Web-based Pre- & Post-Laboratory Activities for General Chemistry Presented by Dianne Meador & William H. Fink, Department of Chemistry Lisa Wilson, IET Mediaworks University of California, Davis, CA, 95616

Copyright Statement Copyright Dianne Meador, Bill Fink, Lisa Wilson, and Regents of the University of California, This work is the intellectual property of the authors and the Regents. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the authors. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the authors.

Web-based Activities Prelab Activities Theory –Concepts interactively presented Procedures –Shown with Stills & Videos Prelab Quiz –100% achievement required Postlab Exercises Data –Verify range Calculations –Guide & Confirm Questions –Multiple Choice –Essay

Motivation Improved educational experience in the laboratory Familiarize students with equipment and chemistry Focus students’ attention to the principles underlying the chemistry Modernizing laboratories to increase student appeal

Objectives Prelab Activities Consistent preparation Efficient use of time Accountable Postlab Exercises Reinforce educational goals Certify achievement of goals Scoring student performance

UC Davis Participants Dean’s Office of Letters and Science, Mathematical and Physical Sciences IET MediaWorks Chemistry Department

Development Process Content experts PowerPoint storyboard Excel matrix Audio/video & photography experts Graphic Designer Senior Programmer Presentations Flash MX Post-Lab Interface ColdFusion MX Oracle 8i.wav.mov.jpeg

Course Management Tools Content providers may Enter/edit presentation text Enter/edit quiz questions & answers Enter/edit post-lab questions & responses Manage date dependent material Manage student & user information

TA Program Interaction Teaching Assistants may review student responses to quiz and post-laboratory questions Check answers and date/time stamp Enter grade adjustments Score essay responses Display, print or copy reports

Site Features Prelaboratory Presentation Quizzes Post-laboratory Management Tools

Prelaboratory Presentation

Quizzes

Post-Laboratory Exercises

Management Tools

Trauma report Technical Aspects Educational Aspects

Technical Aspects Good Accessing site –MyUCDavis/Banner –Flash downloading –71% reported no problems Using CD –Reducing Response time off campus –Low student usage 66% reported no problems Bad Early teething problems –System failure to recognize student –Quicktime download website changed after launch –Browser diversity Student Familiarity with the technology –Too Little –Too Much

Educational Aspects Student Survey –Not at all –More no than yes –Somewhat –More yes than no –Yes much –NA

Survey Question Negative Response N/A or Neutral Positive Response Negative Response N/A or Neutral Positive Response Negative Response N/A or Neutral Positive Response Help understand experiment? 22%27%51%16%35%49%5%22%73% Give confidence regarding the experimental procedures? 32%33%35%15%41%44%5%32%62% Require less assistance from the TA? 35%29%36%25%32%43%8%27%65% Help perform experiment more efficiently? 34%32%34%11%42%47%7%28%65% Help understand safety? 10%21%69%4%26%70%1%19%80% As useful as TA’s prelaboratory discussion? 35%24%41%15%25%60%4%14%82% Prelab Preference/ Recommendation In-class vs. On-line 49%20%31%13% 10% 15% 22% 72% 68% 1% 8% 14% 18% 85% 74% Postlab Preference/ Recommendation Written vs. On-line 15% 19% 10% 13% 75% 68% 4% 8% 11% 23% 85% 69% Fall 2002 Spring 2002 Spring 2003 Survey Results

Improvements Between Spring 2002 and Spring 2003 Redesigned the post-laboratory exercises –To include more feedback to student –To increase robustness –To tighten integration with lab course framework TA Support –Online Management tools expanded –Office Hour Room with computer terminals for student support

Educational Aspects Conclusions Prelaboratory Reported better understanding of –experiments compared to earlier laboratories –safety issues Good compliance with prelab quizzes Preferred & Recommended on-line approach Both TA & Students report modest improvement of ability to perform lab independently Postlaboratory Students who were having difficulties with calculations were identified and given guidance Creativity of error by 800 students kept us busy Student data errors leads to student frustration Nature of TA’s role is changing from Evaluator to Teacher

Future Expansion to entire General Chemistry sequence Continuing integration of the Laboratory manual to online activity framework Program revision for SCORM compliance

Questions?