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Newsletter Volume 3 |
Spring 1999 |
Inquiry Labs in General Chemistry
Richard Bauer
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Arizona State University
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Newsletter Volume 3 |
Spring 1999 |
Funding from NSF in support of ACEPT has helped us develop a unique General Chemistry lab program that emphasizes critical thinking, problem solving, and cooperative learning. With ACEPT's support 30 laboratory investigations have now been developed, piloted, and fully implemented. Most of the investigations are custom published by Hayden-McNeil in a book entitled Laboratory Inquiry in Chemistry, now in its second edition. The investigations in the new edition now run the gamut of chemistry concepts that are usually addressed in typical General chemistry lab programs.
Because of the initial success of the inquiry/discovery labs when piloted in small sections of CHM 113 and 115, all students who enroll in any General Chemistry course at ASU now complete inquiry-based investigations. The courses in which inquiry-based investigations have been implemented are CHM 101, Introductory Chemistry; CHM 113, General Chemistry I for science majors; CHM 114, General Chemistry for Engineers; CHM 115, General Chemistry II with qualitative analysis for science majors; CHM 116, General Chemistry II for engineering majors. The program impacts approximately 2500 students per year and 40 teaching assistants per semester.
Inquiry/discovery investigations differ significantly from traditional General Chemistry labs. Students are presented with a scenario, a problem (or problems) to solve, a materials list, and a very general procedure. With their group (assigned at the beginning of the semester) students design experiments to solve the problems posed, collect data, analyze the data, and write a report. They do all this without the "recipes" that usually accompany general chemistry experiments. In comparison with traditional labs, we have found that students completing inquiry-based investigations rely more on fellow group members, depend less on their TA, and learn to use the text as a reference.
With an ACEPT/ASU teaching innovation award received this year we have incorporated laboratory investigations that probe solid structure concepts in addition to the solutions-based experiments previously implemented. A bulk of the funding was used to purchase Solid State Model Kits produced by the Institute for Chemical Education. With these kits students build various solid structures to observe in three dimensions patterns that explain certain physical and chemical properties of solid materials. An additional investigation was developed to probe the light emitting patterns observed from semiconductor diodes of various chemical composition.
With implementation of cooperative learning techniques in some lecture courses coupled with the use of inquiry-based investigations in the lab, we have noticed a significant change in the culture of chemistry students. They are frequently found working with their groups outside of class in discussion rooms, hall ways, and the Chemistry Learning Resource Center.
During the first semester of full implementation of inquiry-based labs, students responded to a Likert-scale survey that addressed their reactions to cooperative learning elements of the investigations. For nearly all the statements that addressed group function, students reacted favorably, often greater than 85% agreement. For example, when asked to express agreement or disagreement with the statements, "You are comfortable sharing ideas with your group" and "Your group members offer insightful recommendations", students agreed at the 85% and 95 % levels, respectively.
One of the more telling reactions to changes made in the General Chemistry program came from a disgruntled student bent on criticizing his teaching assistant. In an electronic mail message to his professor criticizing the teaching assistant the student said, "I am in this institution to learn, not to figure things out on my own".
TA Training
Successful implementation of changes in General Chemistry at ASU depends largely on the quality of the teaching assistants. Most teaching assistants come from backgrounds similar to ours. We all learned our university-level chemistry through lectures and recipe-style laboratories. In the ASU Chemistry Department we now offer a three-week TA orientation financially supported by the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. This late summer TA orientation provides us an opportunity to model inquiry-oriented teaching with those chemistry graduate assistants who are charged with guiding students through conceptual understanding, problem solving, and critical thinking.
Orientation instructors do very little talking during the training period. Instead they model cooperative learning techniques. In addition, new teaching assistants complete many of the investigations that their students will do during the semester. Like their students, they develop procedures to solve the problems posed, sometimes with mixed success. An experienced graduate student models inquiry-based teaching techniques and leads post-lab discussions highlighting the various techniques that students have used to solve the problems.
The orientation helps prepare TAs for problems they will encounter while teaching the inquiry-based labs. Many TA's develop excellent skills in helping students overcome some of the frustration that often accompanies scientific work. TAs learn to provide students with hints, help build student confidences, suggest text references, ask students leading questions, and value students' creativity. In general, TAs develop skills to guide students during the investigations without telling them exactly what to do. New TAs also learn to accept students' proposals for solving the lab problems even if the student-designed experiments have little or no merit. Although the first inclination of a novice TA is to fix students' procedural problems before allowing them to proceed, teaching assistants rapidly begin to appreciate the educational value of letting students learn from mistakes.
Considerable TA camaraderie develops as a result of the three-week orientation. During the semester TAs usually run their own staff meetings, offering insights about problems students might encounter while completing the inquiry investigations. In addition, we have found that teaching assistants depend less on lecturing to students. Instead, they use student-centered teaching techniques such as cooperative learning during the 50-minute discussion periods. In addition, some former General Chemistry TAs, with the help of the faculty in charge, are now incorporating elements of inquiry into the upper level courses they now teach.
Presentations/Poster Sessions
The laboratory program in General chemistry culminates with student group presentations of their findings. Students present their results orally in a presentation to their lab section. In addition they prepare a poster that summarizes their procedures and results. Other chemistry faculty participate in the poster sessions by wandering through the labs asking students to comment on their work. The poster session and presentation activities have been successful in providing students with experience to develop their communication skills in various forms. Their presentations and posters have been very creative and are often insightful.
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