Washington College

Department of Chemistry

Get to Know the Department Faculty


Frank Creegan

Frank Creegan
Frank Creegan

W. Alton Jones Professor Emeritus of Chemistry

E-mail: fcreegan2@washcoll.edu

Education

B.S., Merrimack College, 1961; Ph.D., Fordham University, 1966.

Research Interests

Diagram
Diagram

Current Organic Chemistry Research

My organic research interests and activities are centered on the chemistry of molecular rearrangements in organic reactions. As a Physical-Organic chemist I focus not only the mechanisms by which organic substrates undergo chemical reactions but also on the electronic, steric, and stereochemical factors that determine relative stabilities (and thus reactivity). Molecular rearrangements are defined as those reactions in which there is a change in the skeleton or backbone of the substrate. Such reactions can be light induced, heat-induced, or, more commonly, set in motion by acidic or basic co reactants or by acidic or basic catalysts.

Current research is concerned with the discovery of the mechanism by which ketones (cyclic and non-cyclic), in the presence of a strong oxidizing agent and an acid catalyst are converted to esters. The reaction, the Baeyer-Villiger oxidation (Baeyer-Villiger or B-V reaction), affords us an opportunity to examine the relative migrating ability (migratory aptitude) of substituents in the ketone. The instrumentation workhorse for these studies, and for most of the organic research conducted in our group, is gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). GC-MS allows us to look at not only the reaction products in the B-V reaction, but also provides us with a technique to monitor the progress of the reaction and detect the presence of reaction intermediates. Such information is invaluable in arriving at a reaction mechanism.

Current Chemistry Education Research

Another area of research in which I am engaged is that associated with studies designed to determine how students learn and with the development and dissemination of classroom and laboratory materials that will improve student learning. With the aid of a 2002 National Science Foundation (NSF), 4-year grant of $1.5 million, colleagues at Franklin & Marshall College, SUNY-Stony Brook (Stony Brook University), College of Charleston, and The Catholic University of America and I have established the POGIL Project.

POGIL Logo

POGIL is a classroom and laboratory technique that seeks to simultaneously teach content and key process skills such as the ability to think analytically and work effectively as part of a collaborative team.

A POGIL classroom or lab consists of any number of students working in small groups on specially designed guided inquiry materials. These materials supply students with data or information followed by leading questions designed to guide them toward formulation of their own valid conclusions - essentially a recapitulation of the scientific method. The instructor serves as facilitator, observing and periodically addressing individual and classroom-wide needs.

POGIL is based on research indicating that

a) teaching by telling does not work for most students,
b) students who are part of an interactive community are more likely to be successful, and
c) knowledge is personal; students enjoy themselves more and develop greater ownership over the material when they are given an opportunity to construct their own understanding.

We have found that a discovery-based team environment energizes students and provides instructors with instant and constant feedback about what their students understand and misunderstand. Students quickly pick up the message that logical thinking and teamwork are prized above simply getting "the correct answer." This emphasizes that learning is not a solitary task of memorizing information, but an interactive process of refining one's understanding and developing one's skills. (See http://www.pogil.org)

In October 2006, NSF awarded an additional $1.9 million to extend the POGIL Project through 2010.

A) Recent Publications

  1. Process-Oriented Guided-Inquiry Learning: POGIL and the POGIL Project, Richard S. Moog, Frank J. Creegan, David M. Hanson, James N. Spencer, and Andrei R. Straumanis, in Metropolitan Universities Journal, Purdue University,
  2. POGIL: Process-Oriented Guided-Inquiry Learning, Diane M. Bunce, Frank J. Creegan, David M. Hanson, Richard S. Moog, James N. Spencer, Andrei R. Straumanis, Troy Wolfskill, in Chemist's Guide to Effective Teaching, Volume 2. Pearson/Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle, New Jersey (in press).

B) Recent Oral Presentations

  1. The Guided Inquiry Laboratory; 2007 MADCP (Middle Atlantic Discovery Chemistry Project) Meeting; Washington College; June 1, 2007.
  2. POGIL in the Laboratory: 233rd National Meeting of the American Chemical Society; Chicago, IL; March 25, 2007.
  3. Discovering Markovnikov's Rule; 233rd National Meeting of the American Chemical Society; Chicago, IL; March 29, 2007.
  4. A Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Laboratory; 232nd National Meeting of the American Chemical Society; San Francisco, CA; September 11, 2006.
  5. POGIL (Process-Oriented Guided-Inquiry Learning) and the POGIL Laboratory; 19th Biennial Conference In Chemical Education (BCCE); Purdue University, July 31, 2006.
  6. Using Student-Generated Data to Teach Organic Chemistry; 2006 MADCP (Middle Atlantic Discovery Chemistry Project) Meeting; Franklin & Marshall College; June 9, 2006.
  7. Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry in the Organic Classroom and Laboratory; Chemistry Department Colloquium, Iowa State University; April 7, 2006.
  8. The POGIL Laboratory Experience; 231st National Meeting of the American Chemical Society; Atlanta, GA; March 27, 2006.
  9. Why a Guided Inquiry Laboratory? in Symposium on Inquiry-based Organic Chemistry; University of Puerto Rico, Cayey; November 18, 2005.
  10. Process-Oriented Guided-Inquiry Learning in the Laboratory, 230th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society; Washington, DC; September 1, 2005.
  11. The POGIL (Process-Oriented Guided-Inquiry Learning) Laboratory; in POGIL Symposium; Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting (MARM) of the American Chemical Society; Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ; May 25, 2005.
  12. POGIL and a Learning-Centered Approach to the Laboratory: in Learning Centered Approaches across the Curriculum Symposium; 229th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society; San Diego, CA; March 13, 2005.
  13. Jim Spencer, POGIL, and Chemical Education; in Pimentel Award Symposium; 229th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society; San Diego, CA; March 14, 2005.

C) Recent Poster Presentations

  1. Using Student Laboratory Data to Discover Substitution and Elimination Mechanisms; 233rd National Meeting of the American Chemical Society; Chicago, IL; March 25, 2007.
  2. Student-Centered Learning and the POGIL (Process-Oriented Guided-Inquiry Learning) Laboratory; Gordon Research Conference on Chemistry Education Research & Practice; Connecticut College; June 28, 2005.
  3. Baeyer-Villiger Oxidation of Substituted Indanones (with A.M. Jacobine); 229th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society; San Diego, CA; March 13, 2005.

D) Recent Workshops

  1. Advanced Workshop on POGIL and SWH (Science Writing Heuristic); Simpson College, Indianola, IA; July 18-20, 2007.
  2. Special Workshop on Laboratory; Washington College, Chestertown, MD; June 12-14, 2007.
  3. One Day Introductory POGIL Workshop; 2YC3 Conference; Joliet Community College, Joliet, IL; March 24, 2007.
  4. Half-day POGIL Laboratory Workshop, 19th BCCE; Purdue University; August 3, 2006.
  5. Three-day POGIL Laboratory Workshop, Washington College; Chestertown, MD; June 13-15, 2006.
  6. Half-day POGIL Laboratory Workshop; ChemEd 2005; University of British Columbia; Vancouver, BC; August 3, 2005.
  7. Three-day POGIL Laboratory Workshop; Washington College, Chestertown, MD; June 21-23, 2005.
  8. Half-day POGIL Laboratory Workshop; MADCP (Middle Atlantic Discovery Chemistry Project) Annual Meeting; Moravian College, Bethlehem, PA; June 6, 2005.
  9. Half day "Collaborative and Cooperative Learning" Workshop, Washington College, Chestertown, MD, May 18, 2005.
  10. One-day "Introduction to Process-Oriented Guided-Inquiry Learning (POGIL)" workshop; Science and Math Education for the 21st Century: Scholarship and Innovation Symposium; Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA; April 9, 2005.

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