Online Tutorials and Computer
Animations for the Organic
Chemistry Laboratory
Laurie S. Starkey, Ali Saffari,
Zachary Bogorad
Chemistry Department, Cal Poly Pomona
http://www.csupomona.edu/~lsstarkey
lsstarkey@csupomona.edu
About CHM 317L
• 1st quarter of year-long Organic Chemistry Lab
sequence
• Multiple sections offered every quarter
• Taught by many different instructors
• Laboratory Exercises focus on techniques:
melting point
TLC
extraction
distillation
recrystallization
IR spectroscopy
Recurring problem: unprepared students
Prelab Survey:
How did you prepare for lab?
read manual
Bb quiz
read text
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Lab Challenges & Solutions
• Limited lab time
– One 3-hour lab/week
• Lack of incentive
– Easy to copy prelab
• Lab textbook format
– No discussion of
common mistakes
– No answers to endof-chapter problems
• Create an online
prelab tutorial
– Use time outside of
class
– Audio, video and
animations make it
interesting, engaging
– Thoroughly explore
theory and practice
• Develop animations
Research Plan (FCPD ITaL Fellow)
Collect Pre-tutorial data
• Seven sections of CHM 317L (W07, F07)
• Administer prelab quiz & survey
Incorporate online Distillation Tutorial
Collect Post-tutorial data
• Five sections of CHM 317L (Sp07, W08)
• Administer prelab quiz & survey
Creating the Tutorial
• Developed in Adobe Presenter
(a.k.a. Breeze, Connect)
• Designed Flash animations
(CPP I&IT provided designer)
• Videotaped lab demonstrations
(CPP Mediavision)
http://connect.csupomona.edu/distillation
(local copy)
Prelab Quiz: Overall Score
Percent of Students at each Score
(10/52 watched “some”)
25
20
15
10
5
0
n=150
Mean = 31/65
Median = 34
Pre-tutorial
Post-tutorial
n=52
Mean = 47/65
Median = 50
Prelab Quiz: Apparatus Sketch
Percent of Students at each Score (Max Score = 10 points)
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
blank (0)
2
4
Pre-tutorial
6
Post-tutorial
8
accurate (10)
Prelab Survey: Confidence in
Running Distillation Experiment
25
20
15
10
5
0
not
confident
(0)
2
4
6
Median = 6
Pre-tutorial
Post-tutorial
Median = 8
8
very
confident
(10)
Student Comments (Exit Survey)
• “Helped in preparation for lab so I felt more
comfortable with what I was doing.”
• “The tutorial was extremely helpful. The notes I
took really made the lab run smoothly.”
• “Distillation tutorial was very animated and
provided a view that made it interesting to watch.”
• “Please leave the distillation on the Bb so I can
review it again for my next class.”
• “More tutorials on other difficult subjects would
be greatly appreciated.”
• “Thanks for all the work you put in to find ways to
help students learn.”
New Research Question
• Which TLC animation is most effective?
• Does any animation make a difference?
(Future work: what is the impact of varied
multimedia support on student learning?)
Text
only
Powerpoint
“animate”
Powerpoint
+ audio
Powerpoint
+ audio
+ animations
Research Plan
Create Four Versions of TLC Tutorial
• One tutorial with NO animation
• Tutorials with various animations
– One “best” (interactive) + two others
Students watch a tutorial and take TLC quiz
• Quiz includes two basic General Chem. Questions
– Distractor
– Evaluate students (“Competency”)
Distribute online survey one week later
• Any information retained?!
http://www.csupomona.edu/~lsstarkey/ochemlab
(local copy)
Student Sample
• 84 General Chemistry students
– Week 10, after check-out
• 40 students had NO animation
• 44 students had an animation
– 24 of these had “best” animation
• “Competency” rating out of 6 points
– 20 had low performance (0-2 score)
– 25 had mid performance (3-4 score)
– 39 had high performance (5-6 score)
(Woo-hoo!)
Some Results (wrong/correct)
A LESS polar compound has a higher/lower Rf (circle one).
w/out
All questions were found to
be challenging.
with
Use of animations improved
some results.
Prior Experience = Good or Bad?
Before watching the tutorial today, how familiar were you with
the technique of Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC)?
Students new to the topic
performed better
Tutorial challenge: how to
confront/correct previous
misconceptions?!
Some Improvements w/Animation
(wrong/correct)
A LESS polar compound has a higher/lower Rf (circle one).
A LESS polar solvent will cause spots to have higher/lower Rf
w/out
with
w/out
with
Animations May Especially Benefit
Weaker Students
A LESS polar compound has a higher/lower Rf (circle one).
Strongest students
w/out
with
Weakest students
w/out
with
Acknowledgements
Ali Saffari, Zachary Bogorad
CPP Faculty Center for Professional Development
Investigating Teaching and Learning (ITaL) Fellowship 2007/08
Dr. Peggy Perry, Dr. Carol Holder
CSUPERB Programmatic Grant Summer 2008
I&IT Learning
Karen Brzoska
April McKettrick
Daniel Smith
Bo Soh
Erick Zelaya and Jason Beers (Flash animations)
Tutorial Video produced by Mediavision
Terry Hogan
Thank you!