Motivating and Building Engineering Majors Conceptual Knowledge in Chemistry
- Conference
- Location
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Virtual (hosted by Stevens Institute of Technology)
- Publication Date
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November 7, 2020
- Start Date
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November 7, 2020
- End Date
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November 7, 2020
- Page Count
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13
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--36052
- Permanent URL
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https://strategy.asee.org/36052
- Download Count
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304
Paper Authors
Patricia Muisener Stevens Institute of Technology (School of Engineering and Science)
Dr. Patricia Muisener has been an Associate Teaching Professor and Associate Chair of the Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department at Stevens Institute of Technology since 2015. She teaches and coordinates the General Chemistry I and II course sequence. She was previously at the University of South Florida for 12 years as a faculty member and Assistant Chair in the Chemistry Department. She taught General Chemistry for Engineers for years. She holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a M.S. and Ph.D in Chemical Engineering from the University of Connecticut.
Gail P Baxter Stevens Institute of Technology
Gail P. Baxter is the Co-Director, Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) at Stevens Institute of Technology. Baxter leads CIESE research and evaluation efforts and manages a program to support faculty adoption of evidence-based teaching practices in the core courses in the School of Engineering at Stevens. Before joining CIESE, Baxter was a Senior Survey Researcher at Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., Senior Research Scientist at Educational Testing Service, and an Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Michigan. In addition, she served on National Academy of Sciences Committees on Foundations of Educational and Psychological Assessment and Evaluation of National and State Assessments of Educational Progress. She earned a PhD in Educational Psychology from UC Santa Barbara.
Guillermo D. Ibarrola Recalde
Stevens Institute of Technology (School of Engineering and Science)
orcid.org/0000-0001-8931-0985
Dr. Guillermo D. Ibarrola Recalde (he/him/his) is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Stevens Institute of Technology. He earned a Ph.D. in STEM Education and Learning Technologies, and both an M.A. in Chemistry and a B.A. Interdisciplinary Studies (concentrations in Biology and Chemistry) from Queens College of the City University of New York. His research focuses on the integration, implementation, and evaluation of active learning pedagogies and learning technologies in Science and Engineering classrooms, as well as the creation of formal and informal learning environments for STEM Education and outreach for historically underserved communities.
Abstract
Engineering majors comprise, on average, 75% of the students enrolled in General Chemistry I and II each year. Historically, these courses were offered as large lecture courses (100-200 per section) and a smaller (N=40 students) recitation. Lecture and recitation were taught by different faculty. To facilitate student engagement, motivation and interaction with the content, the General Chemistry curriculum was redesigned. Large lectures and recitation were replaced with sections of 50 students each meeting three times per week with increased opportunities for active learning including peer interaction, group problem solving, and self-assessment and reflection. In this paper, we focus on metacognitive strategies to improve conceptual understanding. These strategies for self-assessment and reflection were embedded in weekly Canvas quizzes delivered outside of class. The quizzes consist of a series of multiple choice conceptual questions. The students have three and one half days to complete the quiz and two attempts are granted so if they choose they can retake the quiz after additional study and review. To encourage students to reflect on what they learned over the week and what they still need to focus on, students are asked to answer two questions: “What did I learn this past week [from list of chapters covered]?” and “What remains unclear to me and that I need to review further [from list of chapters covered]?” These questions allow for introspection and self-assessment to encourage students to monitor their learning and level of understanding on an on-going basis and seek help early and often. For this preliminary study, data is examined with respect to the nature of student responses (conceptual versus procedural), relationship between student response and quiz performance, and variation between sections with different instructors.
Muisener, P., & Baxter, G. P., & Ibarrola Recalde, G. D. (2020, November), Motivating and Building Engineering Majors Conceptual Knowledge in Chemistry Paper presented at 2020 Fall ASEE Mid-Atlantic Section Meeting, Virtual (hosted by Stevens Institute of Technology). 10.18260/1-2--36052
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