Development of CHEM 1015 as a Hybrid, Active Learning Course Emily Pelton and Michelle Driessen, Department of Chemistry Christina Peterson, Center for Educational Innovation Susan Tade, Academic Technology Support Services
Background In 2009, CHEM 1015 transitioned from an in-‐person lecture course to a course hosted and delivered completely online. CHEM 1015, designed as an undergraduate introductory chemistry course, provides a broad survey of chemistry to over 1500 students per year. Course content is provided in the format of short lecture videos, organized by topic, and students are able to access course material at their convenience. While students take exams five times a semester in a large lecture hall on campus, the vast majority of students do not engage with other students or the course instructor. The transition from an in-‐person course to a totally online course provided several advantages to students and the department, but a lack of student community and engagement in CHEM 1015 has also resulted. In order to provide this community and establish support for students in the class, we developed an in-‐person component to CHEM 1015 through the use of active learning classrooms and activities. Because the course transitioned from completely in-‐person to completely online, there was no precedent for a hybrid course for CHEM 1015. We modeled our in-‐class problem solving sessions on the hybrid course developed by Michelle Driessen in other general chemistry courses at the University of Minnesota. Launched in the Spring 2016 semester, students watch lecture videos before coming to a weekly class session and also work on weekly online homework assignments outside of class. Each weekly class session begins with a short comprehension check question based on the week’s lecture videos. During the session, students work in small groups on activities related to the week’s assigned material. At the beginning of the semester, most of the activities were skills-‐based. As the semester has progressed, the activities are designed to become more comprehensive, building on past and current weeks’ skills in the context of real-‐life problems. Students still take five exams outside of class time. A portion of the final exam in the course is standardized, allowing for comparison of student learning outcomes to be evaluated across semesters. By creating a combination of online course content and in-‐person application, students were able to spend class time working on applying their skills. By acquiring content in advance of class, class time has been spent developing problem solving skills within a supported environment of their peers, their instructor, and a class TA. Goal: Create a student community Solution: Small, in-‐class student groups By developing CHEM 1015 as a hybrid course, weekly class meetings are held in Bruininks 114, the largest active learning classroom on campus. In the Spring 2016 semester, over
400 students enrolled in one of three, 50-‐minute sessions and were randomly placed into 19 tables. Each table sat nine students, and the groups were maintained throughout the semester. This in-‐person active learning environment allows students to engage with peers as they work together in small groups on activities, allowing for various student perspectives to come together and apply course content to new problems. Students are encouraged to lean on their tablemates for help with the activities, and the structure of the classroom allows student groups to work on group whiteboards, providing a flexible, living documentation for the group’s progress. The activities are also structured to allow for all students in the class to complete the modules at a reasonable pace, and extension activities are available for each portion of the activity to keep groups that move at the fastest paces engaged while waiting for the rest of the classroom. According to students, these small groups and classroom environment have helped to create a supportive student community within CHEM 1015. Some selected comments: It's much better to have the in-‐class meetings! It's helpful to be able to meet with peers and gauge how others are doing and handling the class -‐ it's really nice to know you're not alone while struggling with chemistry. I like the group-‐work scenario, and whenever we have to write something on the board. I think this helps all of us come to an understanding, and keeps people from falling too far behind. They hybrid allows students to meet others in the class and potentially set up study groups. Face-‐to-‐face time is also helpful because we are able to ask questions and have extra practice. Goal: Increased student-‐teacher interactions Solution: Weekly class meeting with instructor and TA By converting CHEM 1015 to a hybrid course, we created opportunities for increased student-‐teacher interactions, allowing for increased support for problem solving in a lower-‐stakes environment. During each class meeting, the instructor and TA journey throughout the classroom, meeting with student groups, answering student questions, and addressing misconceptions with the course material. Throughout the classroom session, the class is asked to “vote” on a multiple-‐choice question based on part of the in-‐class activity. These formative assessments during class allow students to informally receive feedback intended to improve their performance on a multiple-‐choice exam. The in-‐class activities are also graded after the class session, offering students additional feedback on course material. We have been able to construct an in-‐person experience that offers students access to peers and an increased access to the instructor, creating a supportive environment for student engagement while also offering support for problem solving within the context of CHEM 1015. Many students reported that, especially in comparison to the online-‐only
course, they felt more engaged with the class and the course material. Some selected comments: I like that we have multiple people with whom we can check our answers or explain problems. It's a larger "safety net.” [It’s h]elpful to connect with peers and instructor, appreciate the in class activity as part of grading and comprehension help. I feel a little more confident in my chemistry skills and it should help with the tests. Actually talking over how to do certain problems is helpful, as is that percentage of your grade being based on participation. Goal: Relate course content to real-‐life situations Solution: Development of relevant in-‐class activities Because CHEM 1015 is a prerequisite course for general chemistry courses at the University of Minnesota, it must present a highly specific set of content to its students. Because the lecture videos are recorded and used for many semesters, it is difficult in an online-‐only class to relate specific content knowledge to real-‐life current events. Development of an in-‐person component to the course offers the unique opportunity to relate course content to real-‐life situations. For example, during the 11th week of the semester, the activity focuses on aspects of the current water crisis in Flint, MI. Because the 11th week of the course covers solutions and solution stoichiometry, students can examine lead concentrations in water systems and evaluate how lead ions entered the water system in the first place, using previous knowledge of solubility and ionic chemical behavior. As one student reported, The hybrid course really helps. I feel more of a connection to the material than I did in the online version of the course. While this activity is extremely relevant for students in the Spring 2016 semester, it could be changed in future semesters for a more relevant, concentration-‐related current event. Goal: Improve student study skills for chemistry courses Solution: Weekly in-‐class meetings CHEM 1015 is a prerequisite course for the first semester of the general chemistry sequence at the University of Minnesota. Because many students take CHEM 1015 before taking more courses with the department, one of the goals of the course is to develop student strategies for maximizing performance in future general chemistry courses. These strategies include test preparation and time management skills. In the online-‐only course, an exam was held every three weeks, and often students reported “cramming” the weekend before each exam. By creating a weekly, in-‐person meeting, students must keep on track with each week of the course. The comprehension check question at the beginning of each class meeting serves to ensure students have reviewed lecture material before coming to class. The in-‐class activities also provide problem solving opportunities for students on a weekly basis, encouraging them to more effectively manage their study time.
Many of the students in the course during the Spring 2016 semester have previously taken the course as an online-‐only offering, and they have offered considerable perspective for the transition of online-‐only to a hybrid course. Some selected comments: The class is certainly well improved. The hybrid format incentivizes watching the online lectures, and the in-‐class component makes it convenient to ask questions. The hybrid course keeps me more involved in the class and on pace. And it also gives me a chance to ask questions. It's also helpful in that the meetings keep you on track with the online videos, when the class is entirely online it can be far too easy to fall behind, but the in-‐class meetings are a weekly reminder of where one should be in the course. Future Directions Choice between online-‐only and hybrid course During the Spring 2016 semester, CHEM 1015 was only offered as a hybrid course due to lower student enrollment numbers. During the Fall 2016 semester, both the online-‐only and hybrid course will be offered, and students will have a choice as to which format they prefer. This will allow for distance learning students to enroll in the online-‐only course if they choose, eliminating a weekly transportation burden. It will also offer students with full-‐time work schedules or other responsibilities the opportunity to access course material without requiring a middle-‐of-‐the-‐day weekly session. For students who choose the hybrid version, they will be in groups with other team-‐ready, like-‐minded students who also chose the hybrid course. Evaluating content mastery During the Spring 2015 semester, a standardized portion of the final exam for CHEM 1015 was developed and administered. This standardized portion has been used in subsequent semesters as well. By comparing the results of student exam performance from Spring 2015 (online-‐only) and 2016 (hybrid), we can begin to evaluate how the hybrid course affects student content mastery at the end of the course. Because we are offering both a hybrid and online-‐only version in the Fall 2016 semester, we can also make comparisons between those two groups as well as the Fall 2015 and 2016 semesters. Ongoing development of in-‐class activities As one of the goals of the course is to develop scientific literacy among students enrolled in the class, the in-‐class activities must be relevant to students and develop their analytical and problem solving skills. During the first run of developed activities during the Spring 2016 semester, some were better than others on developing these skills. We are considering these activities to be living assessments, able to be adjusted and modified going forward. Additionally, as current events develop, we will be able to create in-‐class activities that are relevant to students and the week’s course material.
