Ginger Shultz

Ginger Shultz is an Arthur F. Thurnau Associate Professor of Chemistry and Associate Chair for Education Development & Practice at the University of Michigan, where she holds dual affiliations with the Chemistry department and the Honors Program. Her interdisciplinary research bridges chemistry content expertise with educational methodologies to transform university-level science instruction.

Her research program centers on three interconnected pillars: developing automated text analysis tools to assess student writing as a superior alternative to traditional testing; designing evidence-based training for graduate student instructors to enhance teaching effectiveness; and cultivating chemistry information literacy skills to support authentic scientific inquiry. She employs mixed-methods approaches to investigate how students transition from passive knowledge consumers to active knowledge producers in chemistry education.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a consistent focus on writing-to-learn as a transformative pedagogical strategy across chemistry and biology education. Her work demonstrates how writing assignments uncover student misconceptions, measure conceptual understanding of complex topics like light-matter interactions, and develop scientific communication skills. A secondary theme examines instructor development, particularly how graduate teaching assistants build pedagogical content knowledge in specialized areas like NMR spectroscopy.

Scientific recognition includes:

• Arthur F. Thurnau Professorship for exceptional teaching

Shultz leads the Shultz group, which mentors doctoral students conducting full-time educational research, often through joint chemistry-education dissertation projects. Her group actively develops curricular innovations that address critical gaps in evidence-based chemistry instruction while preparing future educators for academic and policy-oriented careers.

The Shultz group operates at the intersection of chemistry and education research within the University of Michigan's Chemistry department, maintaining strong connections to the Honors Program where they implement and study innovative teaching approaches that redefine student engagement in scientific practice.