Effects of Guided Inquiry versus Lecture Instruction on Final Grade Distribution in a One-Semester Organic and Biochemistry Course

Abstract

A comprehensive guided-inquiry approach was used in a combined organic and biochemistry course for prenursing and predietetics students rather than lecture. To assess its effectiveness, exam grades and final course grades of students in three instructional techniques were compared. The three groups were the following: (i) lecture only, (ii) lecture for the biochemistry portion and guided inquiry for the organic material, and (iii) all guided inquiry, all with the same instructor covering the same material and using the same style of assessments. When the final exam grades and the course grades of students were compared, guided-inquiry and partial guided-inquiry students had a statistically significant improvement in these grades over students taught by lecture only. This study demonstrates that guided inquiry is effective in nonscience majors' classes, for which content is often tailored to the audience.

Cooperative learning in organic chemistry increases student assessment of learning gains in key transferable skills

“…On the other hand, our results offer a counterpoint to most other reports on college learning, which show a general trend of superior performance by students in flipped, inquiry-based, and/or other types of cooperative learning classroom environments (Freeman et al, 2014;Weaver and Sturtevant, 2015;Hibbard et al, 2016;Warfa, 2016). As an illustration, two recent studies specifically in organic chemistry revealed test performance benefits for learners in student-centered, active-learning organic chemistry classrooms (Hein, 2012;Conway, 2014).…”

“…Indeed, a large-scale, double-blind, randomized study supported the theory that student-centered, active-learning approaches improve science content learning when compared to teachercentered approaches such as lecturing (Granger et al, 2012). While some recent studies have shown that organic chemistry content knowledge improves for undergraduate learners when they are in active learning classrooms as opposed to lectures (Hein, 2012;Conway, 2014), other studies have shown no differences in measured content knowledge outcomes (Dinan and Frydrychowski, 1995;Bradley et al, 2002;Chase et al, 2013;Rein and Brookes, 2015). We hypothesize that moving along the ICAP continuum toward the more interactive and constructive modes of learning in the classroom space will preserve acquisition of content learning while simultaneously improving learner confidence with important transferable skills such as teamwork, leadership, and collegiality.…”

“…Various types of active, cooperative, small-group learning classroom environments for undergraduate organic chemistry have been previously reported in the literature (Dinan and Frydrychowski, 1995;Bradley et al, 2002;Tien et al, 2002;Hein, 2012;Chase et al, 2013;Conway, 2014;Fautch, 2015), so this work drew from the successes and lessons learned by examining the prior work. The instructor of record for the sections in this study had been teaching general chemistry classes in a cooperative learning classroom format with small, interactive student teams for several years, so basic challenges related to logistics and handling student teams during class time had been thoroughly addressed.…”

Utilizing a discovery learning, real-world based fruit juice clarification experiment to enhance teaching and learning of biological enzyme concepts

“…Positive effects of guided inquiry instruction on students' achievement and understanding of environmental biology was also observed by Hasan (2012). Similarly, Conway (2014) reported that there was a statistically significant difference in the mean achievement scores of students in Biochemistry that were exposed to guided discovery approach compared to those taught using a conventional approach. However, a non-exhaustive search of current literature revealed only few studies related to inquiry or discovery learning in Malaysia, none of which focused on the effect of discovery approach in a science subject.…”

Identifying microbes from environment water samples in a discovery-based learning module

“…Accumulating evidence from education research indicates that inquiry-based exercises with practical experiential components (also known as active learning) are useful for increasing students' motivation towards learning and enhancing content mastery. [48][49][50][51][52][53][54] Specifically, acquisition of conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills often go beyond algorithmic exercises; for example, students need to feel a sense of challenge in working on an interesting problem, which would further motivate them to go the extra mile in thinking about various solution strategies. 51 Finally, casting a forward glance, the next generation of students would likely judge the quality of teaching and the education they received by yardsticks different from those of earlier eras.…”