Improving Students’ Conceptual
Knowledge in General Chemistry
Using Desire2Learn
Joann Pfeiffer
Century College (Twin Cities, MN)
Project
Goal:
Have students take a “quiz” in D2L for each topic
covered in General Chemistry.
Motivation:
 Students need to test themselves on conceptual
understanding, not just on problems.
 The quiz tool in D2L provides an effective and
efficient means for providing students with lots of
questions.
“Quiz” Set-Up

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



10 multiple choice questions randomly selected from a
question library
Unlimited number of attempts allowed
Highest attempt automatically recorded in the D2L
gradebook
Quiz questions with answers provided immediately
after submission
No time limit on the “quiz”; completion required before
exam on the material
Focus of questions is on conceptual knowledge
Example Questions
1. For the reaction A = B, the rate law is Rate = k[A].
What are the units of the rate constant where time is
measured in seconds?
a) M-1s-1 b) Ms c) s/M
d) M2/s
e) s-1
2. What determines the exponents in a rate law?
i. experimentation
ii. the coefficients in the balanced equation
iii. the concentrations of the reactants
a) i only
b) ii only
c) iii only
d) i and ii
e) ii and iii
Examples
3. In general, as the temperature increases, the rate of a
chemical reaction
a) decreases due to fewer collisions with proper
molecular orientation.
b) decreases for endothermic reactions.
c) decreases for exothermic reactions.
d) increases due a greater number of effective
collisions.
e) increases due to a lowering of activation energy.
Time-Saving Tip
Respondus
.rtf (Rich Text File)
[Word]
www.respondus.com
.xml File
[D2L]
Topics for Gen Chem II
Quiz Topic (points)
Number of Questions
Kinetics (10)
34
Equilibrium 1 (5)
43
Equilibrium 2 (5)
17
Acid/Base (10)
42
Oxidation/Reduction (10)
41
Thermodynamics (10)
44
Solids (10)
28
Naming (10)
27
VSEPR (10)
36
Electron Configuration (10)
27
Quantum (10)
23
Results for Gen Chem II
Quiz
Topic
Kinetics
Equil 1
Equil 2
A/B
O/R
Thermo
Solids
Av
Naming
VSEPR
El Conf
Quantum
Average number of
attempts per person
Section 1
4.7
3.5
3.5
3.4
5.0
6.5
4.1
4.4
Section 2
5.1
5.3
4.9
4.8
4.6
6.5
4.6
5.1
Number of people
who took the quiz
after receiving a 10
Section 1 Section 2
5
2
4
2
11
4
9
3
5
0
11
0
8
0
7.6 (20%) 1.6 (6%)
Number of attempts
while studying for
the final
Section 1 Section 2
27
3
12
1
9
1
6
0
8
0
6
0
7
1
10.7
0.9
59
52
56
45
53
14
9
15
13
12.8
Number of people who
used the quizzes to
study for the final
Section 1
Section 2
8
3
6
1
6
1
4
0
5
0
3
0
3
1
5 (13%)
0.9 (3%)
19
15
15
17
16.5 (43%)
8
4
9
6
6.8 (24%)
Summary of Results for Gen Chem II

Most students took each quiz until they got the
maximum value possible
 On average, each student took the quiz 4-5
times
 20% of the students in section 1 and 6% in
section 2 took a quiz after earning the maximum
value possible
 43% of the students in section 1 and 24% in
section 2 took quizzes that weren’t graded as a
review for the final
Topics for Gen Chem I
Quiz Topics (points)
Intro/Sig Figs
Atoms/mass
Naming inorganics
Rxns in aq soln
Quantum
Electron Configuration (5)
Periodic Properties (5)
Lewis Dot / VSEPR
Thermochem
Gases
Intermolecular Forces
Number of Questions
43
51
81
49
51
40
22
72
38
65
37
Results for Gen Chem I
Quiz Topic
Av # of
attempts per
person
Intro/Sig Figs
Atoms
Naming
Aq rxns
Quantum
e config (5)
Period prop (5)
VSEPR
Thermo
Gases
IM Forces
Av
4.8
4.1
4.6
4.2
4.3
4.2
4.3
4.7
4.4
3.4
3.6
4.2
# of people
who took the
quiz after
receiving a 10
10
4
5
7
6
5
4
4
0
0
1
4.2 (8.6%)
# of attempts
while studying
for the final
23
18
27
16
19
23
3
5
4
1
2
12.8
# of people who
used the quizzes
to study for the
final
12
11
11
8
9
11
3
4
4
1
2
6.9 (14.1%)
Summary of Results for Gen Chem I

Most students took each quiz until they got the
maximum value possible
 On average, each student took the quiz 4.2
times
 8.6% of the students took a quiz after earning
the maximum value possible
 14% of the students took quizzes that weren’t
graded as a review for the final
Student Opinions – Gen Chem I
On a scale from 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree
The D2L quizzes were useful when studying
the material for the course
4.12
I find the study guides for the exams useful
4.12
I liked working in groups on the activities in
discussion sections (POGIL)
3.46
I used my textbook often when studying the
material for this course
2.79
I used the CD-ROM disks that came with the
text often.
1.76
Acknowledgements
Dr Larry Litecky, President of Century College
Center for Teaching and Learning at
Century College
Thank You