Designing and Conducting a Purification Scheme as an Organic Chemistry Laboratory Practical

Graham, Kate J.; Johnson, Brian J.; Jones, T. Nicholas; McIntee, Edward J.; Schaller, Chris P.

doi:10.1021/ed085p1644

Cited by 14 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 12 publications

(16 reference statements)

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“…Despite the value placed on laboratory work by faculty and professional bodies, there are few reports on the direct assessment of laboratory work or on demonstration of competencies and skills. Assessment tends to focus on the laboratory report or on some outcome of the laboratory work, such as yield or product purity (Graham, Johnson, Jones, McIntee, & Schaller, 2008). Some recent reports directly describing the assessment of practical skills are described below.…”

Section: Assessment Of Laboratory Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing laboratory skills by incorporating peer-review and digital badges

Seery

Agustian

Doidge

et al. 2017

Chem. Educ. Res. Pract.

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Laboratory work is at the core of any chemistry curriculum but literature on the assessment of laboratory skills is scant. In this study we report the use of a peer-observation protocol underpinned by exemplar videos. Students are required to watch exemplar videos for three techniques (titrations, distillations, preparation of standard solutions) in advance of their practical session, and demonstrate the technique to their peer, while being reviewed. For two of the techniques (titrations and distillations), the demonstration was videoed on a mobile phone, which provide evidence that the student has successfully completed the technique. In order to develop digital literacy skills, students are required to upload their videos to a video sharing site for instructor review. The activity faciliated the issuing of digital badges to students who had successfully demonstrated competency. Students' rating of their knowledge, experience, and confidence of a range of aspects associated with each technique significantly increased as a result of the activity. This work, along with student responses to questions, video access, and observations from implementation are reported in order to demonstrate a novel and useful way to incorporate peer-assessment of laboratory skills into a laboratory programme, as well as the use of digital badges as a means of incorporating and documenting transferable skills on the basis of student generated evidence.

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Section: Assessment Of Laboratory Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing laboratory skills by incorporating peer-review and digital badges

Seery

Agustian

Doidge

et al. 2017

Chem. Educ. Res. Pract.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For some of these goals, however, students who work in groups often approach the laboratory activities with a “divide and conquer” mentality, which can result in a subset of group members physically manipulating equipment or instrumentation while other group members never learn the technique nor experience intended procedures and processes. , Ideally, laboratory assessments would be designed such that students must demonstrate their ability and skills to manipulate equipment and carry out procedural techniques. Traditional assessments of laboratory work have involved data sheets, laboratory reports, and practicals, − and novel assessments are continually being proposed, such as a lab interview assessment . Laboratory practical exams are ideal for evaluating skills, content knowledge, and the development of scientific analysis. − They also help prepare students for scenarios they would encounter in workplace settings …”

Section: Introduction and Relevant Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Traditional assessments of laboratory work have involved data sheets, laboratory reports, and practicals, − and novel assessments are continually being proposed, such as a lab interview assessment . Laboratory practical exams are ideal for evaluating skills, content knowledge, and the development of scientific analysis. − They also help prepare students for scenarios they would encounter in workplace settings …”

Section: Introduction and Relevant Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Proof of Concept for a Thin-Layer Chromatography Digital Badge Assignment Within a Laboratory Practical Exam for a Nonchemistry Majors’ Organic Chemistry Lab

2021

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Digital badges are credentials earned via a digital presentation to demonstrate the mastery of a technique. They have been utilized in General Chemistry laboratory courses as an assessment tool and to document students’ development of a skill. A digital badge assignment was developed for thin layer chromatography (TLC) and integrated into a laboratory practical exam in a large-enrollment Organic Chemistry laboratory course for science majors. The students filmed themselves carrying out the TLC technique while explaining why specific steps were taken. After completing the filming, they applied the TLC technique off-camera to identify an unknown. Detailed directions, filming prompts, and rubrics are provided for this digital badge. The assignment was updated on the basis of the results from quantitative and qualitative data collected from around 800 students and a dozen GTAs. This data was also analyzed to explore the affordances and challenges of implementing a badge within a laboratory practical. Data included students’ pre- and post-perceptions of their knowledge, experience, and confidence, scores on the laboratory practical and written final exam, and student and GTA responses to short-answer survey questions. The most helpful resources for the badge were the directions, filming prompts, and rubrics, while the challenges included filming oneself, time limits, and uploading videos to the learning management system (LMS). Overall, we believe the challenges students faced with the digital badge assignment were outweighed by the positive cognitive, psychomotor, and affective learning outcomes resulting from coupling a digital badge assignment with the identification of an unknown as complementary components of a required laboratory practical.

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“…All attempts to enhance practical chemistry skills may be futile if the students do not perceive their efforts to be rewarded, i.e., practical skills must be assessed . The assessment associated with practical courses in chemistry degrees is commonly related to the experiment writeup or the final result (for example, quality of data analysis, product appearance, and/or yield) rather than proficiency in the skills developed during practical sessions. While analytical and reporting skills are of great importance for chemistry graduates, this type of assessment only indirectly assesses practical skills. − …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Practical Skills of Undergraduates: The Evolution of a Station-Based Practical Exam

Hancock

Hollamby

2020

J. Chem. Educ.

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Laboratory education is a defining feature of chemistry degree courses, with one of the fundamental aims being acquiring competency in a range of chemistry-specific practical skills, yet there are still limited reports of direct assessment of these skills. Here, we present the development, implementation, and evaluation of a station-based practical chemistry exam for first year undergraduate students. We have designed the exam to explicitly assess a range of practical chemistry skills that we highlighted as being essential for subsequent chemistry laboratory work in our degree program, including many final year independent research projects. Details are provided on the logistics of implementing this exam, which has run for cohorts of 50–120 and is suitable for cohorts of up to 200 students. Introducing the practical exam into our course has received positive feedback from both staff and students and has contributed to increased motivation to learn and retain practical chemistry skills.

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Designing and Conducting a Purification Scheme as an Organic Chemistry Laboratory Practical

Cited by 14 publications

References 12 publications

Developing laboratory skills by incorporating peer-review and digital badges

Developing laboratory skills by incorporating peer-review and digital badges

Proof of Concept for a Thin-Layer Chromatography Digital Badge Assignment Within a Laboratory Practical Exam for a Nonchemistry Majors’ Organic Chemistry Lab

Assessing the Practical Skills of Undergraduates: The Evolution of a Station-Based Practical Exam

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