I graduated Summa Cum Laude from McMaster University with a B.Sc. (Honours) degree in chemistry and continued directly my doctoral studies at the University of Alberta in main group synthetic chemistry. Before coming to Athabasca University I also did a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Guelph and was an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the Universität Göttingen in Germany. Most of my teaching experience has been in a distributed and online setting. I hold both international and national teaching awards including being the 2021 recipient of the 3M National Teaching Fellowship. Over the years, I was a visiting professor at the University of Otago (New Zealand), Universität Göttingen (Germany), Universität Freiburg (Germany), and the Open University (England) while on sabbatical leaves.
During my tenure at the university I have been B.Sc. Program Director, Chair of Centre for Science, Director of ARBRI, and Associate (and Acting) Vice President Academic. I have also been heavily involved in science outreach initiatives including public lectures, chemistry demonstrations, invited classroom speaker, ATA Science Council workshops and talks, as well as being chief judge at the Edmonton Regional Science Fair. I was on Alberta Council of Admissions and Transfer for a decade and past board member on both the Alberta Rural Development Network and the Chemical Society of Canada.
Currently I am Co-chair of the Campus Alberta Quality Council and volunteer as the Director of the Humboldt Foundation Liaison Office in Canada. I am on the board of the American Journal of Distance Education and serve as Board member and as Associate Editor of The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning.
My research in chemical and distance education includes online chemistry courses and concentrates on the use of innovative distance delivery methods for undergraduate laboratory work. This has included developing home-study lab kits, remote-controlled laboratories, learner self-diagnostic, and more recently replacing the commercial textbook in organic chemistry with a wiki. I publish in several other areas and am a sought-after presenter at local, national, and international conferences, on topics including learning design, learning outcomes, assessment, PLAR, transfer credit, distance and online education, and emerging educational technologies.
Research interests
Chemical Education
Online and Distance Education
Educational credentials
PhD, Chemistry, University of Alberta
BSc (Summa Cum Lauda), Honours Chemistry, McMaster University
Professional affiliations
3M National Teaching Fellow, 2021
Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada, 2007
Canadian Society for Chemistry, 1982–Present (Board Member, Local CIC Edmonton Section Past Chair, Past Chair of Chemical Education Division for Canada).
College Chemistry Canada, 1993–Present. (Past President and C3 News Editor)
Sigma Xi, University of Alberta, 1998–Present.
Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung/Foundation, 1990–Present.
Books
D. K. Kennepohl (Ed) Teaching Science Online: Practical Guidance for Effective Instruction and Lab Work. Stylus Publishing: Sterling, VA, 2016. (ISBN: 978-1-620-36187-0
D. Kennepohl and L. Shaw (Eds) Accessible Elements: Teaching Science Online and at a Distance, Canada: AU Press, 2010. (ISBN: 978-1-897-42547-3) Winner of the 2010 Charles A. Wedemeyer Award and is a freely available publication.
H.W. Roesky and D.K. Kennepohl (Eds) Experiments in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Germany: Wiley-VCH, 2009. (ISBN: 978-3-527-32546-7)
Book Chapters
D. Kennepohl ‘Teaching Science at a Distance’ In M. G. Moore and W. C. Diehl (Eds) Handbook of Distance Education: 4th Edition (pp. 486–498), England: Routelage, 2019.
D. Kennepohl 'Pitfalls and Prospects: Integrating ICTs in Tertiary Science Education' In J. Peterson, O. Lee, T. Islam, M. Piscioneri (Eds) Effectively Implementing Information Communication Technology in Higher Education in the Asia-Pacific Region (pp. 371–388), New York, USA: Nova Publishers, 2012.
D. Kennepohl, C. Ives, and B. Stewart 'Athabasca University: Canada's Open University' In D. G. Oblinger (Ed) Game Changers: Education and Information Technologies (pp. 159-174), United States: EDUCAUSE, 2012.
D. Kennepohl 'Remote Teaching Laboratories in Science and Engineering', In P. L. Rogers, G. A. Berg, J. V. Boettecher, C. Howard, L. Justice, K. D. Schenk (Eds) Encyclopedia of Distance Learning, 2nd ed. (pp. 1749-1753), United States: Idea Group Reference, 2009.
B. Stewart, M. Gismondi, B. Heller, D. Kennepohl, R. McGreal, and Christine Nelson 'Choosing MOODLE: An Evaluation of Learning Management Systems at Athabasca University', In M. R. Syed (Ed) Methods and Applications for Advancing Distance Education Technologies: International Issues and Solutions (pp. 167-173), Hershey PA: Information Science Reference, 2009.
Refereed Journal Articles
D. K. Kennepohl ‘Providing Effective Teaching Laboratories at an Open University’ International Journal on Innovations in Online Education, 2017, 1 (4), 1–14.
C. Meintzer, F. Sutherland and D. K. Kennepohl ‘Evaluation of Student Learning in Remotely Controlled Instrumental Analyses’, The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 2017, 18(6), 288–305.
D. K. Kennepohl ‘Incorporating Learning Outcomes in Transfer Credit: The Way Forward for Campus Alberta?’, Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 2016, 46(2), 148–164
L. Shaw and D. Kennepohl ‘Student and Faculty Outcomes of Undergraduate Science Research Projects by Geographically Dispersed Students’, International Review of Research in Open and Distance Education, 2013, 14(5), 69–81
D. Kennepohl, C. Ives, B. Stewart, and R. McGreal 'Building the E-University: Transforming Athabasca University', EDUCAUSE Review Online, May/June 2012.
D. Kennepohl, M. Guay, and V. Thomas 'Using an Online, Self-Diagnostic Test for Introductory General Chemistry at an Open University', Journal of Chemical Education, 2010, 87(11), 1273–1277.
D. Kennepohl and M. Connors 'An Inexpensive Mini-colorimeter for Undergraduate Science Laboratories', Australian Journal of Education in Chemistry, 2010, 70, 38-41.
D. Kennepohl 'The Science Gap in Canada: A Post-Secondary Perspective', Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, 4 April 2009, 93.
H.W. Roesky and D. Kennepohl 'Drawing Attention with Chemistry Cartoons', Journal of Chemical Education, 2008, 85(1), 1355-1360.
D. Kennepohl 'Using home-laboratory kits to teach general chemistry', Chemistry Education: Research and Practice, 2007, 8(3), 337-348.
D. Kennepohl ‘Laboratory Activities to Support Online Chemistry Courses: A Literature Review’ The Canadian Journal of Chemistry, 2021, 99(11), 851-859.