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rosemary leary's final report

Maricopa Institute for Learning Fellowship
1999-2000
End-of-Term Report
Rosemary Leary, Ph.D.
EMCC Chemistry Faculty

Project Description
Simply put - this project sprung from my discontent with the lack of congruence between "school science" and "real science" and focuses on whether or not this lack of congruence could be, or even should be, addressed in the setting of the traditional non-majors introductory chemistry laboratory.

Traditionally, students in science laboratory classes are provided with all materials and solutions pre-prepared and with a set of detailed procedures to follow. The student diligently follows the instructions, records the data as directed, performs the relevant calculations and fills in all of the appropriate blanks. The instructor then matches the student responses with the "correct" ones and assigns a grade accordingly. In many ways this type of experience has earned its reputation as "cookbook chemistry."

In contrast "real science" is much messier and focuses as much on process (and often more so) as it focuses on acquiring information. It was my hope in framing this project that I could take my years of doing chemistry and of teaching chemistry and design a laboratory-learning environment for my students that would link chemistry knowledge with chemistry process skills. It was also my intent to design this learning experience on a foundation of sound pedagogy and the latest understandings from cognitive psychology. The project was also founded on the research and analyses acquired by multiple science education organizations (National Research Council, National Science teachers Association, Project 2061) that recognize the need for open inquiry experiences grounded in cooperative learning environments for all science students.

Specifically, the project consisted of the development, implementation, and evaluation of a cooperative group, learner centered, context-based series of chemistry laboratory inquiries for the beginning chemistry student. The laboratory investigations consisted of learner directed projects with several of these projects spanning an interval of two weeks. The projects were designed to augment students' group learning skills, to enhance their problem solving ability, and to help develop their oral and written communication skills. It was hoped that the projects would show links between school chemistry and students' real lives and that they would enhance students' attitudes toward chemistry. In the projects students are asked to pose answerable questions, design and implement suitable procedures to use for their investigations, collect and analyze data, to reach some type of conclusion, and to share their understandings with their peers.

In order to help document and clarify what was learned from this project some data were collected. These data include anecdotal comments from students, pre and post attitudinal inventories, pre and post self-confidence inventories, and a checklist of chemistry process skills acquired. I have also attempted to document what I learned during the process and have tried to offer explanations for any changes made or recommended for the future.

My personal goal at the beginning of this project was to determine the feasibility of introducing open-ended chemistry inquiry labs into the introductory (CHM130LL) laboratory environment. My project goal was to develop, implement, and evaluate materials designed on sound pedagogy and cognitive psychology. It was my hope that these materials would help me determine the feasibility of this approach with this group of students.

Project Implementation, Evaluation, and Documentation
To implement this project I followed a tentative schedule and timeline developed at the time the project was conceptualized. Revisions were made as needed. The steps followed were:

  • Delineating a profile of the students enrolled in the introductory chemistry course. It was hoped that this profile would enable me to build on student strengths while at the same time providing scaffolding to assist them in places where weaknesses might exist.
  • Identification of topics to use for the laboratory investigations. Much of this process used prior experiences with students as a foundation.
  • The actual writing of a set of laboratory investigations in an open-ended inquiry format. This resulted in the writing of a "draft" lab manual.
  • Development of a set of materials to explain classroom processes and procedures. Most introductory students have not had to write formal lab reports and many of them have limited experience working in formal groups. Therefore materials needed to be developed to address these needs. These were included as a section in the "draft" lab manual.
  • Three of the open-ended inquiry investigations were piloted with students enrolled in CHM 130LL in fall, 1999. Students were asked for feedback that was then used to refine the investigations.
  • A past CHM 130LL student working on an honor's project for CHM 151 piloted a totally new lab investigation. This was then written up for future use with changes made based on her experiences. This same student also read the "draft" laboratory manual and offered critical feedback.
  • An adjunct chemistry instructor who has been working at EMCC for the past three years provided additional feedback on the draft document. This feedback was also incorporated into the "draft" used for spring, 2000.
  • During the first class meeting of spring, 2000, students were introduced to the format of the course and they were told that students and instructors would be working together to determine how best to make this type of laboratory approach a positive learning experience.
  • Also, during this first class meeting, students were asked to complete some pre-class assessments. These focused on self-confidence in the chemistry laboratory, attitudes toward problem based labs, and chemistry process skills.
  • The revised "draft" lab manual was distributed to all CHM 130LL students (3 sections) during the second-class meeting of spring, 2000. I taught two of the CHM 130LL sections. The other section was taught in the evening by the previously mentioned adjunct instructor.
  • Mid term evaluation information was acquired from the students in several ways. On the second lab quiz students were asked "Describe one thing you have learned in lab so far this semester that you did not know before. Please be specific in your answer." Students were also administered a mid-term feedback form for both the instructor and the course the week following spring break. Copies of these forms were left out in the lab for the remainder of the semester. None of the students chose to use them.
  • Additional data were collected from the students during the last class meeting. At that time students completed assessments on self-confidence in the chemistry laboratory, attitudes toward problem based labs, chemistry process skills, and an activity inventory written to determine the work done both in and out of class.
  • The "draft" lab manual has been re-written in response to student and instructor feedback. One lab has been totally eliminated, several others have had minor alterations made primarily for clarity, and two new investigations have been added as students commented on their weakness in writing formulas and in understanding ions.
  • The data collected now need to be tabulated and analyzed. This will be an ongoing process.
  • A "Project Portfolio" is being assembled to document the materials used and understanding gathered over the last year.

Results, Findings, Conclusions
As indicated above the formal data collected have not yet been tabulated or analyzed. However, some preliminary statements can be made based on anecdotal student comments as well as on instructor comments.

  • Both instructors were impressed with the level of performance by the students. Lab reports were well written. Students took comments provided by the instructors on their drafts and made appropriate revisions so that the final products were of high quality.
  • Student comments were honest, fair, and very helpful. They truly became part of the partnership envisioned in this project.
  • Student withdrawals were equal to or slightly less than in preceding semesters. While this cannot be attributed to the new format, it can be said that the format did not "chase" students away.
  • Student grades were equal to or better than prior semesters. Again direct comparisons cannot be made but it appears that there was no negative impact on grades.
  • Only two or three students expressed strong negative feelings toward the lab. These centered primarily on the workload and on the format not being what they were accustomed to. The instructors agree that the workload was heavy. Alterations were made to the schedule twice during the semester to address this concern. Student response to these changes was favorable. They expressed appreciation that their voices were heard.
  • Most students were positive about the experience. They felt that they had learned a lot, both in terms of chemistry and in terms of general skills. A few students commented that the group work had provided them skills that they had already directly engaged in the workplace.
  • Both instructors noted deeper levels of student thinking and understanding. While the students grasped with the ideas behind the labs they had to work for real understanding in order to design procedures that would work. This thinking and understanding was reflected in the level of questions asked, in the variety of procedures developed for each lab, and in the quality of the final written ;lab reports.

Overall, it is my opinion that these types of labs can be and should be implemented in the introductory chemistry course. Modifications will continue to be made based on student and instructor feedback and students will be provided with a little more scaffolding in the future. In addition, my four years at EMCC have established that students are valuable partners when engaged in classroom research.

Documentation of Project
In order to document what I did and what I learned I have been assembling a "Project Portfolio." This portfolio contains my original proposal for the MIL Fellowship program, an annotated bibliography of some but not all of the books and articles I have had the opportunity to read, copies of all syllabi and instructional materials used, copies of all evaluation tools used, and a narrative document that shares some of my ideas, reflections, and rationales. As the data are tabulated and analyzed that information will be incorporated into the portfolio as well as a description of changes made based on those data. Finally a copy of this "End of Term Report" will also be included.

Personal/Professional Reflection
The MIL Fellowship provided me with a wonderful opportunity to become, once again, a learner, specifically to focus my learning on the topic of student learning in the discipline of chemistry. The fellowship granted me time to read deeply about current theories of learning and then to reflect on how these theories could be put into practice in the classroom with my students. I was exposed to ideas, authors, pedagogies, and practices that I may not have encountered in my normal full and busy schedule. I then had a group of colleagues, fellows, with whom to share and discuss my new understandings. This process of social dialogue is important for all learning and while we strive to include experiences of this type in our classrooms to benefit our students, we, the instructors, rarely have the time to also be reflective learners.

In addition, the fellowship enabled me to apply my new understandings and to incorporate scholarship, in the traditional sense of the word, into my interactions with students in the classroom. It supported my efforts to implement an idea I have had for some time by providing me with the time and the resources needed to do so and then to determine, based on data, if my ideas would, in fact, enhance student learning. And, finally it has provided me the opportunity to attend national conferences thus expanding my network of colleagues and my umbrella of resources. And encouraging me to participate in the final stage of scholarship, i.e. the sharing of ideas tried and findings uncovered.

Succinctly put, this fellowship provided me the time to explore the question of the feasibility of implementing learner-centered inquiry labs into the fundamentals of chemistry laboratory course, to develop the appropriate laboratory investigations needed to test this question, and then to collect data from students to determine the impact of these types of labs. It also provided me the time to become a learner and a scholar in the full sense of the words.

The fellowship reinforced for me my personal commitment to enhance student learning in chemistry and reinforced my belief that Maricopa shares this commitment and philosophy.

Was this experience successful? In a word - YES!


f e l l o w s
rosemary leary's final report 		<-