F. G. Herring, Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, 2036 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z1
The recognition that students who are exposed to cooperative learning in the classroom perform better than those taught in a lecture - based system has led to many recent efforts to encourage active participation by students to acquire knowledge. In the last few years many approaches such as the "ConcepTests" devised Mazur for physics, "Interactive Engagement" methods promulgated by Hake for physics and "Active Learning" espoused by Felder in engineering have been gaining acceptance. Recently a pedagogical strategy known as "Just-in-Time Teaching", devised by Novak, Patterson, Gavin and Christian for physics, which combines high tech (the www etc.) and low tech (classroom) to create a learning environment that responds to the needs of the students and encourages active participation. The adoption of these techniques to teaching First Year General Chemistry is in a formative phase. The presentation will describe the use of Information Technology to implement the Gutenberg Method (the students portions of the textbook to study before they come to class and are tested on the web) and Interactive Engagement Methods employing ConcepTests in a First Year General Chemistry class. The implementation and experiences with this approach will be described. Preliminary statistical data from a multi-section First Year General Chemistry class at will be presented.
Charles R. Ward, James H. Reeves, and Barbara Heath, University of North Carolina at Wilmington
Among the most difficult challenges faced by chemistry instructors is how to actively involve students in classroom discussion. The advent of networked computing devices provides new possibilities for facilitating active student involvement while simultaneously providing "on-the-fly" information about their understanding of the material being covered. At the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, we have developed a Student Response System (SRS) that provides instantaneous graphical summaries of answers supplied by students using Web-based answer pads. This paper will discuss the design of the SRS system, present data about the level of student participation, provide examples of questions that are best suited to this approach, and conduct a live demonstration of the system.
Fred Garafalo, School of Arts and Sciences, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Boston, MA, 02115
This presentation will describe efforts by the author to go beyond standard lecture and demonstration / recipe-type laboratory formats in a college freshman chemistry course with a large student population (100+ students). Approaches include using active learning strategies, coupling content to the development of reasoning skills, restructuring topic sequences so that observations precede definitions and theories, modifying laboratories so that students must rely on observations and Socratic question sequences to make conclusions, and using multiple representations (verbal, mathematical, pictorial, and graphical) to probe for concept understanding. This work is based on an action reseach model in which one first plans and implements specific classroom activities, and then observes and evaluates the results before revising the activities and performing another cycle of the process. Evaluative feedback comes from listening to students during interactive problem?solving sessions in the classroom, help sessions and the laboratoy, reading written responses to assignments given in class and lab, studying student feedback from questionnaires, and testing for concept understanding and reasoning skills. A brief history of the curriculum evolution, including unsuccessful strategies, will be included.
Lawrence D. Margerum and Maren Gulsrud, Department of Chemistry, University of San Francisco (USF), 2130 Fulton Street, SF, CA 94117
Chemistry students at the University of San Francisco (USF) complete many traditional wet chemistry techniques in their introductory lab courses. What is missing is exposure to quantitative analysis using modern analytical instrumentation. This project makes use of an atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) and a web-based writing-to-learn technology (CPR) to explore the question, "Is there lead in my house?" The objectives of the project are to improve conceptual understanding of technical subjects, to develop skills in reading for content and in scientific writing, and to link the writing assignment to hands-on environmentally significant experiments using AAS.
This paper will describe the structure and timing of a CPR assignment, give examples of the pre-lab and post-lab writing assignments, and present preliminary assessment from the pilot program completed this fall (2002).
Troy Wolfskill and David Hanson, Department of Chemistry, Stony Brook - SUNY, Stony Brook, NY 11794-3400
The LUCID Project is developing a web-based learning management system and materials to assist students and teachers in improving student learning outcomes. The system provides a rich set of conceptual questions, exercises, and problems that can be used by students working individually or in teams. Team activities develop conceptual understanding and problem solving strategies, and use a peer review process to assess open-ended responses. Responses to exercises and problems can be collected in a variety of formats, including multiple choice, multiple response, fill-in, and drag and drop, as well as discipline-specific responses such as chemical reactions and Lewis structures. These responses are then analyzed to identify learning objectives that students have and have not achieved. By tracking student learning in real time by both topic and level of mastery, feedback can be provided to help both students and teachers improve learning.
Barbara L. Gonzalez, California State University Fullerton, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Fullerton, CA 92834-6866; Ramesh D. Arasasingham, University of California Irvine, Department of Chemistry, Irvine, CA 92697-2025; Patrick A. Wegner, California State University Fullerton, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Fullerton, CA 92834-6866
Visualization and proportional reasoning have been identified as critical skills for understanding fundamental chemical principles. Tools that indicate student learning and the effect of instructional mode as a function of quality of performance in visualization and proportional reasoning are a benefit to chemistry education. Web-delivered assessments for visualization and proportional reasoning within the context of basic stoichiometry were developed and administered to students in universities, community colleges, and high schools in Southern California. An analysis of the assessments including comparison of means across institutions and correlations to the Test of Logical Thinking (TOLT) demonstrates that they are reliable indicators of student performance of visualization and proportional reasoning skills. Analysis of the assessment data reveals that students using Web-delivered instructional tools during instruction in stoichiometry achieve significantly greater gains in visualization and proportional reasoning.
J.N. Spencer, Department of Chemistry, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA 17604, jim.spencer@fandm.edu; R.S. Moog, Department of Chemistry, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA 17604, rick.moog@fandm.edu; F.J. Creegan, Department of Chemistry, Washington College, Chestertown, MD 21620, frankcreegan@washcoll.edu; D. M. Hanson, Department of Chemistry, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, N.Y. 11794, david.hanson@sunysb.edu; Troy Wolfskill, Department of Chemistry,State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, N.Y. 11794, troy wolfskill/cas@sunysb.edu; A. Straumanis, Sandia National Laboratories, Bld. 701, Rm 1343, Albuquerque, NM 87185, astrau@sandia.gov,; D. Bunce, Department of Chemistry, Catholic University of America, Washington D.C. 20064, bunce@aol.com.
Constructivist and learning cycle principles are combined with an emphasis on essentail learning processes and student-student interactions to create a new educational model called Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL). The practices and materials developed are applicable to large or small classrooms, recitation sections with or without technology, and laboratories. POGIL is a learning environment where students are actively enagaged in mastering a discipline and in developing essential skills by working in self-managed teams on guided inquiry activities. The model is based on the premises that students will learn better when they are actively engaged and thinking in class, when they construct knowledge and draw conclusions by analyzing data and discussing ideas, and when they learn how to work together to understand concepts and solve problems. The instructor serves as a facilitator to assist students in the learning process.
Leroy Butler, Norwich University
For the past several years, the chemistry department at Norwich University has offered its general and introductory organic chemistry courses in the guided inquiry (GI) format. This presentation will focus on our five year experience employing GI in the traditional two semester organic course. The author teaches both the general and organic courses, and has developed the classroom activities for the organic course.
After a brief introduction to the materials and the procedure of offering organic chemistry in the GI setting, focus will placed on observed and interpreted outcomes. Specifically, attention will be directed to student learning outcomes and student course evaluations; instructor evaluation of changes in student learning behavior; changes in instructor understanding of the learning process; and incorporation of this latter knowledge in the teaching process. The incorporation of "new teaching insights" is especially effective when the instructor is the author of the classroom activities and has complete control of their content.
Recommendations will be made for those who may be interested in the application of the GI approach to their organic courses. Emphasis will be placed on the benefits and "how to" of instructor authored course materials.
Victoria L. Finkenstadt (NCAUR-USDA, Peoria, IL) and H. Heath Dewey (Iowa State University)
This paper reports on the value of work-related experiences to chemical education. Using a research article as the basis for a research project, a summer intern at NCAUR (USDA) investigated the relationship of moisture content to the conductance of plasticized starch. This internship involved problem-based learning and was successful in teaching the intern about material science, material engineering and polymer chemistry. The intern provided a significant contribution to a peer-reviewed technical research article. Mentored by a scientist, the intern identified the concepts needed to solve a problem and then applied them in a logical sequence, learning by trial and error, in order to arrive at a workable solution.
Sheryl L. Finkenstadt, MRC, LPC, NCC, Bridgeway Counseling Services, 1601 Old South River Road, St. Charles, MO 63303, sheryl@finkenstadt.com; Victoria Finkenstadt, NCAUR-USDA, 1815 N. University St., Peoria, IL 61604, finkenvl@ncaur.usda.gov
This presentation offers basic concepts of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), as it relates to the effectiveness of alternative teaching & learning styles in science education. One key to enhance comprehension, improve retention and increase student motivation is to appreciate the distinct ways people process experiences. The goal of applying the MBTI in science education is too create an optimal learning experience for the student and the teacher. Utilization of the MBTI in a diverse population is surprisingly simple to implement in current curricula.
Neil R. Kestner Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, Kestner@lsu.edu
MERLOT (The Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching) is a constantly growing collection of Online Learning Objects and support resources with over 7900 items and over 11,000 members. It is a free resource based on user and team input. Nancy Kerner of the University of Michigan and this author have the responsibility for developing the Chemistry discipline section. It contains reviewed online learning materials of various types, some for lecture use, some for independent study and some for laboratory work. The items are ranked by ease of use, quality of content and potential effectiveness as a teaching-learning tool. The paper will demonstrate the content and use of the site (http://www.merlot.org) by referring to various online items, illustrating how all faculty members can obtain the materials as well as contribute to the collection. Lists of outstanding examples of some of the applets will be presented as links. The presentation will also illustrate how faculty can use their contributions in promotion and tenure decisions. MERLOT is a project of the National Learning Infrastructure Initiative (NLII) and is supported by 23 universities and State Boards of Higher Education. Besides chemistry there are learning objects from 13 other disciplines that are useful in chemistry classes. MERLOT was recently awarded an NSF grant as part of the National Science Digital Library Project.
Beatriz Cisneros, Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, cisneros@purdue.edu
Quantum Chemistry is taught in the junior year of the Chemical Engineers curriculum. The beautiful historical development of quantum chemistry and the theory behind it usually does not strike a chord with chemical engineering students who are accustomed to think about development research, process lines or heat exchangers. To link these two worlds, four weeks of a semester of the Quantum Chemistry class were dedicated to spectroscopy applied to chemical processes. Groups of two or three students were asked to choose a spectroscopic technique (from a provided list) and present to the class the physical principles behind the spectroscopic technique, detailed information on the instrumentation, cost of instrument and method, and one industrial or research application. Examples of the applications chosen were: in vivo measurements of chlorophyll using Fluorometry, medical applications of MRI and ESR in archeological dating. To evaluate the student's learning from this section of the course, they were given essay questions on the technique they presented as well as a contrast/comparison questions between their technique and other techniques. Qualitative assessment at the end of the semester revealed that having a unit on applied spectroscopy linked Physical Chemistry to the student's view of their role as chemical engineers.
Kerry K. Karukstis, Department of Chemistry, Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA 91711
The General Chemistry course at Harvey Mudd College provides a venue for both presenting chemical principles and addressing the impact of technology on society. We use case studies as a student-centered problem-based learning technique to examine the relationship between chemistry and society. Students explore environmental and economic implications of chemical decisions in real-world case studies created for team-based analysis, discussion, and presentation in recitation sections. Case studies focus on such topics as industrial organic synthesis, mining of natural resources, operation of chemical plants, and design of cardiac pacemaker batteries. Students work in pre-assigned five-member teams on a set of questions designed to guide them through the key chemical, environmental, and economic aspects of the case study. The exercise assists students to approach open-ended problems through increasingly complex steps, prioritize several alternatives, and communicate their conclusions. Aspects of case study design, implementation, and assessment will be presented for this successful venture.