Chemistry 125/126
Chemistry 125/126 is a large lab-centered introductory general chemistry with three components -- lecture,lab, and discussion. Approximately 2000 students enroll in the course per academic year. The course exposes students to the development of concepts from experimental data with a focus on the periodic table and the relationship of properties and reactivity to structure. Pre-lab lectures address the background terminology, skills, and knowledge needed for students to successfully perform experiments. Pre-lab lectures do NOT convey experiment results. Lab and discussion components of the course have been redesigned during the past decade to support and facilitate team-based inquiry learning and team-centered discussions. The large lecture format is in the process of being transformed to an interactive online format to enable personalized learning
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The lab and discussion components of the course have been redesigned during the past decade to support and facilitate team-based inquiry learning. Teams solve problems by entering data into networked computers and manipulate the resulting data collected from different teams across different sections. The evolving data may be accessed outside of lab via CTools. Results are presented in a team-centered discussion using PowerPoint. Recent innovations include the technology supported team-centered lab discussions and the availability and inclusion of discipline-specific and interdisciplinary online learning resources.
Students who enroll in an introductory course such as chemistry 125/126 are typically heterogeneous with respect to the fundamental background knowledge and skills needed to perform satisfactorily in the course. Therefore in the past year discipline specific and inter-disciplinary online learning resources have been made available to students via CTools and/or folded into lab work. Resources were also created. For example, a video was created using Jing showing how to use the CRC Handbook to obtain information and placed on CTools and on lab computers.
A purpose of the lecture component of the course is to provide students with the necessary background terminology, knowledge, and skills so students enter the lab on an equitable footing. The pre-lab lectures for chemistry 125/126 occur in a large lecture hall (1400 students, Fall 2009). It is unfortunately true that in a large lecture setting, individualized interactive learning is typically minimal even if interactive questions are posed and/or interactive tools such as clickers are introduced. For the past three years, I have been producing a library of videos of the demonstrations that are typically done live during chemistry lectures. Winter 2010 lectures included such videos within the PowerPoint presentations and were recorded as Podcasts using Blue Review. I am currently working on transforming the large lecture to an online format where the individual student and/or team can interact on a personalized basis within the online presentation. If problems and/or questions are posed the feedback provided will be based on the individual (rather than the class) response. Thus an enhanced Podcast will be taken to another level by incorporating exercises with targeted feedback. For example, students can be asked to make predictions about chemical properties or reactivity before observing a video depicting the outcome or receiving other targeted feedback. Online learning resources for given topics can be provided as links to be used or not used by the student based on personal learning needs and interests. In addition, students can be encouraged to pose additional questions or provide comments for posting onCTools for the purpose of further peer to peer or peer and instructor dialogue.
The course essentially transitioned from a traditional instructor centered course where student worked on an individual competitive basis to a collaborative student and team-centered course. The guided inquiry format of lab did not work effectively when students worked in an individualized setting. It was necessary to share data and create a large data basis where students could readily visualize patterns in the data and see the repetitive patterns present in the different team data. The ability for students to watch the evolving data base via the internet and CTools helped facilitate the process of constructing concepts from experimental data. Understanding of the implications of the data was enhanced by allowing students to share results in a technology assisted discussion and by the use of chat tools, grading rubrics and the opportunity to dialogue online via CTools. Online learning resources were made available by CTools that were both discipline specific and inter-disciplinary to provide needed background skills and knowledge to help ensure that students could perform satisfactorily in lab. In addition, online learning resources were folded into lab materials to facilitate better understanding and expose students to real-life applications. The large pre-lab lecture is in the process of transitioning to an individualized interactive online format. Winter 2010 the lecture was available in the form of Podcasts that included videos of chemical phenomenon the instructor has produced over the past several years and incorporated into PowerPoint slides. Podcasts will be enhanced to incorporate exercises with targeted feedback so as to personalize learning. In addition, Podcasts will be enhanced by the inclusion of links to online learning resources for students to better address individual student needs and interests.
Students work in collaborative teams in lab in a guided inquiry format. Team members must agree on the data since only one result per team can be entered into the computer. The discussion portion of the class is likewise team-centered. Reports are team based where one report is submitted by a team of 3 to 4 students. Teams assess other team presentations and evaluate contributions of team members.
Rubrics are provided so students can self-assess discussion presentations and course contributions. Online learning materials are currently provided to aid in self-assessment.
Course assessment has been conducted indicating students that students perception of their ability to carry out guided inquiry tasks such as designing experiments etc. is markedly improved. Score on exam have risen steadiy over the years.
Students routinely use web-based learning objects and resources. Our Ctools site is routinely used.
The learner support evidence is midway between effective and excellent as shown by improving test score, low drop our rate, drop in # of Cs after formation of teams etc.
Student learning is enhanced in an interactive and inquiry setting. For this reason, the course was altered to a team-centered inquiry format both within the lab and discussion setting. Prior to the formation of teams and the collection of a large amount of experimental data from across the different lab teams and classrooms, it was difficult for students to observe patterns in data and construct concepts from data. Students are able to watch the evolving collated experimental data both in lab and away from lab via a CTools website link. The discussion of the implications of experimental results would alter from instructor-centered to team-centered and focus on the communicating of team results using PowerPoint with peers contributing to assessment of the interactive presentations and dialogue that extended results to untested scenarios. Quality online learning objects have been made available to students via CTools within a folder of Online Learning Resources and folded into lab materials to better address the individual student learning needs and interests of students in the largely heterogeneous freshman student population. Students indicated it would be helpful to provide online resources that addressed both discipline specific and inter-disciplinary topics that were course related. During Winter 2010, students were invited to submit online learning objects via CTools in a “Learning Object Hunt Competition” with the purpose being to find learning objects that would enhance the course and student understanding. A video collection of common chemistry demonstrations was produced over the past three years to allow greater attention to details and enable more personalized student observations and learning. At the same time the inclusion of video demonstrations, allowed the instructor to ask different types of questions such as "what if?" before showing the results in the form of a video. Video podcasts of pre-lab lectures are now available to students on CTools. The podcasts were recorded during lecture using Blue Review where the lecturer used PowerPoint slides containing the embedded videos. The goal is to move from the large lecture hall format to an interactive online format to better enable personalized learning. The video Podcasts in mp4 format will be taken to another level by incorporating targeted exercises with feedback as well as online learning resources to address individual student needs and interests.
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