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WIP: Student and Faculty Experience with Blended Learning in a First-Year Chemistry for Engineers Course

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Conference

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Salt Lake City, Utah

Publication Date

June 23, 2018

Start Date

June 23, 2018

End Date

July 27, 2018

Conference Session

Works in Progress II

Tagged Division

Educational Research and Methods

Page Count

6

DOI

10.18260/1-2--31253

Permanent URL

https://strategy.asee.org/31253

Download Count

327

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Paper Authors

biography

Eline Boghaert University of Waterloo

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Eline Boghaert is a lecturer in the Chemical Engineering department at the University of Waterloo. Before joining the faculty at the University of Waterloo she taught mathematics at Hopewell Valley Central High School in New Jersey. Her current research interests focus on engineering education and studying how students learn, to improve teaching and learning at the University of Waterloo.

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biography

Jason Grove P.E. University of Waterloo

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Jason Grove is the Graduate Attributes Lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Waterloo. He is responsible for leading the continuous program assessment improvement process for the chemical and nanotechnology engineering programs. He is also heavily involved in the development of Waterloo Engineering’s IDEAS Clinic initiative.

Dr. Grove obtained his PhD from the University of Waterloo investigating the microbial community ecology in biofilters used for air pollution control. He obtained his undergraduate degree in Engineering Science from the University of Oxford.

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Abstract

WIP: Student and Faculty Experience with Blended Learning in a First-Year Chemistry for Engineers Course

Chemistry for Engineers, is an introductory chemistry course taken by most engineering students at our university during their first term of study. Online content was developed to facilitate the implementation of a blended learning format, rather than traditional lecture format, for this course. The motivation for a blended approach was i) to create time for more valuable instructor–student interactions, allowing the instructor to reinforce challenging concepts, lead problem-solving workshops and lead experiential learning activities, and, ii) to allow students to explore content at their own pace, thereby accommodating the diversity of students’ high-school chemistry preparation. During Fall 2016, a blended learning format was piloted with three of the twelve sections of the course for half of the course content. Data from surveys administered throughout the term were combined with course grade data in an effort to compare and contrast student experience, satisfaction and performance between a blended learning and traditional lecture model of instruction. While the results from the Fall 2016 study are inconclusive due to challenges with survey administration and implementing the blended learning model, lessons were learned with respect to the readiness of the students for self-directed learning and the integration of the online and in-class components. During Fall 2017, five sections of the course are using a blended learning model for the entire course, implementing the lessons learned from the Fall 2016 study. In January, data from surveys administered throughout the term will be combined with course grade data, again in an effort to compare and contrast student experience, satisfaction and performance between a blended learning and traditional lecture model of instruction. This presentation will i) describe instructor experience in developing and deploying online content to support the blended learning, and, ii) compare and contrast student experience, satisfaction and performance between the two learning models.

Boghaert, E., & Grove, J. (2018, June), WIP: Student and Faculty Experience with Blended Learning in a First-Year Chemistry for Engineers Course Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--31253

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