Use of Online Homework
(MasteringChemistry)
in General Chemistry
Course Redesign
David V. Dearden
Brigham Young University
1
General Chemistry
Course Structure
Conceptual, “atoms first” approach
No concurrent lab
Mixed application for mixed clientele:
1-semester, stand-alone course for
engineers
first of a 2-semester series in general
chemistry for many others
2
General Chemistry Students
Pre-professional (30%), engineering (40%),
science majors (15%), others (15%)
~85% have had high school chemistry, but
course is taught with no prerequisites
Typical enrollment 2500 students/year
250 students/lecture (3x/week)
25 students/recitation section (2x/week)
Dropout/fail/withdraw typically < 10%
3
Challenges
Large sections
little personal interaction
inability to give adequate, personal feedback
(old homework system as example)
diversity of student preparation/background
Course content (volume!)
4
Goals in Technological Redesign
Engage students during lecture
“I love
technology”
Give individual feedback
Do this without
sacrificing content
increasing instructor load
I use technology primarily for pedagogical reasons;
assessment is a distant secondary purpose
this avoids potential concerns about security
/cheating
5
Redesign Strategies We
Have Used
Use of recitation sections
Use of Blackboard / “Micro Exams”
Use of Chem Tutor (
http://www.chem.byu.edu/faculty/jdl/ChemTutorII/
)
Use of iClicker quizzes
Use of online homework (Mastering Chemistry)
6
Online Homework
(MasteringChemistry)
Use provided problems or write your own (or use a
mixture)
Gives graded feedback
can be in form of “hints” or answer-based
instruction
Instructor can monitor
Computer does the grading
Learning curve for students and instructor
7
MasteringChemistry
Implementation
Faculty participation was voluntary in Fall ’07
By Winter ’08, all sections had adopted
Ranged from 1st time teachers to a
retired faculty member who returned to
teach
“Easier than I thought it would be”
Use has since spread to the follow-on course
(Chem 106) and to 2 courses in the GOB
series
8
MasteringChemistry
“Best Practices”
Use the publisher-provided best practices
Have students do introductory exercises
Allow ample retries with small penalties for looking at
hints
points are like candy!
give most of the credit for completion
Allow ample “drops”
Be flexible with due dates early on
Leave problems available for review
Work problems yourself before allowing student access
9
My Personal Experience
with MasteringChemistry
Adopted initially in fall 2007
2 sections of ~225 students each
Using again currently
1 section of ~250 students
Used the same multiple-choice exams both before
and after adoption
Conducted in-class surveys of student perceptions
10
Student Perceptions-Midterm
Dearden General Chemistry, Winter 2009
"So far, how helpful to you is each of the following in learning general chemistry?"
60.00
Lecture
3.47 ± 1.09
50.00
Recitation & DR
3.59 ± 1.33
40.00
Text problems
2.71 ± 1.26
30.00
MasteringChemistry
3.96 ± 1.05
20.00
ChemTutor
3.96 ± 1.04
10.00
Percent answering (of ~200 students)
Textbook
0.00
1
2
3
4
Effectiveness ranking (1=low, 5=high)
5
3.48 ± 1.09
11
Student Perceptions-Final
Dearden General Chemistry, Fall 2007
"How helpful to you is each of the following in learning general chemistry"
60.00
lectures
3.74 ± 0.90
50.00
recitation
3.97 ± 1.04
40.00
end-of-chapter problems
2.32 ± 1.23
30.00
MasteringChemistry
4.35 ± 0.95
20.00
ChemTutor
4.10 ± 1.09
10.00
Percent answering (of ~450 students)
Textbook
0.00
1
2
3
4
Effectiveness ranking (1=low, 5=high)
5
3.38 ± 1.07
12
Exam Scores
Before & After Mastering Chemistry
95.0
85.0
75.0
54.5 ± 24.5%
65.0
W07 Mean (Before)
F07 Mean (After)
W09 Mean (After)
55.0
60.6 ± 21.7%
45.0
% Mean score on exams
35.0
25.0
Macro1
Macro2
Macro3
Final
13
Acknowledgments
BYU Department of Chemistry
& Biochemistry
Chem 105 instructors
National Science Foundation
14