Yakini Brandy, Shimelis Hailu, Pogisego Dinake, Folahan O. Ayorinde Howard University Presented at The 238 th American Chemical Society National Meeting.

Yakini Brandy, Shimelis Hailu, Pogisego Dinake, Folahan O. AyorindeHoward University

Presented at The 238th American Chemical Society National Meeting

Washington, DCAugust 16-20, 2009

Demonstration of Teaching-as-Research using Blackboard and Formative Surveys to

improve academic performance in an Organic Chemistry Class

Cartoon Illustrating Today’s Students Adopted from: http://dragonlady328pt.blogspot.com/2006/09/technology-issues.html (Sept. 06, 2006)

The CIRTL NetworkCenter for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL)

Mission:To enhance the Professional Development of Graduate Students and develop a national STEM faculty committed to advancing effective teaching practice for diverse student audiences

Howard UniversityMichigan State UniversityTexas A&M UniversityUniversity of Colorado at BoulderUniversity of Wisconsin-MadisonVanderbilt University

Technology and TeachingThe CIRTL Network

Enhances the development of STEM graduate students and faculty by promoting 3 pillars :

Teaching-as-Research (TAR)Learning CommunitiesLearning-through-Diversity

www.cirtl.net

Steps in the TAR ProcessTeaching foundational knowledgeCreating objectives for students learningDeveloping hypothesis for practices that

enable students to achieve the learning objectives

Defining measures of successDeveloping and implementing teaching

practices within an experimental designCollecting and analyzing dataUsing data to guide teaching practiceReflecting, evaluating, and iterating

Typical (Conventional) Organic Chemistry Classroom SettingStudents attend class and are bombarded with

new materialsStudents are expected to revise lecture notes

and do additional readingOccasional post-lecture quizzes are givenA few exams are given, lumping lecture

materialsFinal exams are cumulativeStudents are given an overall class grade

based on their quiz and exam performancesAbout 50% of class earn F, D, W

Project Goals/ObjectivesTo apply the TAR steps in generating a project

that involves the use of technology to enhance teaching and learning

To encourage pre-lecture reading via pre-lecture quizzes

To conduct weekly surveys to integrate technology into pedagogy

To collect evidence for the impact of pre-lecture quizzes on student performances

To use the data obtained from the surveys as guidance in the re-lecture of a specific concept and to monitor students’/professor’s progress

Project ExperimentalMaterials:

Blackboard Survey Monkey

Participants:Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Class of 60

studentsOut of Class Activities:

Online pre-lecture quizzes were conducted using Blackboard

Initial and Final Surveys were conducted on specific concepts using Survey Monkey

In Class Activities:Based on survey responses, more attention is given

to concepts that students find more difficult.Assessment Measurements:

Formative Assessments: Online Pre-lecture quizzes Initial and Final Surveys

Summative Assessments:Quizzes and Exams

Upon successful completion of this chapter, you should be able to:

Identify enolate anions Know which compounds can form enolate anions Know how to form enolate anions Identify enols Know how to use enolate anions as nucleophiles to form

new carbon-carbon bonds Know how to use enolate anions to synthesize alpha-bromo

aldehydes, ketones, and esters Know the relative acidity of organic compounds Know factors that affect the relative acidity of organic

compounds Know the relationship between pka and acidity Know what the Hell-Volhard-Zelinskii reaction is Know what the malonic ester synthesis is Know what the acetoacetic ester synthesis is

An Example of a Chapter Objectives (Learning Outcomes)Outlined by the Professor

Hits Percent

Up to exam 1 2113 17From exam 1 to exam 2 3997 32From exam 2 to exam 3 6255 51

Results

17%

32%

51%

1

2

3

Comparison of Students’ Blackboard access prior to 1st, 2nd and 3rd exams

Were pre-lecture documents and quizzes helpful?

Average grade on the 1st exam was 121.06 out of 200 grade point.

number of quizzes taken

no. of stud. greater than average

0 2

1 7

2 13

3 11

Class Participation

First Survey Responses

Second Survey Responses

Third Survey Responses

Were pre-lecture documents and quizzes helpful?

number of quizzes taken

no. of students greater than average

0 4

1 9

2 8

3 7

Average grade of 2nd exam was 139.90 out of 200 points

Fourth Survey Responses

Fifth Survey Responses

Were pre-lecture documents and quizzes helpful?

Number of quizzes taken

No. of students greater than average

0 31 52 163 11

Average grade on the 3rd exam was 146.25 out of 200 grade point

About 65% earned A,B, or C at the end of the semester, as compared to about 50% in a typical organic chem class

Online pre-lecture quizzes are useful in forcing students to read the lecture material

Pre-lecture posting, quizzing and post lecture surveys facilitate Teaching-As-Research as a result of proactive assessment and reiteration.Enable students to engage in active learning in the classroomChanges students’ studying behaviorGive professor more time to cover course content

Effort should be made to inform students of the importance of maintaining survey integrity.Learning outcome surveys would be skewed if different

students take the initial and final surveys The survey project is still ongoing in the organic

chemistry class to improve the teaching practices and learning experience of the students and professors.

Conclusion

Dr. Folahan O. AyorindeDr. Jennifer JonesUniversity of WisconsinShimelis HailuPogisego DinakeCIRTL NetworkCIRTL-at-HowardNSF

Acknowledgments