Abstract:

A common theme of modern chemical education is engaging students in ways that better reflect the way academia and industry go about solving problems. With that in mind, we developed and implemented Mastery Laboratories in Organic Chemistry. The laboratories are open- ended, collaborative and designed by the students. We also developed and implemented chem-wiki, a platform that allows students to collaborate and develop ideas online, and at the end of the experiment to produce a collaborative laboratory report. One important component of the laboratory report is the personal and collaborative reflection. The flexibility and open-ended nature of the Mastery learning Laboratory experiments and the chem-wiki collaboration makes for a rich educational experience however it also requires a significant increase in student support in both the laboratory and online environment. To successfully implement this methodology, it is necessary to provide students with additional support and feedback throughout the process. To provide this support, we utilized peer leaders who were able to provide additional points of contact before and during the labs, and increase the teaching ratio so that students teams could get individualized attention and help as they were developing their experimental design. We assessed these new laboratory designs and found that through students gained a better and deeper understanding of the chemical process as well as chemical mechanism of reactions. Another important finding showed that students learned how to work and collaborate in groups. I believe that this kind of experience enhances the overall learning experience and students acquired skills that are transferable to any other disciplines. Students learned life skills that are transferable to any other environment, mainly team work, communication and collaboration.

Keywords:

Student learning, critical thinking, team work, communication, web 2.0.