Virtual worlds are a potential medium for teaching college-level chemistry laboratory courses. To determine the feasibility of conducting chemistry experiments in such an environment, undergraduate students performed two experiments in the immersive virtual world of Second Life (SL) as part of their regular General Chemistry 2 laboratory course. The experiments’ development and implementation are presented with feedback from students and graduate teaching assistants. Students successfully completed the experiments and showed learning gains similar to students performing real world experiments, as shown by pre/postlab quizzes and a laboratory practicum. Student participants held positive views of their experience in the SL chemistry laboratory. Teaching assistants provided an important perspective about using the virtual world for laboratory instruction. Overall, results of this pilot study suggest that virtual worlds can be effective for teaching chemistry experiments. This is the first account of student learning and attitudes after performing college-level chemistry experiments in the immersive virtual world of SL.

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Core Ideas An undergraduate natural resources education is improved at a major research university. The article describes a systematic curriculum redesign process in a university program. The program is improved by using data‐driven program design and assessment. The undergraduate curriculum is focused to ensure program and graduate quality based on industry/academic needs and trends. To remain current, departments and programs offering curricula in natural resource science aim to ensure that students develop the knowledge and skills identified as being crucial by experts in the field. Texas A&M University's Ecosystem Science and Management (ESSM) Department recently completed a large‐scale curricular update assisted by academic developers at the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) within the university. Using the comprehensive Program (Re)Design (PRD) model created by the CTE academic developers, the ESSM Department began by forming a PRD team identified from the department's faculty. This article details the process that the ESSM department utilized during their curriculum update, and provides a general overview of the PRD model. Examples of lessons learned (issues, solutions, and so forth) are also examined.

Slope, and throughout the "lower 48 states." His current activities at Texas A&M cover a wide spectrum from K-12 outreach and recruiting to undergraduate curriculum design to retention, monitoring, and post-graduation engagement. Dr. Debra A Fowler, Texas A&M UniversityDr. Debra Fowler serves the Associate Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at Texas A&M University. Following 16 years working in industry she completed a Ph.D. is in Interdisciplinary Engineering with a specific focus on engineering education from Texas A&M University. Her research areas of focus are faculty perspectives and growth through curriculum design and redesign, professional development of graduate students related to teaching and the influence of reflection and creation of eportfolios on student connections to learning and employment. Transformation of a Large Civil Engineering Department Curriculum Using the ASCE BOK2Abstract Texas A&M's undergraduate civil engineering curriculum has been re-designed and founded on the 2 nd edition of ASCE's Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge (BOK2). The curriculum transformation work involved a team of civil engineering faculty and students as well as a pedagogical expert and occurred over a deliberate two year timeframe. The process was made explicitly analogous to an engineering design process with data-driven analysis in order to build faculty consensus. The team adapted the BOK2 outcome statements and defined comprehensive rubrics to specify expectations of student performance for multiple indicators under each outcome at multiple levels in the curriculum. A curriculum map was then developed to identify how specific courses would introduce, reinforce, and demonstrate program outcomes as students advanced. The size of the program (in terms of available elective plans as well as personnel) required enhanced attention to potential student course plans, empowerment of course coordinators, and inclusion of representative stakeholders. Beyond the expected work of revising courses, the effort led to: a novel mid-curriculum zero credit hour course incorporating a highimpact learning practice and reflection, extensive cooperation with external departments to enhance non-departmental courses, and cataloging of resources for students to address knowledge gaps between courses. Lessons learned focus on how the expansive nature of the BOK2 outcomes require a process that values deliberation, inclusion, and creativity.

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