MOODLE QUESTIONNAIRES: APPEALING OR TROUBLESOME TOOL IN TEACHING/LEARNING GENERAL CHEMISTRY AT UNIVERSITIES?

Blended learning should be regarded as an emerging trend in higher education to settle ECTS-based degrees within EU Universities capitalized on combining asynchronous Internet technology with face-to-face learning [1]. In this context, novel interactive teaching & learning models have been launched based upon the development of virtual E-learning environments involved in the Web 2.0, such as asynchronous (forums) or synchronous (chats) and Moodle-based course management systems within Virtual Campus platforms [2,3].

The aim of this communication is to evaluate the role of Moodle Questionnaires as an active asynchronous methodology in promoting students self-learning and constructive "feedback" on the learning process of individuals as applied to a course of General Chemistry within the first year of the Bachelor in Agriculture Engineering at the University of the Balearic Islands. This is in fact a heterogeneous group of students with ages ranging from 18 to 45 and with a large number of individuals with a social or humanistic rather than scientific background or with a professional technical education. The project involves a first step in generation of a pool of questions and answers (including feedback) in the format of multiple options with a single correct answer in each individual topic of the subject followed by posting it in Moodle and open for answer within a given timeframe (typically 2-3 days), whereupon the marks and correct answers will be delivered. No immediate answer is to be popped up within Moodle to prevent potential fraud.

In this project we would like to get unbiased knowledge on the pros and cons of web-type questionnaires for achievement of competencies in a heterogeneous group of students undertaking a course of General Chemistry. Important measures encompass the students’ degree of satisfaction, the academic grades achieved and how Moodle Questionnaires are rated as compared with synchronous models of learning including seminars and resolution of tasks, exercises and practical cases in class. From teachers’ viewpoint, questionnaires should be regarded as appealing tools for screening of students’ background on the distinct topics of the course, for receiving a fast feedback on the acquisition of expected students’ competences and for efficient coordination between teachers delivering identical basic subjects (in our case Chemistry) in Bachelor.

References:
[1] Garrison, D.R.; and Kanuka H. (2004) Blended learning: Uncovering its transformative potential in higher education. Internet and Higher Education 7, 95–105.
[2] Área Moreira, M.; San Nicolás Santos, M.B. and Fariña Vargas, E. (2010). Buenas Prácticas de aulas virtuales en la docencia universitaria semipresencial. Teoría de la Educación: Educación y Cultura en la Sociedad de la Información. 11, 7-31.
[3] Kozaris I.A. (2010) Platforms for e-learning, Anal. Bioanal. Chem., 397, 893-898.