Faculty Exchange Program Spotlight: Aligning Chemistry and Biology
Aaron Garner and James Martin, Spring 2026
When Aaron Garner, in the Department of Chemistry, and James Martin, in the Department of Biology, joined the inaugural Faculty Exchange Program (FEP) in the Eberly College of Science this past spring, they set out with a clear goal: help students see that chemistry and biology aren't separate silos, but closely connected ways of understanding the same living systems. The FEP itself grew out of instructors' own ideas for better integrating first-year courses, pairing faculty from different disciplines who share overlapping students, and supporting their collaboration with a small monetary incentive.
Garner, representing CHEM 112B (GN) Chemical Principles II, partnered with Martin, who teaches BIOL 230W Biology: Molecules and Cells, to align and highlight the substantial content the two courses share, including protein structure, enzymes, cellular signaling, membrane transport, and metabolism. Over the semester, the two instructors met regularly, visited each other's classes, and exchanged course materials and Canvas access to map out where their curricula intersected.
Garner began weaving biological examples into his chemistry lectures, homework, Top Hat questions, and exams, including questions built around enzymes and transport proteins that Martin's students encountered in BIOL 230W Biology: Molecules and Cells. Martin, in turn, reinforced chemistry fundamentals during biology instruction, introducing what he called "chemistry recaps" to help students link prior chemistry knowledge to new biological applications. Each instructor also picked up new teaching strategies from the other, from review techniques to active-learning approaches that strengthened classroom engagement and community.
One of the most unexpected outcomes had nothing to do with course content at all. Several students told Garner and Martin they hadn't realized the two instructors knew each other, let alone that they were visiting each other's classrooms, and that discovery opened an entirely new avenue for building rapport and a shared sense of community across the two courses. Students also began noticing the academic overlap on their own, commenting on shared concepts and problem-solving approaches, asking sharper interdisciplinary questions, and reporting that progress in one course clarified material in the other. One student put it simply: they felt like they were "learning biology in chemistry class" and "learning chemistry in biology class."
By the program's end, both instructors described a broadened sense of their role within the wider curriculum and a renewed commitment to interdisciplinary teaching. Garner is already planning to continue the model this fall with a new partner, an instructor for BMB 401 General Biochemistry.
Tangible outcomes included:
Revised lecture examples and assessment questions
Greater use of shared disciplinary language
New explicit connections between chemistry and biology content
Stronger community and rapport between students in both courses
Plans to incorporate protein structure education more intentionally in both curricula
Stronger faculty collaboration across departments
Looking ahead, Garner and Martin plan to:
Further align course sequencing and terminology
Develop additional materials connecting biological and chemical concepts
Explore opportunities for more integrated scientific inquiry, including possible joint projects
Maintain their professional collaboration beyond the formal FEP program
Interested instructors who want to explore a similar partnership are welcome to reach out to Jennelle Malcos to learn more about future Faculty Exchange Program cohorts.
