The global COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on university course design, implementation, and instruction, with many courses being offered remotely rather than face-to-face to prevent the spread of COVID-19. As the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, more and more courses are transitioning back to face-to-face instruction. In this article, we describe the design and implementation of an advanced synthetic chemistry laboratory course that was taught face-to-face during the COVID-19 pandemic and prior to the mass distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. We were able to utilize physical distancing as a teaching strategy, along with personalized scheduling of experiments, designated pathways, individual workstations and lab kits, enhanced sanitation, and self-reflection exercises, to create a course with a significant focus on the individual student experience. Instructor reflections suggest that this course was well-received by both instructors and students and was successful in meeting the course learning objectives while maintaining the health and safety of all participants.
Two-stage quizzes and exams were
implemented for both in-class
quizzes and term tests in three sections of first-year General (Introductory)
Chemistry. In the first stage, students completed the exam individually
and submitted their papers. In the second stage, students collaborated
with peers to complete a subset of the exam questions. The aim of
the first stage was to evaluate students’ individual knowledge,
while the second stage provided an opportunity for peer-led learning.
Exam scores were calculated as a blend of scores on the two stages,
between 80 and 85% for the first (individual) stage and 20–15%
for the second (collaborative) stage. Students’ (total n = 129) written responses to open-ended questions in a
long-answer student survey comparing two-stage and one-stage (in which
there is only the individual portion) tests were qualitatively coded
by thematic analysis, with themes developed through a grounded theory
approach. The most significant conclusion was that students perceived
that the two-stage test format helped to partially (but by no means
fully) alleviate student exam anxiety when compared to a traditional
one-stage test. Student responses were primarily positive about the
two-stage format rather than negative about the one-stage format.
The most common themes that emerged from student responses centered
on: (1) improvement in grades, (2) positive discussion with peers,
(3) immediate feedback from peers, and (4) less (perceived) pressure.
Finally, students also expressed a very strong overall preference
for two-stage over one-stage tests.
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