Just-in-Time Teaching in Biology:
Blending Active Learning
with Internet Technology
Kathy Marrs
IUPUI Department of Biology
November 15, 2002
Challenges Students Bring to Science Courses
 Most students take 4 or 5 classes
 Most students are not majors
 Most students have jobs
 Many students have family responsibilities
 Many students have weak backgrounds
 Most students come to class unprepared
 Some students just don’t care
Challenges for College Science Faculty
Delivery of course content, plus…
 Critical Thinking = Scientific Literacy
 Math Skills = Problem Solving
 Scientific and Technical Writing
 Other Principles of Undergraduate Learning
 Teaching large classes ~ Student : Faculty ratio
 Course retention (DFW) rate
 Time management
Pedagogical Challenges
Incorporating current learning theory into classroom:
 “Current research on learning indicates that all new learning depends on the learner’s
prior knowledge and current state of understanding. If students’ initial understanding is
not engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts they are taught, or …they may
revert to their preconceptions outside of the classroom.”
How People Learn, Bransford, Brown and Cocking 2000.
Incorporating classroom research into semester:
 Research that asks questions about the nature of teaching and learning, and the effect
of classroom interventions on course and student outcomes.
Incorporating assessment of student learning into classroom:
 “Largely missing from science classrooms, particularly large lecture classes, is formative
assessment, which is intended to provide feedback during learning exercises so that
students can have an opportunity to revise and improve their thinking and instructors
can tailor instruction appropriately.”
In Learning Science and the Science of Learning, Mestre and Cocking, 2002.
Scientists and Educational Theories of Learning
 From Learning Science and the Science of Learning,
Rodger Bybee, Ed., NSTA Press 2002:
 “As scientists, we are familiar with theories. Theories help us describe,
explain, and predict natural events and phenomena. We readily accept that
theories change, and acknowledge that theories are essential to the practice
of science.
 “As science professors, we tend to distain, distrust, or disregard educational
theories. We may assume that educational theory results from research with
students very different from the ones we teach. Consequently, these
educational theories seem to have little relevance for our own teaching.
 “However, educational theories of learning are as essential to the practice of
teaching just as scientific theories are essential to the practice of science.”
Constructivism: A Current Educational Theory
Constructivism: One of the most well-supported theories of human
learning today.
 Strong base in the research literature (Reviewed in How People Learn, 2000)
 Developed by Jean Piaget (1952, 1978), Jerome Bruner (1966), and many others.
 Forms the foundation of the Benchmarks for Scientific Literacy (AAAS, 1993)
The National Science Education Standards (National Academy of Sciences, 1995)

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Learning is actively constructed and is built on prior experiences.
New knowledge students learn is based on prior knowledge.
Effective learning by students requires feedback.
Expectations affect performance.
Learning is not necessarily an outcome of teaching.
 (There are many other Theories of Learning )
What is Just-in-Time Teaching?
A Teaching and Learning Strategy
High Tech Aspect: use of the web
Low Tech Aspect: interactive lectures
Combines the best features of traditional in-class
instruction with the communication and resource
potential available via the web.
Incorporates:
Key ideas of constructivism.
Use of formative assessment.
Collection of data for classroom research.
JiTT is Used Extensively in Science
and Math Education
Developed to Teach Undergraduate Science
 Physics…then Biology, Chemistry, and Math
 Courses for science and non-science majors
 Used in graduate-level courses in Biology at IUPUI
Now used at over 70 Universities
 Including Harvard, Stanford, Brown, US AFA, IUPUI
Endorsed by Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL)’s
What Works series in Science and Math Education
IUPUI WebScience Project funded by the NSF
-See also Indiana University Research and Creative Activity, 4/99
-Book available through Prentice Hall
Recent Work on JiTT in Biology
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2000 NABT Meeting, Orlando
2000 PKAL Workshop, Keystone CO
2001 HASTI Meeting, Indianapolis
2001 EduCause Meeting, Indianapolis
2002 NSTA Meeting, San Diego
2002 NSF Chautauqua Short Course, US AFA
2002 IPFW Seminar
2002 Assessment Institute, IUPUI
(2003) NSF Chautauqua Short Course, US AFA
 2002 Marrs, Blake and Gavrin, Journal of
College Science Teaching, in press
 2003 Special JiTT issue of Journal of College
Science Teaching
Research Goals
Question: Can a classroom environment using constructivist-based
JiTT activities improve student performance in Biology?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Identify misconceptions students bring to Biology courses.
Create interactivity and active learning in large lecture class
Improve student study habits and class attendance
Increase relevance of studying Biology to everyday life
Enhance content knowledge in Biology
z
Method: leverage technology to realize these goals!
z
Outcome: Collect data to determine if this approach is effective
in improving student study habits and content knowledge in
Biology.
The JiTT Feedback Loop
Classroom
Internet
Features of a JiTT Website - N100
– Warm Ups
– Chapter Outline
– Puzzle
– News
– What is Biology Good For?
The Interactive JiTT Classroom
 Dynamic Syllabus: New web material posted each Friday.
 Lecture outlines
 Reading assignments
 Warm Up assignment due Wednesday, 9:30 am, 3 points each.
 Optional Good For assignment due Friday, noon, 3 points each.
 Interactive Class: Class notes are ‘live’ and run from the web.
 Lecture for ~25 - 30 min.
 Incorporate Warm Up responses where appropriate.
 Turn lights up for a Cooperative Learning Exercise - small group
work and discussion, 3 points, ~15 minutes.
 Finish up lecture and discussion, ~25 - 30 min.
What are Warm Ups?
 Preparatory questions on upcoming material.
 Questions with answers not directly found in the text.
 One or two each week, 3 points each (45 total).
 Due two hours before class time.
 Use everyday scenarios to introduce concepts.
 Uncover and challenge student’s prior knowledge.
 Warm-ups create a “need to know” - students use
textbook as well as pre-existing knowledge to answer.
Sample Warm Ups Archive
 Mitosis: Why do chemotherapy drugs, given to fight cancer, make a
person’s hair fall out?
 Biotechnology: Humulin, a drug made by Eli Lilly, is the human insulin
protein made by bacteria. How can a bacteria make a human protein?
 Genetics: If you and your spouse are carriers for sickle cell disease (Ss),
you have a 1 in 4 chance of producing a child with sickle cell disease. If
you have 4 children, does this mean that one of them will have sickle cell
disease? Why or why not?
 Evolution / Scientific Process: What is the difference between a theory
and a belief?
 Evolution / Natural Selection: What does the term Survival of the Fittest
mean? How does the environment influence the survival of an organism?
 Cellular Respiration: Why do people who are anemic (have low levels of
functioning red blood cells) feel tired and weak?
Using Warm Ups for
Formative Assessment
 Warm Ups can be used to assess students
understanding 'in progress' and give students
feedback about their understanding.
 Warm Ups can be used to determine how well
students understand a concept before lecture
material is presented, and before moving on to new
material or before taking an exam.
Using Warm Ups to
Enhance Student Learning
1.
Warm Up assignments identify student beliefs,
prior knowledge, and misconceptions.
2.
Warm Up responses can be used before class to
synchronize student responses with classroom
instruction.
3.
Warm Up responses are used in class to address
prior knowledge and misconceptions, as a
foundation on which to construct new knowledge.
Using Warm Ups to Synchronize Class
 Step 1: Synchronization
- Students have from Friday to Wednesday at 9:30 am to answer.
- Student Warm Up responses are collected in a cgi-bin.
- Read the students’ responses before class (1 hour).
- What do they understand - what are their misconceptions?
 Step 2: Preparation
- Select excerpts from students work (the good, the bad & the ugly…)
- Prepare a quick web page or overhead with sample responses.
- Make minor adjustments in that day’s lecture material.
 Step 3: Delivery
- Class is a dialog based on faculty notes and student excerpts
from Warm Ups.
- Prior knowledge is the starting point in that day’s discussion.
As a result, the class is...
 Based on Prior Knowledge: Student Warm Up
responses are used to develop subject material
presented to class [Formative assessment].
 Interactive: short lectures interspersed with
group discussion and collaborative problem
solving.
 Based on Constructivism: Students build new
knowledge on prior knowledge plus additional
content knowledge discussed that day or week.
Analysis of Warm Up Responses
Warm Ups can be scored using a rubric to determine patterns of
responses. This can be done at any time to obtain data on
commonly observed misconceptions.
(1) Student says he / she does not know how to answer the Warm Up.
(2) Student answers but shows minimal accurate knowledge. Student does not
use information from the text or lecture notes to answer the question, and
may reveal misconceptions. (Incorrect answer)
(3) Student shows some prior knowledge and may use terminology to answer
the Warm Up question but does not give a complete answer to the question.
(Partially correct but still incomplete).
(4) Student answers the Warm Up question correctly and completely. Student
incorporates information from the text or class notes into the answer.
Student may look for answer outside the class (web, etc).
Analysis of Student Responses
on Chemotherapy Warm Up:
 Level 1: “I know that the drugs do this, but I don't have the
slightest idea why. There is probably a simple explanation that I
am overlooking.” (4%)
 Level 2: (minimal accurate prior knowledge) “I think it is because
the drugs are trying to kill all of the bad cells and hair is dead
cells, so the drugs just see hair as bad cells and gets rid of them.”
(30%)
 Level 3: (moderate accurate prior knowledge) “The chemotherapy
drugs used to fight cancer attempt to kill off the living cancer
cells. Hair cells are not nearly as hard to kill as cancer cells and
this results in the killing off of many cells with the ultimate goal
of killing the cancer cells.” (44%)
Analysis of Student Responses
on Chemotherapy Warm Up:
 Level 4: (answers correctly and completely) “Chemotherapy
poisons all body cells to some extent, but particularly rapidly
dividing cells undergoing mitosis such as cancer cells. It also
affects other rapidly dividing cells (hair follicles, cells lining the
stomach, and red blood cells) which causes some of the common
side effects.” (22%)
 N= 169, Biology N100, Spring 2001
 More about Warm Up responses and analysis can be found in Marrs,
Blake and Gavrin, Journal of College Science Teaching, in press, 2002
Common Misconceptions: Respiration
Level 1: I really don’t know, but my mom is anemic and she is tired
all the time. Not enough Iron? (12%)
Level 2: (minimal accurate prior knowledge) “They feel tired and weak
because they do not have enough oxygen in their blood. Since
hemoglobin is what contains the oxygen, then low hemoglobin
would mean the cells are deprived of oxygen. (42%)
Level 3: (moderate accurate prior knowledge) There is not enough
oxygen being generated to handle the cellular respiration. We can't
get oxygen to all our cells without our blood cells. (32%)
Level 4: (answers correctly and completely) There is not enough
oxygen going through the bloodstream to the cells. Body cells do
not produce enough ATP from cellular respiration without plenty of
oxygen, so the person doesn’t make enough ATP energy and feels
tired. (14%)
Research Goals
Question: Can a classroom environment using constructivist-based
JiTT activities improve student performance in Biology?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Identify misconceptions students bring to Biology courses.
Create interactivity and active learning in large lecture class
Improve student study habits and class attendance
Increase motivation for and relevance of studying Biology
Enhance content knowledge in Biology
z
Method: leverage technology to realize these goals!
z
Outcome: Collect data to determine if this approach is effective
in improving student study habits and content knowledge in
Biology.
JiTT Improves Study Habits
Warm Ups made a significant difference in student study skills.
We asked students to report whether they ‘crammed’ for exams in
Biology N100 (JiTT) vs. their other, non-JiTT classes: (n = 426)
‘Crammed’ in
Biology N100
‘Crammed’ in
other courses
A students
16%
44%
B students
34%
63%
C students
41%
65%
D students
64%
71%
F students
68%
69%
JiTT Improves Graduate Student Study Habits
1) Did you put off studying for Biotech 540 and as a result ‘cram’
for Biotech 540 tests (saving virtually all studying for the
day/night before the test)?
(34.4%) Yes
2) Do you ‘cram’ for other courses that you have this semester?
(62.0%) Yes
3) Do you feel that the Warm Up assignments and web notes
made you stay ‘caught up’ on class material?
(96.5%) Yes
4) Do you feel that you are more, less, or equally well ‘caught up’
on your other graduate courses this semester?
(19.8%) More, (62.6%) Less, (17.6%) Equal
Biology 540 (Graduate Biotechnology), n=37
So what’s wrong with cramming…?

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
1)
2)
3)
4)
Cramming is a technique most college students will use at times, but
unfortunately, it is not an efficient way to acquire knowledge.
Research has shown that students learn more efficiently and retain
the information longer when they study regularly, and retain much
less information from a single, intensive study session.
Cramming is also associated with sleep deprivation. Students who
come to a test at a physical and mental disadvantage do not perform
as well as students who have has a good night’s rest.
Bybee RW, Ed. (2002) Learning Science and the Science of Learning.
Dolly, JP; Williams KS. (1986) Using Test-Taking Strategies to Maximize MultipleChoice Test Scores. Educational and Psychological Measurement; (46)619-25.
Kirkland K; Hollandsworth JG, Jr. (1979) Test Anxiety, Study Skills, and Academic
Performance. Journal of College Student Personnel; (20)431-35.
Hoover, JP. A Dozen Ways To Raise Students' Test Performance. (2002) Principal;
(81)17-18.
JiTT Improves Class Preparation
1) Do you read the web notes before class?
2) Do you do the readings from the text before class?
3) Do you do read the textbook or the class notes (if provided) before
your other classes?
A students:
B students:
C students:
D students:
F students:
(1) Yes
78%
75
63
45
46
Biology N100,
n=162
(2) Yes
65%
72
61
40
42
(3) Yes
53%
48
51
40
42
How important is it to prepare for class?
“ A very important tip: It is definitely to your benefit to
look at the notes and do the readings before class.
As you can see, once we are in class, things move
quickly. Because of the way this class is set up, as
detailed in the syllabus, I come into class
expecting that you have read the notes and the
pages in the book. I do not expect you to
understand it all, but that you are familiar with new
terms and concepts for the day. If you have not
gotten into this habit yet, please do so now.”
Class preparation helps to use class time as efficiently
as possible.
If the value of the class depends on the quality of the
participation, it is important to prepare for class.
Gardner H, & Boix Mansilla, V. (1994). Teaching for
understanding within and across the disciplines.
Educational Leadership, 51 (5), 14-18.
[Image]
Effect of Cooperative Learning
Exercises
a) Do you think the Cooperative Learning exercises help you to learn the
class material?
Yes (67%)
b) Do you prefer doing the Cooperative Learning exercises to listening to
lecture for 75 minutes?
Yes (72%)
c)Any positive or negative things you would like to say about them?
 Q4 = Cooperative Learning is a good thing to have. No offense, Dr. Marrs, but ..…if it
wasn't for the Coorperative Learning, I'd never come here.
 Q4 = I like the cooperative learning exercises because they're the only thing that we do
in the class to participate, and it gets boring just listening. I have to stay active.
 Q4 = I think the exercises help me to understand the material a little better. I think
maybe we do too many, but it definitely keeps me from getting too comfortable and
falling asleep in class when I'm tired. They also take some of the pressure off of those
horrible tests.
 Q4 = I think that the Cooperative Learning exercises help me to learn the material.
They are a mini review for me!! They definitely help break up the tedium of lecture.
They are wonderful!! Plus I like the fact that they can kind of take attendance for those
of us who show up to class everyday!
Research Goals
Question: Can a classroom environment using constructivist-based
JiTT activities improve student performance in Biology?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Identify misconceptions students bring to Biology courses.
Create interactivity and active learning in large lecture class
Improve student study habits and class attendance
Increase relevance of studying Biology to everyday life
Enhance content knowledge in Biology
z
Method: leverage technology to realize these goals!
z
Outcome: Collect data to determine if this approach is effective
in improving student study habits and content knowledge in
Biology.
“What is Biology Good For?”
 Impact of science on everyday Life. Examples:
“Keeping Us Healthy During Flu Season: Flu Vaccines”
“Controlling Diabetes: Recombinant Human Insulin”
“Boosting Red Blood Cell Production: Epogen”
“Treating Breast Cancer: Herceptin”
“Killing Weeds: RoundUp”
“Saving Endangered Species: Cloning”
 Optional, extra credit assignments (3 points each)
 Good For Archive:
News Page
 News discussed or referred to in class.
 Local newspapers on-line, popular science
magazines, headline news.
 Real world connection to improve science literacy.
 Relevance recommended in the National Science
Education Standards as a basis for developing
scientific understanding and learning.
 N100 News Page
Comments from JiTT Students about
‘Good For’s and News Pages
 Q4 = Yes I enjoy reading the "What is Biology Good For" assignments,
I learn a lot of details that I probably would not have known. The Good
Fors help me to connect biology to the real world and it is very
incredible. I have not yet had another class that helped connect
connect the subject with the real world.
 Q4 = I LOVE the Good Fors! I like the extra credit and it is great to see
how biology is used in the real world. It is always frustrating when
teachers can't answer the question "When am I ever going to use
this?" Thanks for being so helpful!
 Q4 = One of the best things about Dr. Marrs’ class in my opinion is
that the information is usually so current. More than once a week I
see things we have talked about. Often they are major news stories
and it is a good feeling to be current to the advances in science and
know what we have done is relevant to life stories.
 Q4 = Why do you keep asking us questions like this?
JiTT and Content Knowledge
 …but do N100 students ‘learn’ the material any better with this
approach?
Pre-test
(% correct)
Warm Up
CL Exercise
Post test
(% correct)
Mitosis
15%
18%
X
X
62%
78%
Genetics
12%
20%
X
X
48%
64%
Natural
selection
10%
14%
X
X
25%
36%
Human
Population
Growth
15%
17%
X
X
65%
85%
More measures assessing JiTT’s
effectiveness in teaching and learning
 Increased retention rates: (lower DFW rates)
Examples: (Physics) 33% DFW lowered to 19% DFW.
 Increased cognitive gains: Examples: Measurable gains in
Force Concept Inventory, a standardized test in Physics, and on
Pre-vs. Post class tests in JiTT Biology classes.
 Increased classroom interactivity: based on reports from trained
classroom observers.
 Students prefer JiTT: to traditional lecture classes, based on
course attitude surveys, anonymous end-of-course evaluations,
and student focus groups.
“The web page was great. I’ve never had a class run from the
web before and it was really neat. All of the different categories
(Warm up, help, notes) were really great and made the class fun
and interesting and different.”
Research Goals
Question: Can a classroom environment using constructivist-based
JiTT activities improve student performance in Biology?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Identify misconceptions students bring to Biology courses.
Create interactivity and active learning in large lecture class
Improve student study habits and class attendance
Increase relevance of studying Biology to everyday life
Enhance content knowledge in Biology
z
Still to come:


Finding different approaches to decreasing DFW rate.
Deconstructing misconceptions about Evolution and Natural
Selection…
Practical Considerations
Comfort level with the web
Student
Professor
Time management
Reading Warm Up responses
Preparing student response page
Grading
Student help is always useful.
What does Technology have
to do with Learning?
Kozma and Johnston (CHANGE, 1991), offer eight ways that instructional
technology can support learning:





enables active engagement in construction of knowledge,
facilitates student responsibility in the learning process,
allows visual representations in multiple formats (e.g. 3-D animations)
drills students on basic concepts to reach mastery,
allows access to resources which are increasingly (but far from
exclusively) online,
 provides immediate interconnections among concepts through
hyperlinks,
 improves communication (teacher/student, student/student),
 simulates laboratory work.
A final thought: Technology is just a tool; the benefits (or harm) from it
comes from its use!
Where would I find the time?
Just-in-Time Teaching can be used as a tool to address
aspects of teaching you may already be dissatisfied
with:
 It's frustrating to give a lecture, have students ask no
questions afterwards, and then have students test poorly
on the material.
 It's difficult to establish a conversation in a large lecture
class.
 It's hard to keep the students' attention on the course on
the five days of the week it doesn't meet.
 It’s difficult to address institutional requests to
incorporate different types of assessment into courses.
Advantages of Using JiTT
Delivery of Content Knowledge, plus…
 Interactivity and Active Learning
 Opportunities for Critical Thinking
 Development and Use of Math Skills
 Development of Scientific Literacy
 Opportunities for Formative Assessment
Acknowledgements
JiTT Collaborators
Undergraduate Research Students
Andy Gavrin
Gregor Novak
Bob Blake
Jeff Watt
Traci Smith
Kelly Sigmund
Randy Heaton
Jennifer Manske
Regina Bickel
Aric Anderson
N100 Inquiry
Activities
N100 Student Helpers
Anna Musick
Lori Blue
Laura Fry
Tim Hensley
Sylvia Lee
Visit the WebScience
Project at IUPUI
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation
Just in Time Teaching resources and assessment
in Physics, Biology, Chemistry and Math
Visit us on the web at
http://webphysics.iupui.edu/webscience/ webscience.html
or
http://www.biology.iupui.edu/biocourses/N100
fini
Three Key Findings from How
People Learn (2000):
Students:
Teachers need to :
Materials need to:
Come to class with
prior knowledge and
preconceptions.
Recognize
preconceptions and
adjust instruction.
Include structured
activities to elicit and
challenge student
preconceptions.
Develop strong
factual understanding
based on concepts.
Teach subject matter as a
set of larger concepts
supported and illustrated
by facts.
Connect facts to
conceptual framework;
provide relevant
examples.
Set learning goals and
monitor progress
towards them.
Provide goals and
objectives for learning.
Link learning goals
with assessment.
The Call for Scientific Literacy
 While scientific knowledge is growing exponentially, the
time available to teach science is relatively constant.
 Science for All Americans (AAAS , Project 2061, 1990)
 Benchmarks for Scientific Literacy (AAAS, 1993)
 The National Science Education Standards (National
Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, 1995)
 These documents elaborate core content knowledge
and science process skills for students and teachers to
develop scientifically literate citizens in a technological
society.
What is Learning?
 Learning is the process by which we receive and process sensory data,
encode such data as memories within the neural structures of our brain,
and retrieve those memories for subsequent use.
 A fairly standard consensual definition is "a relatively permanent change in
behavior that results from practice." (Atkinson et al 1993). We are indeed
becoming more confused: evidence from genetics, evolutionary psychology
and neuroscience is arguing ever more strongly for predispositions for our
behaviour. This is one of those areas for which Mark Twain’s (attributed)
comment might have been coined:
 “Many researchers have already cast much darkness upon this subject,
and it is probable that if they continue, that we shall soon know nothing at
all about it”
 Even if psychologists ever agree about what learning is, in practice
educationalists won't.
Technology in the classroom exposes students
to skills needed for the 21st century job market
87% of US workers use computers on the
job.
68% of all US workers use computers every
day.
55% of all US workers use the internet as
part of their normal workday.
How do experts differ from novices?
 Research shows that Experts
 Notice features and meaningful patterns of information that are not
recognized by novices
 Have a great deal of content knowledge that is organized, and their
organization of information reflects a deep understanding of the subject
matter
 Are able to retrieve important aspects of their knowledge with little
additional effort
 (Bransford, Brown and Cocking, 1999)
Challenges Related to Science Education
 Incorporating results from current research theory into teaching and
learning.
 Implementing Classroom Research
 Monitoring student learning throughout the semester.
 Shaping the Future: New Expectations for Undergraduate Education in
Science, Mathematics, Engineering , and Technology (NSF, 1996)
"All students need access to excellent undergraduate education in
science…and all students need to learn these subjects by direct
experience with the methods and processes of inquiry."
 Reinventing Undergraduate Education: A Blueprint for America’s Research
Universities (The Boyer Commission, Carnegie Foundation, 1998)
“The report recommends various ways in which undergraduates might be
exposed, early in college, to a research environment--by inculcating an
idea of learning as an active rather than a passive process.”
The 5 Habits of Successful Students
1.
2.
3.
Read course material
Attend and participate in class regularly
Spend out-of-class time to study
-
4.
5.
Re-read text and notes
Reflect on material to gain understanding
Extend knowledge beyond course material
Apply information learned to problem solving
Persevere until concepts are grasped
Seek help when needed
Have college students changed?
“Changing Priorities Drive Progress in Education”
 “It used to be that chemistry classes were much more
standardized in terms of who was in the audience as well as
their backgrounds. Today, chemistry students in the U.S…
 are not all - nor even predominantly- male,
 they are not all between 18 and 22,
 they are not all middle class,
 they are not all white,
 and they are not all American.
 “Depending on who is talking, teaching these nontraditional -as
well as the more traditional- students is challenging, exciting,
frustrating, uplifting, or depressing.”
http://pubs.acs.org/hotartcl/cenear/980112/chang.html