Cognitive apprenticeship as a vehicle for enhancing the understanding and functionalization of organic chemistry knowledge

Abstract

This paper presents a pedagogical experiment with parallel groups through which the effectiveness of the cognitive apprenticeship model of dealing with the teaching topic Carboxylic acids and their derivatives was compared with the traditional approach to the elaboration of this topic. This experiment featured the participation of 241 students aged 17, attending their third year of grammar school, natural sciences stream. The experimental group consisted of 118 students, whereas the control group was made up of 123 students. Within the framework of the experiment, a pre-test consisting of items that resembled regular textbook items was used as an instrument for checking how balanced the previously acquired knowledge concerning the teaching topic Carboxylic acids and their derivatives of the students in the two groups was. A post-test was used as an instrument for comparing the effectiveness of the two approaches, and it mostly consisted of items that required the application of the knowledge concerning the teaching topic Carboxylic acids and their derivatives in solving real-life problems. In the pre-test, no statistically significant difference in the overall percentage of correct answers given by the two groups of students was established. In the post-test, the students from the experimental group scored a statistically significant higher percentage of correct answers compared to the students from the control group. On the basis of this, it can be concluded that the applied cognitive apprenticeship approach has the potential to improve the level of students’ understanding of the concepts from the topic Carboxylic acids and their derivatives, as well as the students’ ability to apply the knowledge on the examples from real life.

Generalized rubric for level of explanation sophistication for nucleophiles in organic chemistry reaction mechanisms

“…In this paper, we focus on the understanding of nucleophiles. The research literature supports the notion that nucleophiles and electrophiles are not equally understood (Strickland et al, 2010;Bretz, 2015, 2016;Putica and Trivic, 2016) with learners being more successful in identifying and explaining nucleophiles. While organic chemists may view these two entities as a combination, we note that learners need a more foundational understanding of each as they develop understanding of the relationship between the two.…”

Students’ Responses to Emergency Remote Online Teaching Reveal Critical Factors for All Teaching

“…They explicitly talked about how learning in the same space with other learners gave them the ability to check in with seat mates about the information coming at them. Their observation has some grounding in the literature on distributed cognition and cognition as communication. , Breaking up presentations into smaller chunks and making routine use of breakout rooms to encourage processing of information and crosstalk would be valuable. Texting “during class”, which most instructors discourage for in-person settings, could be the online alternative to leaning over to check-in about content with one’s neighbor.…”

Impact of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) Module Based on the Cognitive Apprenticeship Model (CAM) on Student’s Performance

“…Several studies suggested that by combining the learning strategies such as constructivism with CAM could increase students' understanding of the concept of the subject matter. (García-Cabrero, Hoover, Lajoie, Andrade-Santoyo, Quevedo-Rodríguez & Wong, 2018;Putica & Trivic, 2016;Saadati, Tarmizi & Ayub, 2015;Kuo et al, 2012;). Thus, this would support the students' HOTS.…”