Transforming the Organic Chemistry Lab Experience: Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of Reformed Experimental Activities—REActivities

Collison, Christina G.; Kim, Thomas; Cody, Jeremy A.; Anderson, Jason; Edelbach, Brian L.; Marmor, William A.; Kipsang, Rodgers; Ayotte, Charles; Saviola, Daniel; Niziol, Justin

doi:10.1021/acs.jchemed.7b00234

Cited by 11 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Students could repeat procedures to gain a better understanding and correct earlier mistakes. Collison et al created a new curriculum based on “reformed experimental activities” that prompt students to derive hypotheses, test their skills without fear of failure, engage in peer discussion, and execute guided experiments . Students revisit the same substrates and techniques throughout the course, and with prodding, make connections between the lab with course content.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Collison et al created a new curriculum based on "reformed experimental activities" that prompt students to derive hypotheses, test their skills without fear of failure, engage in peer discussion, and execute guided experiments. 17 Students revisit the same substrates and techniques throughout the course, and with prodding, make connections between the lab with course content. Seery described a scaffolded design for an upper-level physical chemistry lab where students were tasked to design an experiment that meets a defined goal and builds off their first, recipe-based experiment.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Adapting Meaningful Learning Strategies for an Introductory Laboratory Course: Using Thin-Layer Chromatography to Monitor Reaction Progress

Hall

Phadke

et al. 2019

J. Chem. Educ.

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Introductory-level laboratory courses provide students with hands-on experience using the discipline's tools and theories. These courses often rely on recipebased experiments due to the constraints of large enrollments, short lab periods, and the desire to minimize complexity. In addition, covering a breadth of topics can lead to a fragmented curriculum with little carryover in learning from week to week. Herein, we describe an overhaul of an introductory organic chemistry laboratory curriculum, informed by the strategies of meaningful learning and a desire to make the course experience mimic a research lab. This new course, primarily taught to first-year undergraduate students at the University of Michigan, is framed with three interconnected modules. We present herein the first module, which focuses on thinlayer chromatography (TLC). In the first week, students learn how to perform TLC using a variety of compounds and solvent mixtures, gaining an understanding of how intermolecular interactions affect their retention. In the second week, they practice using TLC to distinguish reagents and reaction byproducts and in the third week apply TLC to monitor reaction progress and test their hypothesis. We assessed student learning through a writing assignment at the end of the three-week module. We also assessed how the overall course affects student comprehension of TLC concepts and confidence. Our findings suggest that this learn, practice, apply approach toward teaching introductory organic chemistry laboratory concepts leads to learning gains and increased confidence.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adapting Meaningful Learning Strategies for an Introductory Laboratory Course: Using Thin-Layer Chromatography to Monitor Reaction Progress

Hall

Phadke

et al. 2019

J. Chem. Educ.

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“…Here, students have more responsibility for generating the procedure and for determining the outcomes of the experiment. Students engage in hypothesizing, experimental design, critical analysis, and problem-solving during an inquiry-based experiment and so can develop these skills better through this type of activity. , There are a number of examples of inquiry-based experiments that have been incorporated into laboratory courses or where the course itself has become fully inquiry-based. − Students find these experiments more challenging than expository experiments but also find them more interesting and develop more positive attitudes toward the nature of science . Immersing students directly into inquiry-based experiments can overwhelm students if too much demand is placed on learning new concepts .…”

Section: Domin’s Taxonomy Of Laboratory Instructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Repurposing an Introductory Organic and Inorganic Laboratory Course from the Focus on Teaching Theory to the Focus on Teaching Practical Technique

et al. 2021

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A traditional laboratory course with the primary learning outcome of improving students' theoretical knowledge has received much criticism over the years due to the lack of evidence that these goals have achieved. We report our efforts to redesign a traditional first-year organic and inorganic (also known as synthetic) laboratory course from having a focus on teaching theory to the development of practical skills. With better alignment between the core learning outcomes of the course and the type of experiments embedded into the curriculum, we report that the redesigned course improved students' practical skills from a number of measures, including students' grades pre-and postcourse and from students' self-assessment of core skills in synthetic chemistry.

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“…There are many examples reported in this Journal of inquiry-based organic experiments where students can apply core organic theory, including the aldol reaction, , nucleophilic addition to carbonyls, E2 elimination, electrophilic aromatic substitution, the Wittig reaction, and metathesis. , There are also examples where whole or partial organic laboratory courses have become inquiry-based with positive outcomes for the development of scientific skills. − …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Delivery of Virtual Inquiry-Based Organic Chemistry Experiments

Mistry

Shahid

2021

J. Chem. Educ.

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Guided-inquiry experiments are an important tool for helping students develop scientific practices such as hypothesizing and problem solving. In organic chemistry, these types of experiments can help students learn how to connect the theory of the reaction to the observation and data to decide how the reaction is proceeding or if it needs adapting. Due to a reduction of in person teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, we developed a set of virtual inquiry-based organic chemistry experiments where students make the same decisions as they would do with a hands-on inquiry experiment. Thus, these simulations allow students to learn similar problem-solving skills. In this paper, we provide details of the simulations and the educational outcomes when they were used to replace hands-on inquiry experiments. We also include suggestions for its use postpandemic.

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Transforming the Organic Chemistry Lab Experience: Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of Reformed Experimental Activities—REActivities

Cited by 11 publications

References 26 publications

Adapting Meaningful Learning Strategies for an Introductory Laboratory Course: Using Thin-Layer Chromatography to Monitor Reaction Progress

Adapting Meaningful Learning Strategies for an Introductory Laboratory Course: Using Thin-Layer Chromatography to Monitor Reaction Progress

Repurposing an Introductory Organic and Inorganic Laboratory Course from the Focus on Teaching Theory to the Focus on Teaching Practical Technique

Design and Delivery of Virtual Inquiry-Based Organic Chemistry Experiments

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