More than lab reports: Integrating
information literacy and writing-tolearn in organic chemistry labs
Tiffany Turner, Glenn Blalock, Carol Schuetz
Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798
Tiffany_Turner@baylor.edu
Outline
• Purpose for the changes
• Background on Baylor and CHE 3238
• Curriculum Changes
– Information Literacy
– Portfolio Assignments
• Sustainability
– What happens now?
Purpose
• A sequence of discipline-specific, writing-to-learn and
information literacy activities was integrated into the
organic chemistry lab (CHE 3238) at Baylor University
for two semesters (Spring-Summer 2007)
• Engage students more fully in the process of learning
how to think and to work in ways that will characterize
their future professional identities.
– intended to expand students' experiences with
researching chemistry scholarship, with reading
chemistry articles, and with writing discipline-specific
genres other than lab reports.
• Assessment of these curricular revisions included
surveys, focus groups, and primary trait analyses of
student writing.
Teaching Commons
• A conceptual space in which communities of educators
committed to inquiry and innovation come together to
exchange ideas about teaching and learning, and use
them to meet the challenges of educating students for
personal, professional, and civic life.
• Began in Fall 2006 at BU- Interest in WAC
– Glenn- English Professor
– Carol- University Libraries
– Tiffany- Chemistry Grad Student
• Weekly meetings to discuss WAC and IL papers and the
curriculum changes in Organic Chemistry
– Goals, outcomes, assessment, grading rubrics
Baylor University
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Location: Waco, TX
Enrollment: 11,800 undergraduate (2,200 graduate)
Big XII- smallest in conference
Mission statement- to educate men and women for
worldwide leadership and service by integrating
academic excellence and Christian commitment within a
caring community
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
• Total Undergraduates: 268
– Biochemistry (BA/BS): 52/139
– Chemistry (BA/BS): 13/64
– Graduates for 2007: 29
• (28 Pre-Med, 3 ACS certified)
CHE 3238
• One semester organic chemistry lab (2 credit)
– Taken with or after Organic II (CHE 3332)
– Spring 2007 enrollment: 196 students
• 32 Chem/Biochem (16%)
• 151 students are “Pre-” (77%)
– Summer enrollment: 22 students
• 5 Chem/Biochem (23%)
• 21 students are “Pre-” (95%)
– Anticipated Fall 2007: 200 students
Challenges
Previous Curriculum
• Weekly discussion of separation and characterization techniques,
and reactions common to organic chemistry and then are used or
carried out in experiments.
• 2 professors
• 12 TAs Fall/Spring (graduate/undergraduate), 6 TAs Summer
• 17 experiments over 9 weeks
– Scantron quizzes at beginning of each experiment
– Fill-in worksheets due at the end of the experiment or next class
– Each experiment graded by 1 TA
– Final given at end of semester (weekly lecture)
• Students’ perception
– Easy A, little work and prep needed, take during a busy
semester, wait till graduation semester to complete requirement
• TA’s perception
– Waste of time, no interest in organic chemistry, frustration with
students and assignments, lack of communication
Fall 2005
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Aug 20th
No Lab the first 2 weeks of class. However, the once-a-week Lab Lecture does start the first week of classes
27th
Sept 3rd
Safety & Check-in (Intro)
Basic Skills Lab
10th
Isolation of Cholesterol
Isolation of Limonene
17th
Isolation of Caffeine (Cancelled)
Fractional Distillation
24th
Elimination Reaction
Acylation of Trimethylazulene
Oct 1st
Free Radical Chlorination (Computer Lab)
Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution
No Lab
8th
15th
Soap from Lard
A Diels Alder Reaction
22nd
Esterification Reaction
Hydrolysis of an Ester
29th
Tetraphenylcyclopentadieneone
Synthesis of Benzoin
Nov 5th
Synthesis of Benzil
Synthesis of Benzilic Acid
12th
Check Out
Changes
New Curriculum
• Beyond a basic exposure to techniques common to organic techniques,
we chose to focus on:
– Understanding chemical concepts through writing
• Mechanisms, techniques, terminology
– Exposure to chemical literature and the process of discerning
information
• Library use, database searching, deconstructing chemical articles,
use of chemistry in the real world
– Critical thinking skills
– Side goal: increase student confidence in the lab and discussing
chemistry
Changes
New Curriculum
• 2 professors (1 for Spring 2007)
– Created Head TA position
• Created grading rubrics and answer keys for all assignments
• 15-16 experiments over 10-12 weeks
– 8 Portfolio assignments (20% of final grade)
– 4 Information literacy assignments
– 4 Instrument Use assignments
– Lab Practical
• Students’ perception (initial)
– Too much work, too hard, worthless class, writing is pointless in
chemistry
• TA’s perception (initial)
– Too much work, not confident in comprehension of organic chemistry,
I’m not an English major- I can’t grade students’ writings
Schedule
Summer 2007
Tuesday (2-5PM)
Wednesday
(2-5PM)
Thursday (2-5PM)
5/29 - 5/31
Info Literacy
Nobel Chemist
Chem Review
Writing in Science
Library-Scavenger Hunt
Instrument Use (IR)
6/5 - 6/7
Check-In
Basic Skills
Writing Abstract
Peer Review
Carvone
6/12 - 6/14
Simple Distillation
Instrument Use (GC)
Fractional Distillation
Writing Procedure
6/19 - 6/21
RadicalChlorination
Library Comp Labdatabase
Diels-Alder
Writing R&D
Spinach
Ester & Hydrolysis
Writing Introduction
6/26 - 6/28
Portfolio Due Dates
Nobel worksheet and article due
Thursday in class
Abstract due Wednesday in class
Revised Abstract due Friday (BB)
Elimination of alcohols
Procedure due Tuesday in class
Revised Procedure due
Wednesday (BB and class)
R&D due Friday (BB)
NEW LAB
Introduction due Friday (BB)
7/3 - 7/5
NO CLASS
HOLIDAY
NO CLASS
7/10 - 7/12
TMA
Writing Impact
NAS
Writing Final Paper
Instrument Use (GC/MS)
Library- Ref Works
7/17 - 7/19
Benzoin
Benzil
Benzilic Acid
7/24 - 7/26
Instrument Use
(NMR)
Chem Review
MakeUp Labs (Ferrocene)
7/31 - 8/2
MakeUp Labs
(Cholesterol)
Check-Out
Portfolio DUE
NO CLASS
8/7 - 8/8
Lab Practical
Impact due Friday (BB)
Final Paper due Friday (BB)
Assessment of Changes
• Initial Survey on information literacy and the students comfort level
with searching for information and using library resources
– 30% very comfortable using library resources
– 60% somewhat comfortable
– 20% often use the library to research and locate materials
– 65% sometimes use the library
– 98% were able to recognize the definition for information literacy
• Many did not know the ability to find and use information
correctly was called information literacy
Assessment of Changes
• Focus Groups
– Before you took this course, what experiences did you have with?
• Writing, research, using library databases, reading scholarly articles in
chemistry
– Why do you think your teachers integrated research activities in the lab
course?
– In which lab did the writing help you understand the concepts/purpose
of the lab?
– When you started your research, where did you begin to look for
information and where do you look now?
• Portfolio Discussion with a TA during the Lab Practical
– Worst/Best writing and why
– Probed understanding of reactions performed in class
• Elimination, Diels-Alder, Esterification/Hydrolysis, Addition,
Oxidation
Information Literacy Assignments
• Nobel Chemist/Discerning online information (Eileen Bentsen)
– Expose students to searching for chemical information and to think
about credibility and validity of online information
• Scavenger Hunt (Carol Schuetz and library staff)
– Increase students’ confidence in using chemistry resources available in
the library
• Look at Ref QD 8.5 .A25. What is the name of the style guide for
chemists?
• Database Searching (Carol Schuetz)
– Reintroduce students to BearCat (online catalog) and expose students
to common chemistry databases (EBSCO, ScienceDirect, ACS)
• RefWorks (Billie Peterson-Lugo)
– Introduce students to the online bibliographic management program as
a way to manage collected information
Portfolio Assignments
• Abstract (Diels-Alder)
– Pick out and summarize important information from a scientific paper
– Student comments: how can one tiny paragraph be so frustrating and
horrible
• Not sure what to do
• Not comfortable with reading scientific articles- difficult terminology
• Became routine when working on the final paper
– Future: summary worksheet followed by writing an abstract at a later
date
• Peer Review
– Emphasize team work and writing for understanding
– Student comments: Very helpful but wanted more reviews from TAs
(experts)
– Future: weave peer reviews (student and TA) into all assignments (inclass or as take-home)
Portfolio Assignments
• Procedure (Diels-Alder)
– Familiarize students with procedures in a scientific article and increase confidence
in writing a procedure
• Student understanding and confidence with stoichiometry
– Student comments: busy work, afraid they couldn’t follow their own procedure,
liberating and enjoyed the independence
• Preferred reading/writing in paragraph form rather than a list
• Less procedural questions and more free thinking about techniques and
observations/interpretations
– Future: choose a different experiment or have them rewrite an earlier procedure
O
O
O
Product
Theoretical Yield = 0.15g
Portfolio Assignments
• Results & Discussion (Elimination of an alcohol)
– Understand their own experimental results and relate to the textbook reaction
(substrates, conditions, yields, rules for formation)
– Student comments: really enjoyed the assignment
• E1 finally clicks and why it’s different than substitution
• Understand why profs always harp on carbocation formation
• Teamwork: key to understanding the experiment
– Assessment: During the Lab Practical, students were able to answer questions
about the experiment and convey their understanding through “what if” scenarios
• Used references in the assignment and looked for additional information
OH
H3PO4/H2SO4
heat
Product(s)
Portfolio Assignments
• Introduction (Esterification of an alcohol/Hydrolysis of an ester)
– Understand the reactions in the experiment and the purpose of TLC
(polarity and intermolecular forces)
– Student comments: mixed views by students (loved it, hated it)
• Students are still confused about polarity (Lab Practical and discussion of
concepts)
• Difficult for students who write from beginning to end, easier for students
who write in sections
• Impact (compare websites on an organic chemistry topic and relate
to understanding and learning)
– Use information literacy skills to communicate knowledge about a topic
– Student comments: creative busy work
– Future: rethink assignment and goal
Portfolio Assignments
• Final Paper (Benzaldehyde to Benzilic acid in 3 steps)
– Understand the reactions and techniques in the experiments and show
understanding of writing scientifically
– Student comments: on average it was enjoyable and they felt proud of
their work
• Nice to see an entire paper in their own words
• Became easier to write after the initial assignments
• Reflective Overview
– Self reflection on learning about chemistry through writing
– Student comments: more worried about the grade received for writing
assignments
• Realized the “Big Picture” of learning through writing
• Not afraid of scientific literature anymore (less cut & paste for other classes)
What I’ve learned
• Two months is not enough time to revamp a course
• Organization is key
– Consistency of grading (rubrics and answer keys)
– Consistency of communication (TAs, professors, students)
• Teamwork and collaboration
– Teaching commons group was an invaluable resource
– Professors willing to try something new and support it
• Open to critical statements
– Student rebellion
• Students will rise up to high standards
– Summer-Fall 2006: 60% passing rate
– Spring-Summer 2007: 85% passing rate
Sustainability of changes
What the future holds
• Professor dedicated to the changes
• Head TA dedicated to students learning and understanding of
organic chemistry (Eric Bauch)
• Consistent Grading (TAs for each section only grade their section)
– Rubrics for writing assignments
– Answer Keys for worksheets
• Weekly TA meetings to discuss each experiment and assignment
• Constant feedback from students and TAs
Acknowledgements
• Glenn Blalock and Carol Schuetz
• Drs. Paul Primrose and Jesse
Jones
– Organic TAs and students
• Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry
• Dr. Charles Garner
– Garner Group
– Eric Bauch
• More Information: