Education

A. B. 1983 Duke University
M.S. 1986 University of Utah Thesis Adviser: Dr. Charles Wight
Ph.D. 1990 University of Cincinnati Thesis Adviser: Dr. Joyce Guest

Honors and awards

• 2014, VCU Distinguished Teaching Award
• 2012, VCU College of Humanities & Sciences Teaching Award
• 1989, Procter & Gamble American Chemical Society Division of Physical Chemistry Award

Research interests

Our chemical education research interests relate to the creation, use, and impacts of guided inquiry in different classroom environments.  Our current project focuses on revising physical chemistry laboratory experiments to incorporate guided inquiry and examining the effects of those changes on faculty and students.  The project is titled POGIL-PCL, Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning® – Physical Chemistry Laboratory. New experiments are developed collaboratively with physical chemistry faculty from across the United States at workshops, which take place at VCU.

Select publications

Grushow, A.*, Hunnicutt, S. S., Muniz, M., Reisner, B., Schaertel, S., Whitnell, R. “Journal of Chemical Education Call for Papers: Special Issue on New Visions for Teaching Chemistry Laboratory,” J. Chem. Educ., 2021, 98, 3409-3411.

Liyanage, D. Lo, S. M., Hunnicutt, S. S., “Student Discourse Networks and Instructor Facilitation in Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Physical Chemistry Classes,” Chem. Educ. Res. Pract, 2021, 22, 93-104.

Cottom, T. M., Hunnicutt, S., & Johnson, J. A. “The Ties that Corporatize: A Social Network Analysis of University Presidents as Vectors of Higher Education Corporatization,” The Social Science Journal, 2021, DOI: 10.1080/03623319.2021.1956279.

Cole, R.; Muniz, M.; Harvey, E.; Sweeney, R.; Hunnicutt, S. "How Should Apples Be Prepared for a Fruit Salad? A Guided Inquiry Physical Chemistry Experiment" J. Chem. Educ., 2020, 97, 4475-4481.

S. S. Hunnicutt, S. M. Ruder, E. Yezierski, K. Ameral, C. Bauer. “Chapter 8. POGIL in the Large Classroom” in POGIL: An Introduction to Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning for Those Who Wish to Empower Learners, S. Simonson, ed. Stylus. 2019.

Hunnicutt, S. S., Grushow, A., Whitnell, R. “How Is the Freezing Point of a Binary Mixture of Liquids Related to the Composition? A Guided Inquiry Experiment” J. Chem. Educ. 2017, 94, 1983-1988.

Sally S. Hunnicutt, “An Automated Grading Spreadsheet for Reports or Presentations”, J. Chem. Educ., 2016, 93, 210-212.

Stacy S. Stegall, Alexander M. Grushow, Robert Whitnell, Sally S. Hunnicutt “Evaluating the Effectiveness of POGIL-PCL Workshops”; Chem. Educ. Res. Pract, 2016, 17, 407-416.

Sally S. Hunnicutt, Alexander M. Grushow, Robert Whitnell, “Guided Inquiry Experiments for Physical Chemistry: The POGIL-PCL Model”; J. Chem. Educ., 2014, 92, 262-268.

Ellen J. Yezierski, Christopher F. Bauer, Sally S. Hunnicutt, David M. Hanson, Katie E. Amaral, and James P. Schneider POGIL Implementation in Large Classes: Strategies for Planning, Teaching, and Management, in Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning: An ACS Symposium Series Book, Ed., Richard Moog, 2008.

Suzanne M. Ruder and Sally S. Hunnicutt POGIL in Chemistry Courses at a Large Urban University:  A Case Study, in Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning: An ACS Symposium Series Book, Ed., Richard Moog, 2008.

C. A. Holden, S. S. Hunnicutt, R. Sánchez-Ponce, J. M. Craig and S. C. Rutan "Study of Complexation in Methanol/Water Mixtures by Infrared and Raman Spectroscopy and Multivariate Curve Resolution-Alternating Least-Squares Analysis" Applied Spectroscopy, May 2003.

D. S. Dudis, J. B. Everhart, T. M. Branch, S. S. Hunnicutt, "Hydrogen Bond Energies of Hydrogen Chloride-Carbonyl Complexes": J. Phys. Chem. 1996, 100, 2083-2088.

S. S. Hunnicutt, L. D. Waits and J. A. Guest, " 1(n,p*) Photochemistry of Acetic Acid at 200 nm: Further Evidence for an Exit Channel Barrier and Reaction Selectivity," J. Phys. Chem., 1991, 95, 562-570.

S. S. Hunnicutt, L. D. Waits and J. A. Guest, "Energetic Constraints in 218 nm Photolysis of Acetic Acid," J. Phys. Chem., 1989, 93, 5188-5195.