Professor Mewhinney and Organic Students "Important abilities such as critical thinking, writing, speaking, problem solving, and computer skills are an asset outside the classroom and these skills can be learned concurrently with the principles of chemistry. I enjoy using technology that develops these skills, especially when it increases interpersonal interaction and promotes a student centered, active learning process."

With the use of specific software the instructor can see (and control) every Tablet PC from her own Tablet enabling instant feedback on student learning.

Projecting student work from their tablet PC's (including chemical symbols and structures) greatly enhances class discussion. Class time is not wasted while students rewrite their work on a conventional board.

Eastfield Chemistry Student with Tablet Quick Facts Dept: Chemistry Courses Impacted: General Chemistry I & II Organic Chemistry I & II # Students Impacted: Fall 2005: Pilot Class 22 Spring & Summer 2006: 240 Academic Year 2006-2007: 432 # Faculty Impacted: 2 Full Time 1 Visiting Scholar 8 Part Time 1 Instructional Associate This project is funded by an HP Technology for Teaching grant.

Students spend more time analyzing trends since data collection with a computer interface is rapid and efficient.

Results Student Opinion: Tablulations of students responses to a Student Assessment of Learning Gains survey are shown below. Student reaction to the networked classroom was very favorable.

Other Implementers: Other Colleges and Universities using and starting to use Tablet PC's for active learning in chemistry are: Chestnut Hill College (PA) Augusta State University (GA) Catholic University of America (DC) College of Charleston (NC) University of Washington (WA) Virginia Commonwealth University (VA) Washington College (MD) Berry College (GA) St. Louis College of Pharmacy (MS) Seattle University (WA) Texas A & M Commerce (TX)

Contact Us Principle Investigator: Tina Mewhinney Tina.Mewhinney@dcccd.edu Eastfield College HP Grant Project Web Page Educational research projects in Chemistry at Eastfield College

Acknowledgements The Chemistry faculty thanks our Lab Manager, Ami Stovall, for her efforts in making the substantial changes necessary in the laboratories to accommodate this project. The members of the Chemistry Department are indebted to the members of our IT department for their continued support and expertise. This project would not have been possible without the help of Jack Thiehoff, Michelle Phillips, and Clay Pradarits. And Eastfield College would like to express its appreciation to Hewlett Packard for the technology and financial support that made this project possible.

References & Publications Related Papers and Presentations by Principle Investigator: Christina Mewhinney, Using Pen-Based Wireless PC Conferencing Software to Facilitate Group Interaction in a POGIL Classroom , Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, Purdue, July 2006 Christina Mewhinney, Strategies for Managing Student Group Interactions in Active Learning Environments, Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, Purdue, July 2006 Christina Mewhinney, Wireless Tablet PC Networks to Enhance Learning in a POGIL Classroom, POGIL National Meeting, May, 2006 Christina Mewhinney, "High Tech-High Touch" Chemistry: Using technology to encourage collaboration among chemistry students and faculty, National American Chemical Society Meeting, Atlanta, March 2006 Christina Mewhinney, Process Oriented Guided Inquiry: An approach to the challenges of student diversity at a metropolitan two-year college, National American Chemical Society Meeting, Atlanta, March 2006 Christina Mewhinney, Putting it all together: Using a Laptop-based Wireless Network to Integrate Technology into Both Lecture and Lab for General and Organic Chemistry, National ACS Meeting, New Orleans, March 2003. Christina Mewhinney, Using Web Based Instruction to Teach Critical Thinking and Writing Skills in General and Organic Chemistry Courses, National ACS Meeting, New Orleans, March 2003. Michael Garoutte, Christina Mewhinney, and Meledath Govindan, Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) Collaboration Among Multiple Schools, Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, 2004. Research on active learning pedagogy in chemistry courses: S. E. Lewis, J. E. Lewis, Departing from Lectures: An Evaluation of a Peer-Led Guided Inquiry Alternative, J. Chem. Educ. 2005, 82, 135. J. N. Spencer, From Traditional to Radical, Thought and Action, The NEA Higher Education Journal, XVII, No. 2 Winter 2001-2002. J. J. Farrell, R. S. Moog, J. N. Spencer, A Guided Inquiry Chemistry Course, J. Chem. Educ. 1999, 76, 570-574. J. N. Spencer, New Directions in Teaching Chemistry, J. Chem. Educ. 1999, 76, 566-569. D. Hanson, T. Wolfskill, Improving the Teaching/Learning Process in General Chemistry, J. Chem. Educ. 1998, 75, 143-147. Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning POGIL Project website- an NSF funded project to promote active learning in chemistry - www.pogil.org Calibrated Peer Review CPR Website - online critical writing and evaluation for students - cpr.molsci.ucla.edu/

This project supported in part by an HP Technology for Teaching grant.

Rationale General and Organic Chemistry are challenging courses for the diverse student population of Eastfield College, many of whom are first generation college students. Student interest and success rates have been low for these courses, which demonstrates a need for pedagogical redesign.

Implementation (pedagogy) Prior to this project in the lecture portion of the courses, the majority of the Chemistry faculty had been teaching classes in a lecture format with minimum student interaction. In the laboratory portion of the course, the curriculum and pedagogy varied among instructors from prelab preparation to post lab assessment, with the exception of the student experimental procedures. There was minimum interaction and collaboration among faculty members, due to the limited time and resources part time faculty have at their disposal. In the past decade educational research and advances in cognitive learning theory suggest that most students learn better when they actively construct their own knowledge. More "student-centered" approaches to learning are based on the premises that students will learn better when: they are actively engaged and thinking in class they construct knowledge and draw conclusions by analyzing data and discussing ideas they learn how to work together to understand concepts and solve problems and the instructor serves as a facilitator to assist students in the learning process This is true for most students but especially for underrepresented groups and women in science courses. We desired to make our classes more active and our students more involved in the learning process. Rather than develop their own activities, faculty, including part time instructors, are now able to use student centered materials specifically designed for active student participation in these courses for both lab and lecture. Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning POGIL Project website

Implementation (technology) HP mobile wireless technology using pen based tablet PC's is being used in General and Organic Chemistry courses for science majors in the lecture classes, the lab classes, and in a dedicated computing lab for Chemistry. The purpose of the computer technology is to make students more active in their classroom and lab learning experiences and to enhance a cooperative learning environment. In Lecture Classes STUDENTS: Capture complex chemical drawings and problem solutions from the Instructor's SMART board Sympodium in both static and movie format for students. Facilitate cooperative learning by using wireless conferencing software and chemical drawing software to share, mark up and project each other's complex chemical drawings. Actively engage in critical thinking, writing and peer evaluation with students from other classes using Calibrated Peer Review software. Consolidate and apply their knowledge using an electronic online homework program. INSTRUCTORS: Make lectures more interactive without rewriting their materials using a smart board or a tablet PC to write over their electronic notes. Use software to see and interact with students via their tablet desktop. Use software to monitor students' progress. Use common online homework assignments managed by the lead instructor. Participate in joint class critical thinking and writing assignments using Calibrated Peer Review.

Student Tablet Drawing in MS One Note This is an example of student work product during class. The student's screen can be projected to the front of the class and saved on the web for later interactive use by both the instructor and student. This activity is from Organic Chemistry: A Guided Inquiry, by Andrei Straumanis and was reproduced in MS OneNote with permission from the publisher.

Implementation (technology) continued: In Laboratory classes: STUDENTS: Prepare for their lab experience by interacting with online videos of lab techniques and taking a prelab quiz on Blackboard Acquire wet chemical data quickly using a MicroLab computer interface and probes, leaving valuable lab time for interpretation and analysis of data. Participate in a cooperative learning lab environment by analyzing and sharing data wirelessly. Verify and correct their mathematical work with Lab Checker software specifically designed for each experiment. INSTRUCTORS: Utilize common course materials such as prelab quizzes and postlab assessment from a common Blackboard web site. Access instructor procedural tips and traps, as well as answer keys and expected student outcomes

Impact on Student Learning in Lecture Classes Student Success: Two Years Ago - The student success rate in science major's chemistry courses was about 50 percent. Beginning Spring Semester 2006 the impact of this project on student learning was measured through student performance and surveys of student assessment of learning through the SALG website. Current Results - In these studies the student success rate in classes using networked tablets and POGIL pedagogy was 86 percent in General Chemistry and 89 percent in Organic Chemistry. This substantial improvement of 35 - 40 percent in student success needs further study to explore the degree to which this success is due to the pedgaogy or the technology. The specifics of each study, the results and discussion are below. General Chemistry for Science Majors The treatment group for this study was taught using POGIL pedagogy and the networked Tablet technology. The control group was taught by a different full time instructor in pure lecture format using no technology of any kind. The class that used the tablets with POGIL pedagogy experienced a 86 percent success rate (ABC vs DWF). The control class -- lecture and no technology experienced a 29 percent success rate as shown in the pie charts below. The reason for the very large difference of 57 percent is muddied by the presence of three variables in the study-- the instructor, the pedagogy, and the tablet technology. However much of the gain in student success can be attributed to the increased attendance in class. The daily attendance in the treatment class was 95 percent, but in the control class Attendance dropped below 50 percent the second half of the semester. In future semesters we hope to collect data to tease out the effects of using the networked tablets in a pure lecture classroom with the same instructor. This study is necessary in order to differentiate the effects of the active pedagogy from increased student interaction resulting from the tablet technology.

Organic Chemistry for Science Majors We were able to control the study in Organic Chemistry much more closely. Two class sections taught by the same instructor using the same active pedagoy were compared. Both sections were taught using POGIL pedagogy and both were summer sessions of Organic Chemistry I. The variables were restricted to the use of networked tablet PC's in the treatment group. In the treatment group the success rate was 89 percent compared to the success rate of 79 percent for the control group as shown in the pie chart below. There was a 12 percent improvement in all categories. There was no significant difference in attendance in the two classes. The increased student success of the Organic class using tablets is significant but smaller than the class in General Chemistry. Perhaps this is because the pedagogy used in the Organic control class is very interactive so that the tablets did not have as great an effect as in General Chemistry.

Impact on Student Learning in Laboratory Classes Beginning Spring Semester 2006 the impact of this project on student learning was measured through student performance and surveys of student assessment of learning through the SALG website. The results from the Spring 06 survey are: All students taking Gen Chem laboratory reported they were as prepared or better prepared for the experiment using the prelaboratory technology than in prior semesters. 90 percent of students reported that they spent more time preparing for the experiment. 90 percent of students reported that the prelab technique videos helped them prepare for the experiment. 85 percent of students reported that the online prelab quizzes helped them prepare for the experiment.

Impact on Teaching Lecture Courses Conferencing software reduces the time required for class room management related to cooperative learning. Classroom tasks which involve student sharing of information have become drastically more efficient, so that classroom time is not wasted in the handling of paper or rewriting on the board. Instructors receive instantaneous feedback on student comprehension through the conferencing software. Instructors who have been solely lecturing using static presentation software have become more interactive with the use of the smart board.

Impact on Teaching Laboratory Classes The impact this project has had on teaching is being measured by monitoring the faculty website and through faculty surveys. Faculty reported the following observations on surveys made in Spring semester 2006: Of the students using the prelaboratory technology 80 percent were well prepared for the experiment when they came to lab class versus 20 percent the prior semester without the technology ( a 400 percent increase in students who were well prepared). Students using the laboratory technology were spending 30 minutes to an hour preparing for lab rather than fifteen minutes or less from previous semesters (a 200 increase in preparation). 100 percent of the faculty believed the prelab videos and quizzes were very helpful and elected to continue using them the next semester. Additional faculty observations made: Instructors were able to focus their teaching less on how to collect data and more on how to analyze it. Faculty preparation time was decreased by sharing resources. The quality and consistency of lab instruction improves with use of the common laboratory web site.

Future Plans Based on what we have learned in the last two years we would like to: Write additional activities for General Chemisty I Develop conceptual questions for formative assessment polls during lecture classes Revise the laboratory portion of Introductory Chemistry for non-science majors with the same kind of changes made in the Science majors courses Build two dedicated networked tablet PC classrooms for use by more classes and faculty Expand the number of General Chemistry lectures taught using the networked Tablet PC's. Expand the lecture technology to the non-majors Introductory Chemistry course. Train faculty in other disciplines to use the networked Tablet PC Technology