Enhancing Student Learning in Preparatory Chemistry-Adapting Course Material for at Risk Students
Mentor 1
Anja Blecking
Location
Union Wisconsin Room
Start Date
24-4-2015 2:30 PM
End Date
24-4-2015 3:45 PM
Description
The online social learning platform, Classroom Salon (CLS) has been utilized in multiple sections of Introductory Chemistry (Che 100) at UWM since 2012. Classroom Salon was developed by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and allows Salon members, in this case Che 100 students, to engage in online content discussion through textual annotations. The Che 100 instructors posted ten short textbook excerpts in Classroom Salon, each covering a different chemical concept, and the students were asked to read, annotate and ask questions about the text prior to covering the concept in lecture. Classroom Salon’s analytical features allowed course instructors to quickly download student comments and questions and incorporate or address them in instruction. / This method, which includes many critical components, such as the chosen reading material, individual student reading and comprehension skills, comment evaluation, instructor feedback, and also possible instructional changes, has been shown to increase overall student exam performance significantly in comparison to students who received the same reading assignment on paper. Unfortunately, not all students benefit equally. Data analysis revealed that students with lower incoming ACT composite scores (score of 21 and below) show only slight performance increase in exams, but this is not a consistent trend. / This project focuses on improving student learning by adapting the ten reading assignments delivered through Classroom Salon to the need of lower performing students. Incorporated changes include a variety of aspects, such as more comprehensive explanations and examples, addressing common misconceptions, improved visualization tools, concept applications, and questions designed to promote critical thinking. Furthermore, this projects seeks to align concept presentation with common assessment methods. Examples of all aspects will be presented. / The presentation will also include preliminary data comparing student comments and exam performance of students using the adapted and old reading assignments. The focus of this analysis will be on students with lower incoming ACT composite scores. / Final conclusions discussing the effect of the adapted assignments will be available in summer 2015. If successful, this project will increase student performance and possibly retention in introductory chemistry courses at UWM and deliver a model for other courses and institutions. /
Enhancing Student Learning in Preparatory Chemistry-Adapting Course Material for at Risk Students
Union Wisconsin Room
The online social learning platform, Classroom Salon (CLS) has been utilized in multiple sections of Introductory Chemistry (Che 100) at UWM since 2012. Classroom Salon was developed by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and allows Salon members, in this case Che 100 students, to engage in online content discussion through textual annotations. The Che 100 instructors posted ten short textbook excerpts in Classroom Salon, each covering a different chemical concept, and the students were asked to read, annotate and ask questions about the text prior to covering the concept in lecture. Classroom Salon’s analytical features allowed course instructors to quickly download student comments and questions and incorporate or address them in instruction. / This method, which includes many critical components, such as the chosen reading material, individual student reading and comprehension skills, comment evaluation, instructor feedback, and also possible instructional changes, has been shown to increase overall student exam performance significantly in comparison to students who received the same reading assignment on paper. Unfortunately, not all students benefit equally. Data analysis revealed that students with lower incoming ACT composite scores (score of 21 and below) show only slight performance increase in exams, but this is not a consistent trend. / This project focuses on improving student learning by adapting the ten reading assignments delivered through Classroom Salon to the need of lower performing students. Incorporated changes include a variety of aspects, such as more comprehensive explanations and examples, addressing common misconceptions, improved visualization tools, concept applications, and questions designed to promote critical thinking. Furthermore, this projects seeks to align concept presentation with common assessment methods. Examples of all aspects will be presented. / The presentation will also include preliminary data comparing student comments and exam performance of students using the adapted and old reading assignments. The focus of this analysis will be on students with lower incoming ACT composite scores. / Final conclusions discussing the effect of the adapted assignments will be available in summer 2015. If successful, this project will increase student performance and possibly retention in introductory chemistry courses at UWM and deliver a model for other courses and institutions. /
