Rick Toomey

Associate Professor

Education

• Ph.D. Chemistry (Physical); Brandeis University, 2002
• M.S. Chemistry (Education); Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 1995
• B.S. Chemistry; Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 1991

Courses Taught

• General Chemistry II/General Chemistry II Lab
• Laboratory Safety
• Physical Chemistry I/Physical Chemistry I Lab
• Physical Chemistry II/Physical Chemistry II Lab
• Chemistry Seminar

Academic Interests

• Chemistry Education
• Application of Mathematics in Science Education
• Laboratory Revision

Scholarly Activity

• Bowers, P.G., Hofstetter, C., Letter, C. Toomey, R.T., Supersaturation Limit for Homogeneous Nucleartion of Oxygen Bubbles in Water at Elevated Pressure: "Super-Henry's Law", J. Phys. Chem. Vol. 99, No 23, pp. 9632-9637 (1995)
• Bowers, P.G., Hofstetter, C., Ngo, H/L/, Toomey, R.T., Temperature Dependence of Bubble Nucleation Limits for Aqueous Solutions of Carbon Dioxide, Hydrogen and Oxygen,  Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Vol. 215, pp. 441-442 (1999)
• Cohen, J., Kennedy-Justice, M., Pai, S., Torres, C., Depierro, E., Garafalo, F., Toomey, R.T., Encouraging Meaningful Quantitative Problem Solving.  J. Chem. Educ. Vol. 77, No. 9, pp. 1166-1173 (2000)
• Toomey, R., DePierro, E., Garafalo, F., Helping Students to Make Inferences About the Atomic Realm by Delaying the Presentation of Atomic Structure.  Chem. Educ. Res. Pract. Eur..  Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 183-202 (2001)
• Targeted Connections In Science and Mathematics: Presented at the 50th National Science Teachers Association, San Diego, CA 2002.
• Toomey, R.; DePierro, E.; Garafalo, F. Using a Socratic Dialog to Help Students Construct Fundamental Concepts. J. Chem. Educ. Vol. 80, No. 12, pp. 1408-1416 (2003)
• Toomey, R.; Garafalo, F. Linking Physics with Chemistry - Opportunities in a Constructivist Classroom. Chem. Educ. Res. Pract. Eur. Vol. 4, pp. 189-204 (2003)
• Garafalo, F., DePierro, E., Toomey, R.  Insights Obtained Through the Study of A Concentration Cell.  Chem. Educ.  Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 67-70 (2007)
• Garafalo, F., DePierro, E., Toomey, R., Helping Students Make Sense of Logarithms and Logarithmic Relationships.  J. Chem. Educ., Vol. 85, No. 9, pp. 1226-1228 (2008)
• Using Inquiry to Build the Foundation for a Meaningful Understanding of Science.  Presented at the 56^th National Meeting of the National Science Teachers Association.  Boston, MA,, 2008.

Student Group Advisement

• Gamma Sigma Epsilon National Chemistry Honor Society

Other Professional Experiences

• Member of the American Chemical Society
• Member of the National Science Teachers Association