Suzanne Boniface School of Chemical and Physical Sciences Amanda Gilbert

1. How do interventions in first year chemistry classes affect critical thinking and communication skills? Suzanne Boniface School of Chemical and Physical Sciences Amanda Gilbert University Teaching Development Centre Victoria University of Wellington

2. Student Perceptions of 100-level Chemistry courses and skills development 100 – Level Chemistry Courses (introduced in 2009) • CHEM113 – Concepts of Chemistry (assumes Year 12 Chemistry • CHEM114 – Principles of Chemistry (assumes good understanding of Year 13 Chemistry/NCEA Level 3) • CHEM115 – Structure and Spectroscopy (T2 course, 114 is pre-requisite)

3. Questions on Student Feedback on Course Form • This course encouraged me to think critically • This course has helped me to develop my communication skills Student responses 2009

4. How our data compares with University averages

5. Staff Perceptions – OPPORTUNITIES TO DEVELOP SKILLS • Learning objectives rewritten to begin with verbs – students are expected to do something with their knowledge not just remember ‘stuff’ • Nature of questions in assessment tasks changed - now include ‘longer written answers’ which look for a logical progression of ideas and links between concepts and observations (measurements or data (how chemists interpret the world). • Active learning strategies introduced – these are designed to encourage greater engagement by students with new ideas and the development of higher level thinking and the application of knowledge in new contexts.

6. Active Learning Strategies • Clicker Questions feedback to the lecturer feedback to students basic ideas higher order (critical) thinking opportunities • In-lecture worksheets using POGIL methodology (Process Orientated Guided Inquiry Learning) • Pre-laboratory assignments guided questions to unpack the concepts presented in introductory material

7. Exploring the Divide Aims of Research • To ascertain the extent to which students understand the critical thinking and communication skills they are using and developing in 100- level chemistry courses. • To monitor the effectiveness of active learning strategies Methodology • Surveys • Focus Groups • Snapshots of student work • Minute Papers

8. Student Perceptions – SURVEYS Surveys - When do you think critically? Students were asked to indicate the extent to which they felt that feel you are using the following features of critical thinking in the course and give an example of when you have behaved in this way. • Try to clarify the of a concept or idea in chemistry • Think about the reason why a concept or fact in chemistry is true or false? • Make a judgement about which method or answer is better?   • Make a decision about how to answer a question in chemistry? • Explain something you have learned in chemistry to another person?   • Think about how your understanding of chemistry is changing?

9. Student Perceptions – SURVEYS • Assignments and laboratory sessions - times they were most likely to try to clarify the meaning of a concept or idea and where they would be trying to make a decision about how to answer a question in chemistry. • Only a small number of students were able to give example of when they thought about why a concept or fact in chemistry is true or false. • Most able to specify subject areas within the course where they were applying critical thinking. (Across all topics but strongly linked to the types of questions asked). We don't really have to think about why something is true or false – we assume that information is true seeing as CHEM 113 isn't extremely advanced.

10. Student Perceptions – FOCUS Groups • Critical Thinking needs to be defined I don’t think that without someone telling us about critical thinking I don’t think we’d even know what it was. We need to be made aware of what it is first and then we can realise that ‘Oh we are actually doing this.’ • There isn’t time to think critically in this course The fast pace of the course means that you move on to another new idea before you have time to fully understand the last one. I think that the pace at which we are going through the information is quite fast and at least I find it’s difficult to comprehend everything that is going on ….

11. Student Perceptions – FOCUS Groups • Critical Thinking is not a term I would use about chemistry Yeah, and I would say that chemistry is almost like math in a way, like critical thinking is not a term that I would come up with initially. I would say that critical thinking is something like ‘OK, let’s discuss the factors of economics’ you know it’s like what is going on with like, politics … I think critically about those things but chemistry is not something that I really think critically about in the same aspects. It’s like, OK, I know the foundations of how these systems work and how the periodic table works and that is what I apply. • Critical thinking is more applicable at higher levels ….where you need to ‘get from something you know nothing about and establish what it is.

12. STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING OF CRITICAL THINKING • Analysing questions, • Applying of knowledge to new situations, • Thinking for themselves, • Integrating elements from various aspects of the course and, • Seeing the connections between the theory and it’s place in their everyday lives. . The students recognised that these skills moved them away from just “rote learning” and memory work to a greater depth of understanding.

13. STUDENTS THINKING CRITICALLY Weekly assignments • a considerable step up from the questions given in lecture examples. • think about the content in greater depth. • more challenging than tests (and the examination). Assignments set throughout the course make you think. Having to justify your answers means that you really, really think about why you’ve decided on that answer. Assignments vs tests I think they do a better job of assessing critical thinking in assignments than they do in tests.

14. STUDENTS THINKING CRITICALLY Practical work • Links to the lecture course was seen to encourage more in-depth thinking and application of concepts. • Presenting ideas to other people When you present your findings of an experiment when you get higher up (in your thinking). Clicker questions and lecture worksheets Worksheets in lectures definitely because you sort of argue your answers which is kind of helpful. Clicker question made you think on the spot about the ideas and showed you how much you understood – and what you actually need to understand. .

15. STUDENTS AND COMMUNICATION Focus groups – centred on verbal and written communication skills • Valued opportunities to develop ideas through discussions with other students in lectures (clicker questions and worksheets) and in laboratories • Clicker questions highly rated • Groups of students formed their own study groups which gave opportunities to clarify understanding • Stories about “real world’ applications presented in lectures encouraged students to talk about chemistry outside class and helped develop more depth to their understanding Discipline specific communication – not mentioned (Communication in chemistry requires linking observations, properties of sub-microscopic particles and symbols)

16. Course evaluations - 2010

17. Should we have expected a change? Overall University Median Results for the GA Questions 2007 & 2009 Bowden, L., and Sutherland K. (2010) ‘Students’ Perceptions of the Effects of Coursework on Their Development of Graduate Attributes’. Presentation to the 2010 HERDSA Conference.

18. Overall University Medians and by course level for Critical Thinking Overall Chemistry Medians and by course level for Critical Thinking and Communication

19. So what did we learn about the graduate attribute skills? • We need to be explicit about what the terms we use mean in our discipline • We need to show that we value these skills (and that they are an integral part of our course) through the type of questioning that is used in all assessment opportunities • We need to model ‘discipline thinking’ explicitly and expect students to take this on board • We need to give students time/space to develop these skills – this might mean that we reduce the amount of ‘content’?

20. What else did students tell us? • Workload issues in CHEM113 and CHEM114 • Tutorials not working for them • Pre lab quizzes valued but take too much time • Need to signal level of expectation in tests and assignments • Students value opportunities to discuss ideas with each other clicker questions and POGIL style sheets in lectures to develop skills weekly assignments to develop depth of understanding • Hindrances to learning workload pace of courses lack of understanding of expectations

21. What are we doing about it? • Evaluation of workload – so far we have introduced: on-line pre-laboratory quizzes with videos about techniques reduced expectation for laboratory reports (greater emphasis on lab skills) • Evaluation of tutorials - POGIL worksheets introduced • Introduction of a poster assignment focussing on group skills and chemistry communication principles • Opportunities to talk about ideas in lectures (clicker questions and worksheets) and study groups (PASS) • Feedback from assignments to model expectations for communication • Skills development made more explicit

22. NEXT STEPS • Evaluation of changes • Survey 2011 class • Benchmarking of communication and critical thinking skills through assignments and test Victoria University Teaching and Development Grant 2010 Dr Joanne Harvey, School of Chemical and Physical Sciences ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS