REVISITING COURSE DESIGN TO
ADDRESS HIGHER LEVEL
LEARNING OUTCOMES IN A
GENERAL CHEMISTRY
LABORATORY
Colleen Taylor
Virginia State University
April Hines
Virginia Commonwealth University/Randolph
Macon College
Ashley Jordan, Virginia Tech
2015 SERMACS/SWRM
Overview
1
• My experience with laboratory
2
• Outcomes from a broad prospective
3
• Course design
4
• Post course survey data
1
• My experience with laboratory
• Lab lecture is not necessary for students to
safely and expertly complete the experiment
• Pre-lab only has its intended effect if the
students are not copying the procedure
• Lab exams are not necessarily designed to
test higher level learning and do not address
the performance aspect of laboratory
• Students do not generally see the value of
the 100 level laboratory
• The most talented students are often not
challenged
WHAT OUTCOMES
ARE SOUGHT BY
ACADEMIC
INSTITUTIONS AND
INDUSTRY?
2
• Outcomes from a broad prospective
- Faculty
What Faculty Interviews Reveal about Meaningful Learning in the Undergraduate Chemistry Laboratory
Stacey Lowery Bretz, Michael Fay, Laura B. Bruck, and Marcy H. Towns
Journal of Chemical Education 2013 90 (3), 281-288
2
• Outcomes from a broad prospective
- Faculty
• Cognitive Domain
• support the course content (make
connections)
• content to everyday situations (range of
content)
• integrate other disciplines
• improve communication in the context of
the scientific community
• provide opportunities for critical analysis
• provide “conceptual understanding”
What Faculty Interviews Reveal about Meaningful Learning in the Undergraduate Chemistry Laboratory
Stacey Lowery Bretz, Michael Fay, Laura B. Bruck, and Marcy H. Towns
Journal of Chemical Education 2013 90 (3), 281-288
2
• Outcomes from a broad prospective
- Faculty
Defining Conceptual Understanding in General Chemistry Thomas A. Holme, Cynthia J.
Luxford, and Alexandra Brandriet Journal of Chemical Education 2015 92 (9), 1477-1483
2
• Outcomes from a broad prospective
- Faculty
• Psychomotor
• allow development of laboratory
technique
• provide experience in using laboratory
equipment
What Faculty Interviews Reveal about Meaningful Learning in the Undergraduate Chemistry Laboratory
Stacey Lowery Bretz, Michael Fay, Laura B. Bruck, and Marcy H. Towns
Journal of Chemical Education 2013 90 (3), 281-288
2
• Outcomes from a broad prospective
- Faculty
Affective
• be relevant to the future employment and
other coursework
• promote collaboration and teamwork
• promote independence in the laboratory
What Faculty Interviews Reveal about Meaningful Learning in the Undergraduate Chemistry Laboratory
Stacey Lowery Bretz, Michael Fay, Laura B. Bruck, and Marcy H. Towns
Journal of Chemical Education 2013 90 (3), 281-288
2
• Outcomes from a broad prospective
- Employers
Chemistry majors are increasingly concerned
about what skill sets they have when it comes to
employment and often feel inadaquet
….. “employers find chemistry graduates lacking
written- and oral-communication skills, criticalthinking skills, group-work skills, as well as the
ability to efficiently analyze data and retrieve
chemical information.”
An Integrated Professional and Transferable Skills Course for Undergraduate Chemistry Students
S. Salman Ashraf, Sayed A. M. Marzouk, Ihsan A. Shehadi, and Brian M. Murphy
Journal of Chemical Education 2011 88 (1), 44-48
3
•
•
•
•
• Course Design
CHEZ102 VCU 4.5 week Summer Course
Thirty students, three lab sections, three TA’s
Lab lecture
Majority VCU students in Biology and
Chemistry majors
3
• Course Design
Current Course
Strategy
Comparable Change
10% quizzes during
lab lecture
10% lab performance
graded by TA with
instructor rubric. Safety
emphasis
50% Notebook
Graded with key, no
feedback
50% Notebook with rubric
and written feedback
where needed
40% Lab Exams:
Three paper during
lab lecture, one
cumulative (drop 1)
40% Lab Exams: Two lab
exams, practical in-lab and
one cumulative paper
exam
3
• Course Design
Current Course
Strategy
No technical writing
requirement
Lab lecture purpose
to explain the lab
procedure
No Excel training
Comparable Change
One formal report with
multiple Iterations
Lab lecture used to discuss
content, connections and
work on data analysis
Multiple labs requiring
graphical analysis and
statistical analysis in Excel
3
• Course Design
Current Course
Strategy
Comparable Change
Lab handouts
provided
Pre-lab required lab
handouts allowed
Short lab videos
Lab format rigid
Focus on “real” research
format.
Constant emphasis on
outcomes and
transparency in approach
Open discussion and
flexibility
Pre-lab required lab
handouts never allowed
3
• Course Design
3
• Course Design
3
• Course Design
3
• Course Design
An ideal solution of two liquids has a vapor pressure that is dependent upon the mole fraction of the two
components according to the Raoult’s Law equation: PsolnaPoa + bPob
Psolnvapor pressure of the solution of A and B (at a select constant temperature)
a = mole fraction component A,
𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝐴
𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝐴+𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝐵
and b = mole fraction component B,
𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝐵
𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝐴+𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝐵
Poa = vapor pressure component A in its pure form and Pob = vapor pressure component B in its pure form
(at a select constant temperature)


Positive or negative deviation from Raoult’s Law is evident when the two components of the mixture
interaction with each other significantly through intermolecular forces (forming an azeotropic mixture).
Goal of Practical: With a minimum of three points, show experimentally whether methanol and ethanol
form an ideal solution.
3
• Course Design
“Typically, students seek a
comfort zone in which the
challenge they take does not
exceed their perceived level
of skill or competency”
An Integrated Professional and Transferable Skills Course for Undergraduate Chemistry Students
S. Salman Ashraf, Sayed A. M. Marzouk, Ihsan A. Shehadi, and Brian M. Murphy
Journal of Chemical Education 2011 88 (1), 44-48
4
• Post Course Survey Data
I had a great desire to learn something valuable in
the course and was willing and able to work hard
to achieve my goals
4
• Post Course Survey Data
This course challenged me to learn at a higher
level than I am used to
4
• Post Course Survey Data
I prefer video taped procedures compared to
paper procedures
4
• Post Course Survey Data
Video taped procedures allowed me to better
visualize and plan what I was going to do in lab.
4
• Post Course Survey Data
Not following a handout allowed me to spend
more time paying attention to the process during
laboratory
4
• Post Course Survey Data
I feel my problem solving skills have significantly
improved because of this course.
4
• Post Course Survey Data
I have significantly increased my graphing skills in
this course
4
• Post Course Survey Data
I feel practical exams are more applicable to the
course than paper exams.
4
• Post Course Survey Data
I learned more from this lab than I did in my first
semester laboratory course.
4
• Post Course Survey Data
I am more confident in my ability to perform
under pressure because of this laboratory course.
4
• Post Course Survey Data
The most valuable part of this course was...
Learning how to keep a detailed notebook and use excel to calculate and
plot data.
The practical exams and the tutorials given during lab lecture.
Being forced to critically think about a problem and apply our knowledge;
it helped to reinforce concepts and create a better understanding of them.
Having another professor explain concepts I wasnt learning in my lecture.
I felt that I came away with a lot of practical knowledge that will prepare
me for future courses.
critical thinking component to the labs. Generally 85% of my brainpower
for labs is used to grapple simply with discerning what the lab manual
wants me to do. The procedures in this class made the labs feel much less
"canned." However, i was not always clear what was desired post lab.
4
• Post Course Survey Data
The most valuable part of this course was...
teamwork
Practicals + extended prelab; knowing more about the chemicals was
important.
The practical exams
Dr. Taylor's accessibility and willingness to go the extra mile for her
students. I have taken classes(lab) at three different Virginia state schools
W&M, GMU, VCU) and have yet to meet a professor as dedicated to his or
her students as Dr.T. Though I personally did not find the coursework
challenging, fun I strongly support the practical exams as a way of
strengthening problem solving skills.
Graphing, writing pre-labs, and listing our observations during the
experiment.
4
• Post Course Survey Data
The most valuable part of this course was...
the post lab reports that helped to make sense of the experiments and
the concepts behind it.
Video procedure
The videos
The ability to think freely
The experience
Learning how to work in groups and collaborate together
this course really challenged me and that pushed me to rise up to it's level
and work harder. I will earn a better grade in this course than I did in the
Chez 101 which was much easier because I was pushed and I worked hard.
The practical exams and developing my own experimental plan
4
• Post Course Survey Data
The most valuable part of this course was...
Practicals
Discussion/questions in recitation.. & practicals
the lab practical
I enjoyed the video procedures, and the practical exams were more
exciting than overwhelming.
Conclusion: Changes made without
major disruption to current practice
 A performance grade
Students were more prepared to complete the lab
 Technical writing iterative component
Students learned proper technical writing technique that
they could model in an upper level class
 Recording of general laboratory procedures
Students learned to write a proper experimental plan
 Emphasis on data manipulation and presentation in Excel
Students were immersed in data collection and
interpretation
 Practical guided-inquiry type exams
Students were given the opportunity to think on their feet
QUESTIONS?