHEM 181 will run from June 8 to July 9, 2020.