Browsing by Subject "Collaborative learning"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A comparison of first-semester organic chemistry students' experiences and mastery of curved-arrow formalism in face-to-face and cyber peer-led team learning
    (2015-12-03) Wilson, Sarah Beth; Varma-Nelson, Pratibha; Bodner, George; Anderson, Trevor; Bodner, Robert; Long, Eric C.
    The cyber Peer-Led Team Learning (cPLTL) workshops are a synchronous online adaptation of the educational intervention PLTL, in which students, under the guidance of undergraduate peer facilitators, collaboratively solve problems in small groups. The purpose of this parallel convergent mixed methods study was to assess the impact of implementing cPLTL in an organic chemistry course on students’ workshop experiences, performance, and development of curved-arrow formalism skills. Statistical analyses revealed comparable attendance rates, distribution of course grades, and achievement on American Chemical Society First-semester Organic Chemistry Exams. However, plotting workshop grades by AB, C, and DFW grade groupings revealed that PLTL students earned more successful grades than their cPLTL counterparts (91% vs 77% ABC grades). Utilization of a new curved-arrow formalism analytic framework for coding student interview artifacts revealed that cPLTL students were statistically less likely to successfully draw the product suggested by the curved-arrows than their PLTL classmates. Both PLTL and cPLTL students exhibited a comparable incidence of relational to instrumental learning approaches. Similarly, both PLTL and cPLTL students were more likely to exhibit a common Scheme for Problem-Solving in Organic Chemistry (SPOC) than having dialogue that could be characterized by Toulmin’s Argumentation scheme. Lastly, implications for faculty are suggested, including: developing more explicit connections concept, mode, and reasoning components of understanding curved-arrow formalism for organic chemistry students; optimizing graphical collaborative learning activities for online learners; and developing online students’ sense of community.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Using Google Docs to Administer Synchronous Collaborative Assessments
    (Indiana University, 2022) Olivey, Harold; Biology, School of Science
    Collaborative learning increases student achievement of learning outcomes in a wide range of disciplines, including the natural sciences, and is a hallmark of authentic assessment. To help students collaborate more effectively, I have used Google Docs, a free, online word-processing program accessible using almost any internet-connected device. Assessments that include real-world application problems are composed in Google Docs and shared with students via links. Google Docs has proven to be more efficient than pencil-and-paper assessment, encourages greater collaboration within student groups than is possible with tools embedded in a learning management system, and provides opportunities to give students just-in-time instruction and examine student metacognition, all of which are foundational for authentic assessment. Post-assessment grading is rapid, and corrected documents with instructor feedback can be easily shared with students. Students have adapted readily to the platform and have learned on their own how to use the software beyond my original conception. I describe how I have used Google Docs successfully in a molecular biology course, offer considerations for grading and distributing corrections, and report on students’ perceptions of the assessments themselves.