High Marks for Creative Thinking

By Lisa Gregory

His tools are not necessarily typical for teaching, but they may very well be the way of the future. Joseph Grabowski, chemistry '77, an associate professor of chemistry and director of undergraduate research for the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh, has eagerly embraced technology in teaching students.

Grabowski was the recent recipient of the 2003 Carnegie Science Center Award for Excellence in the university educator category and the 2003 Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award from the University of Pittsburgh.

Grabowski began using technology in the classroom when the first LED projectors became available. Much earlier, he himself had become comfortable with technology and the use of instrumentation as a UMBC student in a physical chemistry lab taught by James Vincent, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry.

After graduating from UMBC, Grabowski headed to the University of Colorado, where he received his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1983. From there, he went on to Harvard, first as a post-doctoral fellow and then as an assistant and associate professor. He joined the University of Pittsburgh in 1991.

A sample of Grabowski's instructional innovations include: 3-D projection which enables students in a lecture hall, looking out from behind 3-D glasses, to view a three-dimensional projected molecule as it hovers before them; a "Jeopardy!"-inspired Web site, which shares existing games and provides the tools and templates so that any instructor can create his own professional game; and the Virtual Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, which is still under construction and will enable students to discover answers while performing state-of-the-art virtual mass spectrometry experiments.

"These young people come to us having been surrounded by technology and multimedia. It only seems natural to incorporate that into their learning process," Grabowski says. "I think through the correct use of technology we're helping students increase attainment in their courses. For the same effort, a student can learn a lot more and go farther than they ever would have thought they could."

Grabowski is closely monitoring the new instructional innovations and their impact on learning, in addition to his research on fundamental issues in physical-organic chemistry and analytical mass spectrometry.

"I'm impressed with Joe's ability to go off in several directions at once and excel at all of them," says Ralph Pollack, chair of chemistry and biochemistry and Grabowski's former professor. "He came out of an outstanding class of chemistry majors — perhaps the best we've ever had."

It was through Pollack that Grabowski discovered his interest in research. Before that he had planned to become a doctor. But "the pre-med students just seemed to only care about the answer you got, not why and how you came to that answer," says Grabowski, who wanted something more. "With research, people really want to understand the how and why."

In addition to his most recent awards, Grabowski was also named a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator in 1986 and was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 1991. His wife, Paula (Noeth) Grabowski, chemistry '76, is a professor of biology at the University of Pittsburgh and is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. She received the Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumna of the Year Award in 1990.