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Being a VIPEr fellow was one of the most valuable teaching-learning experiences I ever participated in.  I have been teaching for several years and I had to adapt my course to generate data for the VIPEr analyses. As a consequence of this, I reformated my syllabus and decided for the first time to allocate 5 minutes at the end of each lecture with short questions.  Three examples of these questions are:

A: On symmetry

Indicate with Y or N in the chart below for naphthalene and cyclopropane and state if s has s_v, s_h, or s_d and insert the highest value of n and if perpendicular C_n exists as laid out for the first example.

B. Main group

1. Draw the structure of chainlike [Mg(CH₃)₂]_n
2. Sketch a likely structure for (BeCl₂)₂.
3. Write an equation for the reaction of Be(NH₃)₄Cl₂ with water.
4. Beryllium readily forms a compound of stoichiometry Be₄O(CO₂CH₃)₆. What is a likely structure for this compound?

C. Transition metal bonding

1. What bond angle would you expect for M‒O‒R

1. if there is no metal oxygen π bonding?
2. if the alkoxide (i.e., OR^‒) donates two π electrons?
3. if the alkoxide donates four π electrons?

I first assigned questions at the end of a lecture. This was very educational as it appeared that not much is understood (based on the low scores) right after a lecture.  I then changed the quizzes to reflect material from the previous lecture and this produced better results.  It is possible that students studied the material from the previous lecture to do the quiz which is a positive and the strategy worked wonders for my course as the students appeared way more engaged with the material.  I intend to work on the listing of questions for the next semester and it will be interesting to see how this will compare.  One end-of-term evaluation indicated an appreciation of this strategy:

• I would say preserve the after class quizzes

• I think the most helpful thing for me was the willingness to help outside of class. Also, going over the assignments (clicker questions, homework, exams, quizzes) in class was EXTREMELY helpful. I know some of the students from the first evaluation said they didn't feel comfortable talking in class, but I thought you did a good job of welcoming questions and answers.

I also found the VIPEr workshop to be very productive in introducing many of the various aspects of the VIPEr program and I have always found the VIPEr leadership very responsive to any inquiry.  It has resulted in a community of experts dedicated to improving the teaching experience of our students (shout out to the inorganic student award concept) and a place where new ideas about teaching, conducting labs, creating an inclusive community and a constructive work environment can be obtained with the click of a mouse (sadly, not a snake).