Supplemental instruction (SI) is a peer-led program that utilizes structured questioning techniques to enable students to better understand challenging concepts, such as atomic structure.  At the beginning of the semester, the SI Leader administers a pretest designed to assess the extent of students' knowledge. The SI Leader then employs exploratory questioning techniques previously shown to be effective in ascertaining comprehension and identifying gaps in knowledge. As a result, students with a deficient grasp of atomic structure have their problem areas addressed and remedied. This presentation focuses on the structure of the open-ended questions and their accompanying techniques used to analyze the students' conceptual problems and close the revealed knowledge gaps. At the end of the semester, the SI Leader administers a posttest to gauge the students' advancement in comprehension as a result of this process.

Questioning techniques to assess knowledge level of atomic structure for general chemistry students

247th National Meeting (2014)

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