SUNY Online Teaching Ambassador 2023: Suffolk – Yu Zhang

Dr. Yu Zhang is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Suffolk County Community College. He has been a full-time faculty since January 2014, and has been able to teach a wide range of courses in the chemistry discipline at the College. He has exhibited a mastery of diverse instructional methodologies, and works diligently to remain knowledgeable in the latest research in his field. His commitment to the students, and his deliberate attention to teaching has resulted in a faculty member who has honed the art of effective instruction. Dr. Zhang is the recipient of 2019 Suffolk County Community College Governance Award for Academic Excellence and Service, 2020-2021 SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, and 2021 SUNY Faculty Advisory Council on Teaching and Technology (FACT²) Award for Excellence in Community College Instruction. Dr. Zhang earned his B.S. in Chemistry from Jilin University and Ph.D. in Chemistry from Stony Brook University.

An excellent teacher should be able to use all available resources, in and out of the classroom, to balance theory and practice in courses. I have used various emerging and established technologies in my online courses to help students to make progress and achieve their goals through distance learning.

I designed and developed an asynchronous online chemistry course to provide students an opportunity to complete a lab science course and fulfill their graduation requirements. I set up teleconferences with students and spoke to them individually on a regular basis to provide them with suggestions on the course assignments and get them to stay motivated and organized. Moreover, I created a number of online tutorials explaining the definitions, structures and calculations, so students could grasp the complex subject matter concepts in chemistry. In order to provide the hands-on experience to students in the fully-online course, I compiled a list of videos on lab techniques and identified lab kits with appropriate lab activities that can be done at home.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the College has adapted to various online models of education in addition to the traditional in-person class offerings. I am currently teaching a real-time online chemistry course. During the lectures, I engage students in a collaborative learning process by creating workshops and problem sets that require manual responses and peer teaching; in the lab sessions, I introduce simulations to students, so they are able to explore innovative lab protocols that are not always seen in the traditional lab setting.

I am glad that I am able to utilize my knowledge, skills and experience to help my students to get through the journey of chemistry learning in a remote setting. I hope to contribute to the SUNY online teaching community, and work with fellow educators to make online teaching more effective and engaging.