<i>Zooming in</i> on Polymer Chemistry and Designing Synthesis of High Sulfur-Content Polymers for Virtual Undergraduate Laboratory Experiment

Karayilan, Metin; Vakil, Jafer R.; Fowler, Daniel E.; Becker, Matthew L.; Cox, Charles T.

doi:10.1021/acs.jchemed.1c00105

Cited by 12 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 82 publications

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“…We decided in the new online environment it was important that our examination was robust and that students worked independently. Student feedback was that they preferred a 24 h online exam, but we were concerned that the data handling section would be vulnerable to collusion − unless each student answered a unique question. This was the first time that an individual exam paper had been given to every student at our institution and required academic and administrative agreement on logistics.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The exam has a compulsory data handling section (20% of final grade) with students completing an additional two out of four optional questions (30% of final grade). teaching assistants or instructors, 4,17 or have generated data themselves using simulations. 9 Assessing students fairly and robustly is challenging in an online environment.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Videos, − live online streaming, , simulations, − and virtual or augmented reality have been used as interactive lab replacements. Alternatively, students have conducted experiments at home using bespoke or commercial kits. − To teach data processing skills, students have been supplied with historical data sets, ,,, with data generated by teaching assistants or instructors, , or have generated data themselves using simulations . Assessing students fairly and robustly is challenging in an online environment.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Unique Data Sets and Bespoke Laboratory Videos: Teaching and Assessing of Experimental Methods and Data Analysis in a Pandemic

Harmer

Hill

2021

J. Chem. Educ.

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The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the move to online teaching and assessment. This has created challenges in teaching laboratory skills and producing assessments that are robust and fair. Our solution was to use bespoke laboratory videos to provide laboratory training and to generate unique data sets for each student in coursework and exams. For assessments, R was used to produce student data packs comprising data and images, and associated staff answer files with plotted data and worked answers. In the new open-book online environment, this approach enabled us to create assessments that were the students’ own work with no evidence of student collusion. We observed no difference in student performance for the coursework or exam: The mean and median marks for the course remained the same as in previous years.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Unique Data Sets and Bespoke Laboratory Videos: Teaching and Assessing of Experimental Methods and Data Analysis in a Pandemic

Harmer

Hill

2021

J. Chem. Educ.

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“… 99 − 103 As such, to the best of our knowledge, the first virtual polymer synthesis experiment implemented by the authors of this work appeared only last year in this Journal in a prerecorded video-based approach along with online collaborative learning. 94 In this work, various high sulfur-content polymers were made using different styrenic comonomers through bulk free-radical polymerization. Short videos of polymerization reactions, polymer purification, and spectroscopic analysis were prepared for students to watch during the virtual lab meeting.…”

Section: Digitizing Polymer Laboratories For Virtual Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The first virtual translation of these experiments featured a prerecorded FRP reaction along with online discussions (see Table 2 , PL-10). 94 However, the prerecorded video approach lacks the student input critical to their acquisition of the experimental setup, active learning, and related troubleshooting skills. Combining the existing videos with an approach that allows for more student input (e.g., “labventure” approach and live stream) would allow the students to learn from incorrect decisions and build experimental intuition as they would in f2f laboratories.…”

Section: Digitizing Polymer Laboratories For Virtual Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reassessing Undergraduate Polymer Chemistry Laboratory Experiments for Virtual Learning Environments

et al. 2022

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Chemistry laboratory experiments are invaluable to students’ acquisition of necessary synthetic, analytical, and instrumental skills during their undergraduate studies. However, the COVID-19 pandemic rendered face-to-face (f2f), in-person teaching laboratory experiences impossible from late 2019–2020 and forced educators to rapidly develop new solutions to deliver chemistry laboratory education remotely. Unfortunately, achieving learning and teaching objectives to the same caliber of in-person experiments is very difficult through distance learning. To overcome these hurdles, educators have generated many virtual and remote learning options for not only foundational chemistry courses but also laboratory experiments. Although the pandemic challenged high-level chemistry education, it has also created an opportunity for both students and educators to be more cognizant of virtual learning opportunities and their potential benefits within chemistry curriculum. Irrespective of COVID-19, virtual learning techniques, especially virtual lab experiments, can complement f2f laboratories and offer a cost-efficient, safe, and environmentally sustainable alternative to their in-person counterparts. Implementation of virtual and distance learning techniques—including kitchen chemistry and at-home laboratories, prerecorded videos, live-stream video conferencing, digital lab environment, virtual and augmented reality, and others—can provide a wide-ranging venue to teach chemistry laboratories effectively and encourage diversity and inclusivity in the field. Despite their relevance to real-world applications and potential to expand upon fundamental chemical principles, polymer lab experiments are underrepresented in the virtual platform. Polymer chemistry education can help prepare students for industrial and academic positions. The impacts of polymers in our daily life can also promote students’ interests in science and scientific research. Hence, the translation of polymer lab experiments into virtual settings improves the accessibility of polymer chemistry education. Herein, we assess polymer experiments in the emergence of virtual learning environments and provide suggestions for further incorporation of effective polymer teaching and learning techniques into virtual settings.

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LAB Theory, HLAB Pedagogy, and Review of Laboratory Learning in Chemistry during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Kelley

2021

J. Chem. Educ.

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The role and efficacy of the laboratory in chemical education have recently been a subject of renewed discussion as researchers are called upon to address the question of whether laboratory education lives up to expectations. The COVID-19 pandemic, which forced most of the global student population to temporarily adopt remote learning, offers an unparalleled case study to investigate types of outcomes resulting from a variety of adjustments made to laboratory education. This scoping review article focuses on the reports of laboratory learning in chemistry and closely related disciplines during COVID-19 to analyze the types of adjustments made to laboratory curricula and the immediate effect of these adjustments on students. The aggregated findings suggest that a lack of hands-on laboratory experience was detrimental to certain types of learning and engagement but that other types of learning were successfully achieved remotely. For researchers, departments, and university administrators, the differentiation in these findings could help inform the ongoing discussion about the future of laboratory education. For instructors and student support staff, the findings indicate potential areas of deficiency and strength for the COVID-19 student cohort going forward. Finally, a laboratory learning theory and pedagogy are proposed to guide the use of the laboratory in chemical education and potentially in other laboratory-based sciences as well.

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Zooming in on Polymer Chemistry and Designing Synthesis of High Sulfur-Content Polymers for Virtual Undergraduate Laboratory Experiment

Cited by 12 publications

References 82 publications

Unique Data Sets and Bespoke Laboratory Videos: Teaching and Assessing of Experimental Methods and Data Analysis in a Pandemic

Unique Data Sets and Bespoke Laboratory Videos: Teaching and Assessing of Experimental Methods and Data Analysis in a Pandemic

Reassessing Undergraduate Polymer Chemistry Laboratory Experiments for Virtual Learning Environments

LAB Theory, HLAB Pedagogy, and Review of Laboratory Learning in Chemistry during the COVID-19 Pandemic

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