Impact of Maintaining Assessment Emphasis on Three-Dimensional Learning as Organic Chemistry Moved Online

Stowe, Ryan L.; Esselman, Brian J.; Ralph, Vanessa R.; Ellison, Aubrey J.; Martell, Jeffrey D.; DeGlopper, Kimberly S.; Schwarz, Cara E.

doi:10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00757

Cited by 23 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…There is ample evidence that assessments tell students what sort of intellectual work is valued in a course (Biggs, 1996;Crooks, 1988;Entwistle, 1991;Momsen et al, 2013;Scouller, 1998;Scouller & Prosser, 1994;Snyder, 1973). As in prior research (Stowe et al, 2020(Stowe et al, , 2021, we continue to argue that characterizing the performances allotted points on assessments is necessary to understand "what counts" in a given learning environment. Suppose an instructor emphasizes using knowledge to predict and explain phenomena during instruction, but the recall of facts can answer all exam questions.…”

Section: Characterizing Assessment Emphasismentioning

confidence: 91%

“…For example, pretransformation chemistry learning environments at Michigan State University dedicated 0% of points to 3D tasks, while transformed chemistry courses dedicated approximately 35% of points to such items (Matz et al, 2018). We have previously argued that, if instructors value connecting big ideas to why phenomena happen (Stowe et al, 2020(Stowe et al, , 2021, there should be a substantial (>35%) emphasis on 3D tasks on assessments administered throughout their course.…”

Section: Characterizing Assessment Emphasismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The 3D‐LAP established criteria that an item must meet to potentially engage students in a Scientific Practice, Core Idea, or Crosscutting Concept. This protocol has been used to characterize the change in assessment emphasis throughout a multiyear transformation effort (Matz et al, 2018), inform the adaptation of traditional assessment tasks (Underwood et al, 2017), and track the performances rewarded in online organic chemistry learning environments (Stowe et al, 2020).…”

Section: Literature Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Beyond instructional practices: Characterizing learning environments that support students in explaining chemical phenomena

et al. 2022

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Many conversations surrounding improvement of large‐enrollment college science, technology, engineering & mathematics (STEM) courses focus primarily (or solely) on changing instructional practices. By reducing dynamic, complex learning environments to collections of teaching methods, we neglect other meaningful parts of a course ecosystem (e.g., curriculum, assessments). Here, we advocate extending STEM education reform conversations beyond “active versus passive learning.” We argue communities of researchers and instructors would be better served if what we teach and assess was discussed alongside how we teach. To enable nuanced conversations about the characteristics of learning environments that support students in explaining phenomena, we defined a model of college STEM learning environments which attends to the intellectual work emphasized and rewarded on exams (i.e., assessment emphasis), what is taught in whole‐class meetings (i.e., instructional emphasis), and how those meetings are enacted (i.e., instructional practices). We subsequently characterized three distinct chemistry courses and qualitatively examined the characteristics of chemistry learning environments that effectively supported students in explaining why a beaker of water warms as a white solid dissolves. Furthermore, we quantitatively investigated the extent to which measures of incoming preparation explained variance in students’ explanations relative to enrollment in each learning environment. Our findings demonstrate that learning environments that effectively supported learners in explaining dissolution emphasized how and why salts dissolve in‐class and on assessments. Changing teaching methods in an otherwise traditionally structured course (i.e., a course organized by topics that primarily assesses math and recall) did not appear to impact the sophistication of students’ explanations. Additionally, we observed that learning environment enrollment explained substantially more of the variance observed in students’ explanations than measures of precollege math preparation. This finding suggests that emphasizing and rewarding the construction of causal accounts for phenomena in‐class and on assessments may support more equitable achievement.

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Section: Characterizing Assessment Emphasismentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Characterizing Assessment Emphasismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Beyond instructional practices: Characterizing learning environments that support students in explaining chemical phenomena

et al. 2022

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“…COVID-19 stands as the single biggest disruption to higher education in recent history, though there are some previous reports on the effects of pandemics and natural disasters on college instruction. − In the more than one year since COVID-19 became a major threat, there has been a lot of research on the effects of the pandemic on higher education, including some studies related to chemistry education. There are studies that focused on chemistry faculty members’ perceptions and reflections of their adaptation to emergency remote online instruction, − and specific curricular and pedagogical recommendations that emerged to best maintain continuity and effectively assess students. − Most relevant to the present study, there have been some notable works that tracked the influences of COVID-19 and emergency remote online instruction on student engagement. Student engagement is a concept that combines ideas from several distinct fields, including psychology, sociology, and cognitive development .…”

Section: Introduction and Literature Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Student Engagement in a General Chemistry Course

Teets

2021

J. Chem. Educ.

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In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many colleges and universities transitioned their face-to-face courses to emergency remote online courses during the spring of 2020. This study, conducted at a large, urban, diverse public university in the United States, answers the questions of how the sudden switch to emergency remote online instruction and the encompassing events of the pandemic changed student learning and engagement in a college-level introductory chemistry course. The research addresses the demographic and lifestyle factors that determine the magnitude of these changes. The mixed-methods approach uses a 19-item Pandemic Online Student Engagement (POSE) scale to quantitatively evaluate changes in student engagement and combines it with a qualitative analysis of student essay responses. The results reveal a decrease in student engagement, with underrepresented people of color (URPOC) students particularly affected and reporting significantly greater decreases in three of the four engagement components: skills engagement, participation engagement, and performance engagement. The decreases in motivation and self-regulation occurred in part because the historic pandemic event made it more difficult to focus on studies, and because students' home environments were not conducive to self-regulated learning. This study provides unique insights for chemistry instructors and college administrators into how the sudden changes in instructional dynamics affected students while the pandemic unfolded. Studies like this are necessary to prevent widening achievement gaps if the current pandemic lingers or if future threats dictate another widespread adoption of emergency remote online learning in general chemistry.

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“…While planning for the fall semester, the special issue of JCE provided significant insights for teaching laboratories online, including student perceptions. Examples included online versions of general chemistry, , organic chemistry, ,− physical chemistry, , analytical chemistry, − and biochemistry . In summary, students preferred in-person courses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementation of a Socially Distanced In-Person Laboratory Experience Across the Chemistry Curriculum during the COVID-19 Pandemic at a Small, Liberal Arts University

et al. 2021

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The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the mass shutdown of universities across the United States in the spring of 2020. As the pandemic progressed, regional regulations resulted in a broad range of teaching modalities for the 2020–2021 academic year. While some regions remained tightly locked down (resulting in online-only instruction), others allowed limited or full campus operations within higher education. Located in Spokane, WA, Whitworth University is a small, liberal arts university which was allowed limited operations under a socially distanced model. While the pandemic resulted in some obvious campus changes (for example, masks were required on campus), more subtle changes were required at the curricular level. Adopting a flex model where students and faculty were allowed the option to participate online only while in-person classes were offered, Whitworth maintained in-person education through the 2020–2021 academic year. This FLEX model presented specific difficulties to laboratory courses due to social distancing restrictions. In this work, we describe five models developed in the Whitworth University Department of Chemistry toward teaching laboratories in a socially distanced manner with reduced room capacity. The primary modes of instruction were (1) a reduction of in-person laboratory time so that only half of the students were working in the laboratory at any given time, (2) an alternating weeks model where students came to the laboratory every other week and performed online laboratory experiences in the off weeks, (3) a split room model where one faculty member oversaw two laboratory spaces containing one-half of the normal number of students, (4) a higher number of smaller lab sections where social distancing could be maintained, and (5) a hybrid technique utilizing several of these concepts dependent upon the learning outcomes of the laboratory procedure each week. Benefits and challenges for each model are described by faculty herein. End-of-semester student course evaluation scores provide a comparison of student perceptions of learning outcomes and experiences in the laboratory in the various models. In addition, grade point averages were compared to prior years. Finally, departmental leadership provides insight on the administrative challenges of implementing these course models. Statistically, the models presented no significant change in student perceptions of learning or grade point averages for most courses regardless of the model when compared to prior offerings of these courses. Overall, the implementation of these protocols allowed students hands-on laboratory experiences with a minimal impact on the curriculum presented.

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Impact of Maintaining Assessment Emphasis on Three-Dimensional Learning as Organic Chemistry Moved Online

Cited by 23 publications

References 39 publications

Beyond instructional practices: Characterizing learning environments that support students in explaining chemical phenomena

Beyond instructional practices: Characterizing learning environments that support students in explaining chemical phenomena

Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Student Engagement in a General Chemistry Course

Implementation of a Socially Distanced In-Person Laboratory Experience Across the Chemistry Curriculum during the COVID-19 Pandemic at a Small, Liberal Arts University

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