In large lecture courses where student-teacher interactions are minimal, learning tools that allow students to become engaged learners are crucial. For example, writing as a learning tool has been used as a powerful teaching technique for students to construct their own individual understanding. Online resources have also grown increasingly popular as media to engage a large number of students via graphic animations, video tutorials, and interactive tutorials that students can utilize at their own pace. Among these online resources, Wikipedia has become a dominant source of information for the casual learner as well as a gateway to additional information. While the main use of a wiki such as Wikipedia is information exchange, wikis provide an excellent platform for students to write about chemical concepts and utilize the plethora of graphic animations available on the internet. Another potential advantage of constructing student knowledge on a wiki platform is the inherent use of hypertext, or the explicit linking of one student's page to another, which may facilitate the building of bridges between interconnected concepts. Although wikis have been utilized successfully in smaller classrooms (30 students or less), the effectiveness of constructing a class wiki in larger lecture courses (300 students or more) has not been determined. This study will describe the use of a student-generated general chemistry wiki in large lecture courses and its effect on student learning gains.

Does the use of a student-generated chemistry wiki affect student performance in large general chemistry courses?

247th National Meeting (2014)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.