Discipline-Specific Assessment Methods
“It doesn’t really matter if they have something memorized if they don’t know how use it” –Dr. Julie Lefebvre
Background
Dr. Julie Lefebvre is a senior instructor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Calgary. Chemistry is an applied science, and most roles that chemistry students will take on in their careers will require using chemistry principles and theories to explain observations and data gathered about chemical phenomena. Students have two options for their junior chemistry courses. They can take the standard courses: CHEM 201 and 203, or they can take CHEM 211 and 213, which cover the same content, with an added emphasis on applications, critical thinking, and making discoveries through experiential learning. In order to take 211 and 213, students need a minimum of 80% in high school chemistry. Around 120 students choose this option every year. Most are majors in chemistry, but several also come from other sciences, such as biology, environmental science, and neuroscience. Along with laboratory activities, the main assessments in the courses are in-class assignments and exams. However, Julie and her teaching team have developed unique, experiential exams that use applied chemistry and critical thinking.
Strategies
The two courses focus on foundational chemistry concepts such as bonding, chemical interactions, kinetics, thermodynamics, acidity/basicity, and redox reactions. Many of these concepts are quite theoretical and require thinking at a molecular level. Julie uses visual applications and real-world examples to illustrate these concepts in an observable way. The in-class assessments that she uses all have an experimental component as well.
Each activity or exam requires students to complete a simple experiment or watch a demonstration and record observations. In small groups, they observe the demonstration and then critically discuss what they saw happen. Often, they see a colour change, feel a temperature change, or compare two similar reactions with one different variable. Students think about the course concepts they are learning about and try to connect them to their observations. Group discussions help students start making these important connections and start thinking critically. After this discussion period, students are given a question sheet and have to independently explain what they saw and what it means. Questions are almost exclusively short and long answer, so not only do students need to correctly identify what is occurring, they have to explain why in detail.
Experiential assignments and exams like this require clear, straightforward questions. Julie tries to design her questions to encourage students to start thinking about specific concepts, sometimes directly, and sometimes indirectly. She often splits questions into smaller components, first asking a wholly conceptual question, then asking students to explain different aspects of the observations.
Julie’s biggest challenge is developing experiential activities that can be done safely, reliably, and quickly in a lecture theater. She has been teaching the courses for six years and has collected various examples over time, but she likes including new ones and modifying existing ones. Although the activities have to be engaging, Julie focuses on selecting ones that directly connect to the concepts of focus. She works closely with a lab technician who develops these demonstrations using household chemicals and tests them several times to optimizes the conditions. Julie also records a video of a successful demonstration before class as a precaution. If there are major difficulties with the live demonstration, she can show students the video so that students can get necessary observations. Grading of the more open-ended questions can also be adapted to account for what the students observed. If a group did not see the intended reaction occur, they are graded based on how well their observations match up with the explanation they provide. Timing can also be a concern with using these types of assessments since there are several components that have to work together. Julie has to ensure there is enough time for observations, discussions, and answering the questions. She usually designs activities to take 45-minutes in a 75-minute lecture period, so students have extra time if they need it.
Outcomes
Since students have to formulate detailed responses to questions, Julie has a good indication of where they are in terms their individual learning. She is able to see gaps in student responses to questions, so she knows what concepts she needs to review in class, as well as which ones are well understood. Sometimes, student responses surprise Julie. They think outside of the box and explain their observations in unique ways that she had not thought about before. As long as students have a throughout, correct explanation, they receive the marks for the question.
Most of the students taking the courses are in their first year of university and have come out of high school science classes that use exclusively multiple-choice exams. Student have little experience with writing out answers and demonstrating the full extent of their thinking rather than just giving a single answer. This leads to some initial apprehension and unfamiliarity with the format. However, students get more comfortable over time, and their confidence and performance improve. Julie notes that she does several ungraded activities at the start of the course to give students some experience making observations and applying learning to practical situations.
Students have positive feedback about the assessments. They specifically note that they feel that they have actually learned a lot and had opportunities to make discoveries for themselves, rather than just getting information and regurgitating it. Students like that their learning cumulates, so all of their efforts at the start of the semester continue to pay off as they learn more. They find that they are able to remember and use all of what they learned. Although it is hard for Julie to track the specific impact that the courses have on students’ future success, she is confident that they leave having learned a lot and have the skills to be critical, analytical thinkers.
-Ashley Weleschuk
