Julie Henderleiter, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Chemistry

Julie Henderleiter Aldrich, a chemistry education researcher, teaches a variety of chemistry courses, as well as courses for pre-service secondary and elementary teachers.  Dr. Henderleiter was able to blend her expertise in both chemistry and education by obtaining a doctorate in Chemical Education from the University of Northern Colorado.  Her background, combined with her extensive work with pre-service and in-service teachers, make her a key resource and fundamental to the success of TI.

Dr. Henderleiter served as an external evaluator to the University of Michigan-Dearborn's FIPSE grant (#P1116B000759), A Capstone Course to Integrate Science and Sustain Professional Development in Elementary Science Education. As evaluator, she interviewed students exiting the capstone course about how conducting action research impacted their perceptions of teaching and their views of themselves as teachers.  This experience has provided Dr. Henderleiter with insights into the influence of action research on pre-service teachers.

During the 2001-2002 academic year Dr. Henderleiter was an assistant professor at Western Michigan University where she taught chemistry by inquiry.  During this time Dr. Henderleiter was also a co-P.I. on a National Science Foundation STEMTP grant (#0202923) that addressed enlisting qualified undergraduates to become pre-service teachers, equipping pre-service middle school science teachers with appropriate content and pedagogy, and empowering the teachers to become lifelong learners. During the first year of the project she worked closely with the teacher-in-residence to design in-service activities focusing on pedagogy.  She also worked with chemistry faculty to improve a content course. A talk related to this project was presented at the 50^th Annual Michigan Science Teachers Association, March 13-15, 2003. 

Prior to her work as an assistant professor, Dr. Henderleiter worked with middle school teachers completing the Institute for Chemical Education (ICE) programs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Northern Colorado for six years. In conjunction with the ICE program, she authored Physics Camp Activities (1995) for the Institute of Chemical Education Physics Fundamentals Program, NSF ESI (#9353359). Additionally, Dr. Henderleiter served as a graduate student assistant with the Rocky Mountain Teacher Education Collaborative (RMTEC), funded by the NSF DUE (#9354033). As part of this project she worked with a team of faculty to reorganize general chemistry lectures to include more inquiry-based and cooperative learning strategies. She also piloted changes to facilitate peer instruction in the laboratory, and provided structured feedback on small group techniques used in large lectures.