RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES IN CHEMICAL EDUCATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS

1
RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES IN CHEMICAL EDUCATION AT
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS
  CHEMICAL EDUCATIONGROUP MEMBERS  Dr. J.J.
Lagowski Dr. R.E. Davis Dr. K.K. Stewart Dr. A.J.
Banks Dr. R.E. Wyatt David Adcock Brian
Arneson Gloria Brown Wright Mike Elliott Fatima
Fakhreddine Brad Herrick Donna Lyon Stacy Sparks
DISTANCE LEARNING   An ever-expanding
recognition persists that many of the
intellectually challenging and important
practical problems are those soluble from a
perspective and insight of chemistrythe premier
molecular science. Conventional instructional
methods involving lecture and laboratory
experiences are being hard-pressed to provide
effective instruction about how chemists solve
problems. The application of technology-oriented
tools, which have been so effective in
transforming the non-academic workplace, are only
now being considered as possible vehicles for
chemistry instruction. More importantly, a
careful consideration of such tools suggests they
might be useful in a number of Distance Learning
Scenarios that are likely to become important
soon. We stress the learning aspect of the
educational process as opposed to teaching
because it is a skill that is becoming
increasingly valued for professionals as the
half-life of knowledge decreases. It is not so
much the digital technology tools that are
important in this project, that is, how to
deliver instructional material, but, rather, what
to deliver and for what reason. This evolving
project incorporates more-or-less conventional
interactive digital technologies generating,
distributing, collecting, and evaluating the
classic elements of instructionlectures,
homework, examinations, laboratory experiences
clearly, these elements of instruction must be
altered to accommodate to the extant technology
which is the focus of the intellectual struggle
in this project.
TAMING THE BEASTIMPROVING LARGE INTRODUCTORY
COURSES   We have been working to adapt
previously successful cooperative learning
methods in an effort to make them feasible for
use in large (n 300-500) introductory chemistry
classes in terms of finances and TA time demands.
We have studied the effects of these programs on
student course achievement, achievement in
subsequent courses, and student interest in
chemistry. Two separate programs have been
developed and studied. The first involved a
study of the importance of session size and
duration. We determined that small, traditional
cooperative learning sessions can, over the
course of the semester, be merged into larger
sessions and tapered down to less frequent weekly
meetings without sacrificing achievement gains.
In the second study we recruited students after
the first exam to participate in a series of
Review and Practice sessions - five sessions
total over a period of three weeks. The sessions
focused equally on exam one and exam two material
and also encompassed applicable study skills.
These sessions were successful, with participants
gaining an average of twenty percentage points on
exam two as compared to the control group. The
effect of these sessions on overall course
achievement and interest in chemistry is
currently being investigated.
MAKING INTRODUCTORY CHEMISTRY LABORATORIESRELEVAN
T, PERTINENT, AND INTERESTING   We suggest that
many science students have trouble seeing the
relevance of most introductory chemistry
laboratories and often are turned off by these
laboratories. We are developing and teaching
alternate introductory laboratories with the
general goals of teaching critical thinking
providing hands-on experience in laboratory
experimentation teaching good laboratory
practices training the students in techniques
used in their majors and creating (maintaining)
enthusiasm in the students for chemistry. We
have designed and taught an intensive, in-depth,
integrated, team-oriented introductory chemistry
laboratory course, using a using undergraduate
research as a model, focused on the theme of
making and evaluating quantitative chemical
measurements. The experiments utilized common
chemical techniques used by the life sciences and
computerized data acquisition and analysis. The
laboratory samples were mostly drawn from the
supermarket. By our measures, this course was a
success. We are continuing our development of
alternative introductory laboratories. See our
web site at www.cm.utexas.edu/stewart/CH204.
SEMESTER-LONG, INTEGRATED HOMEWORKS   Ever wonder
what it would be like to give one homework
assignment for the entire semester and make it an
integral part of your final course assessment?
Enter the contingent question, or what we call
the novella a continuous story line that
introduces concepts/topics from the syllabus
presented parallel with the lecture. It is an
integrated web-based system that is student
interactive (they can query data on their own)
and has a series of checks and balances to keep
them on task (mini-assessments to ensure
participation and understanding). Novellas have
a central theme to them that puts the student in
the role of investigator or forensic chemist.
They have badge numbers (student IDs), an
office to report to, a lab section with
instruments to process their unknowns (all
on-line), a department chief that keeps them on
track by asking for progress reports, and a
summation to render (who started the fire?,
was the sample from the asteroid?, etc). The
aim of the program is to get chemistry students
to see a relationship between what is presented
in lecture and a practical application. Research
continues as to best methods of presentation,
instructor convenience/ease, and theme
development.
INTENSIVE CHEMISTRY SEMINARS AND STUDENTS
ACHIEVEMENT   Intensive Chemistry Seminars,
(ICS), is a supplemental, enrichment and
enhancement course for chemistry and biochemistry
majors. Our goals are to provide opportunities
for deeper exploration of chemistry, integrate
students into the departmental community more
quickly, and develop study skills that will be
useful in many contexts. Special features of
this course include cooperative learning,
individual attention, and special lectures and
lab tours. The results of our pilot study showed
that ICS was very effective in increasing
students' achievement in chemistry. The study
also showed that cooperative work is a
feature-key in that course especially when
implemented from a Zone of Proximal Development
perspective. Currently we are investigating the
depth effect of ICS on students' concept
understanding, problem solving, self-esteem,
self-efficacy and attitude toward chemistry. Our
ultimate goal is to standardize ICS and make it
an official supplement to general chemistry I and
II for chemistry and biochemistry majors.
ON THE ROLE OF THE LABORATORY IN LEARNING
CHEMISTRY   Our study will investigate the role
of the laboratory in learning chemistry.
Although teaching chemists have expressed
opinions on what students gain from the
laboratory experience, no one to our knowledge
has ever undertaken a study to show what students
do gain. Popular opinion suggests that the
thinking/reasoning skills of students might be
improved by their participation in laboratory
experiences, and we intend to determine if that
idea is in fact true. University chemistry
departments invest a great deal of resources,
both in personnel and capital, in teaching
laboratory courses, no doubt in part due to the
culture of our discipline. A clearer focus on
what students gain, if anything at all, may
improve instruction in these courses and cause us
to rethink the boundaries between the lecture and
laboratory portions of any chemistry course.
Furthermore, a better understanding of what is
unique to the laboratory situation could direct
us to what might be effectively simulated by
other techniques, reducing risk, cost, and demand
on the department's teaching laboratories, while
at the same time opening opportunities for
distance education.
QUIZ DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM (QDS)   One important
method by which a student obtains an
understanding of his/her comprehension of
scientific topics is by answering questions about
those topics. Homework is one mechanism by which
we evaluate that comprehension. Crucial to this
task is the timely marking (assessment) of the
work, recording of the grade, and returning the
work by the faculty member. Feedback to the
student concerning a correct method of solving a
problem is essential. A complication occurs
when there is a need to provide multiple
individualized homework sets for large classes.
Any electronic delivery method needs to recognize
the diversity of computing platforms currently in
existence. Internet browsers provide an almost
universally accepted stage from which materials
can be delivered. QDS provides an answer for
these requirements. Once the instructor provides
a set of questions, including ranges for
variables, QDS can provide a set of homework
questions that are unique to each student.
Authentication of the student's enrollment in a
class is provided via recognized protocols (e.g.
the UT-EID system). Present QDS recognizes short
answer, numeric, and multiple choice formats.
Work is continuing on the assessment of answers
that are of paragraph length.
LEARNING TO TEACH LEARNINGAN UNDERGRADUATE
PROGRAM OF PEER TEACHING   The challenge for the
twenty-first century is the development of
science educators who have mastered the knowledge
and skills needed to teach in the disciplines
they have chosen. We have answered this challenge
by providing methods in which future chemistry
teachers may achieve these goals. As a part of an
ACS approved curriculum leading to a BS in
chemistry with a teaching option, we have
established a cohort of undergraduate students
identified as peer teaching assistants (pTAs).
The pTAs are (1) assisting The Department in
developing the details for four (4) new courses
to be associated with the new degree. In
addition, the pTAs are obtaining considerable
on-the-job training as leaders of multiple
group discussion and recitation sessions for a
large general chemistry lecture class and as
teaching assistants in traditional and
nontraditional general chemistry laboratories.