Workshop on personalised learning in first year chemistry classes

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– Go to
– b.socrative.com and follow ‘student login’
– Room = “CHEM1001”

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Personalised learning
and support in large
chemistry classes
Professor Adam Bridgeman
Director, Educational Innovation
Deputy Vice Chancellor (Education)
Portfolio
2015 Australian National Learning and
Teaching Fellow

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A future of personalised learning and
support
Supporting
students
transition to
university
Personalised
online learning
and support
Active and social
learning with an
inquiry focus

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Listening vs active learning
Bonwell, C.C., and J. A. Eison, Active Learning: Creating
Excitement in the Classroom, ASHEERIC Higher
Education Report No. 1, George Washington University,
Washington, DC , 1991.
They must read, write, discuss, or be engaged in
solving problems…..to be actively involved,
students mast engage in such higher-order thinking
tasks as analysis, synthesis, and
evaluation….strategies promoting active learning be
defined as instructional activities involving students in
doing things and thinking about what they are doing.
…leads to better student attitudes and
improvements in students’ thinking and
writing……surpasses traditional lectures for retention

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Re-thinking the lecture
Weaver, G. C., Sturtevant, H., (2015), Design,
Implementation and Evaluation of a Flipped Format General
Chemistry Course, J. Chem. Ed., 92(9), 1437-1448

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Attention span
Johnstone, A. H., Percival, F., (1976), Attention Breaks in
Lectures, Education in Chemistry, 13(2), 49-50.
A general feature observed in most lectures was a
period of non-attention at the start of a lecture, due to
the class ‘settling down’. The next lapse in attention,
usually occurred some 10-18 mins later, and as the
lecture proceeded the attention span became shorter
and often fell to 3 or 4 minutes towards the end of a
standard lecture.
….lecturers who ‘did not want to waste time with breaks’
almost certainly lost out in effective class learning.

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Writing vs typing
Meuller P. & Oppenehimer D., (2014), The pen is mightier
than the keyboard: Advantage of longhand over laptop
notetaking, Psychological Science, 25(6), 1159-1168.
“….students who took notes on laptops performed
worse on conceptual questions than students who took
notes longhand. We show that whereas taking more
notes can be beneficial, laptop note takers’ tendency to
transcribe lectures verbatim rather than processing
information and reframing it in their own words is
detrimental to learning.”

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- Multiple streams of lectures
- 20+ lecturers with varying styles, engagement and
experience
Re-engaging students with lectures
Students Lecturer

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Preparation encourages participation
(including attendance)
– Pre-lecture videos made with screen capture software
– Mastery quizzes which students can repeat (& repeat &
repeat)
– Provides data before class on potential issues
The University of Sydney
firstyear.chem.usyd.edu.au/iChem/

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Social and active face-to-face time
CHEM1001: Worksheet – Lecture 14
Model 1: Shells and sub-shells
The$Bohr$model$of$electron$orbits$(shells)$is$an$over6simplification.$$In$practice$the$shells$are$split$into$
sub6shells,$the$number$of$sub6shells$depending$on$the$size$of$the$shell.$$The$Periodic$Table$reflects$
the$sequential$filling$of$sub6shells$starting$from$the$one$closest$to$the$nucleus.$
Critical thinking questions
1. Complete$the$table$by$indicating$the$maximum$number$of$electrons$that$can$fit$into$each$sub6
shell$and$shell$
$ s"sub6shell$ p"sub6shell$ d"sub6shell$ Total$number$of$electrons$in$shell$
n&=$1$shell$ $ $ $ $
n&=$2$shell$ $ $ $ $
n&=$3$shell$ $ $ $ $
2. Which$groups$in$the$Periodic$Table$represent$elements$in$which$an$s6sub6shell$is$being$filled?$$
This$is$the$‘s6block’$of$the$Periodic$Table.$
$
3. Which$groups$in$the$Periodic$Table$represent$elements$in$which$a$p6sub6shell$is$being$filled?$$
This$is$the$‘p6block’$of$the$Periodic$Table.$
$
4. Which$groups$in$the$Periodic$Table$represent$elements$in$which$a$d6sub6shell$is$being$filled?$$
This$is$the$‘d6block’$of$the$Periodic$Table.$
Model 2: Electron configurations
We$can$label$the$sub6shells$with$a$number$which$indicates$the$shell$
to$which$it$belongs,$a$letter$indicating$the$sub6shell$and$a$superscript$
indicating$the$number$of$electrons$present.$$So$2p4
$indicates$the$
second$shell,$the$p6sub6shell$and$the$presence$of$four$electrons.$$
The$sub6shells$are$filled$from$the$most$stable$first,$along$the$
diagonals$in$the$picture:$$
1s&®$2s$®$2p&$®$3s$®$3p&®$4s&®$3d&®$4p$
Critical thinking questions
1. Write$the$electron$configurations$of$the$following$atoms:$
$
(a) B:$ $ $ (b)$ C$ $ $ (c)$ N$
$
(d)$ O$ $ $ (e)$ F$ $ $ (f)$ Ne$
The University of Sydney

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POGIL-style worksheets
1
– Learning cycle of exploration, concept invention and
application
– Students work in a discovery team-based environment
– Maximum length of 2 sides
– Interspersed with mini-lectures, feedback and discussion
– Instant and constant feedback on level of understanding and
misconceptions

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Formative assessment
Finding out students’ knowledge and misconceptions
during learning activities to modify them and provide
feedback
– In class activities and polls:
– measure students understanding and
misconceptions
– identify ways to engage and bring out ideas
– Go to
– b.socrative.com and follow ‘student login’
– Room = ‘CHEM1001’
– Low stakes online and in-class ‘formal’ quizzes

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Designing assessments to give feedback
and provide data
– ‘Fast and personal feedback’ on in-class MCQ quizzes and
assignments

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1
Personalising learning support

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1
Personalising learning support

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Active learning online: social learning
› Using the online environment for what it is good at
– Students can watch multiple times
– Computer is a patient and anonymous marker
– Allows use of 3D models and simulations

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Active learning online: aggregating and
tagging resources
Curating of resources by staff and students

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Active learning online: guided inquiry

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Using assessment data to personalise
support
Diagnostic and formative assessments provides each
teacher with data to support cohort and each individual:
– provide remedial or additional academic support for
class
– provide evidence for academic interventions for
individuals
– target student support services

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Early warning system

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Early warning system

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CHEM1001 – results 2008 – 2015
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Enrolment
FA FA FA FA FA FA FA FA
PS PS PS PS PS PS
PS PS
CR CR CR CR CR CR
CR CR
DI DI DI DI DI DI
DI DI
HD HD HD HD HD HD HD HD
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Fractionofstudents

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Thank you
adam.bridgeman@sydney.edu.au
@AdamBridgem
an
- Questions?
@SydneyEduInn
ov

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Student comments on approach
– I actually genuinely looked forward to and was excited to attend (unlike most other
classes I've taken this year).
– …. so good I'm considering changing my degree to organic chemistry or biochemistry.
– They're great at keeping the subject matter interesting and make understanding the
concepts super easy
– “Keeps me on task throughout semester and means I come to lectures with a head start
– Creative and interactive environment that is engaging to learn in.
– They gave a good background/starting point into the content in the upcoming week,
which made the content easier to learn since it wasn’t the first time we were exposed to
the content. They made me feel more prepared for lectures and were a nice summary
for revision.
– I think they were great because even in the weeks when I felt so busy, and other study
plans had to be put aside, I felt motivated to make the time to watch the video and do
the quiz. They helped with lecture content too.
– By the end of semester I valued the extra exposure to content that the videos provided,
and I wished that I had them in other subjects.

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Incentives to Attend Lectures
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
NumberofStudents
Semester 1 Semester 2
* = Active Learning

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Perceptions of Online Learning Materials
“The video
lectures were
useful to my
learning”
“The pre-lecture
quizzes were
useful to my
learning”
Strongly Disagree
.
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree