In the 2013-2014 school year, a new assessment system was piloted and adopted for the general chemistry sequence at UC Davis. The purpose of this suite of tools was to give a faculty member, interested in adopting evidence-based teaching practices, a means to measure if their changes in practice are associated with improvements in student learning or attitudes. The assessment system has three components: content pre/post assessment, attitudes towards chemistry instrument, and systematic observations of in-class activities. The content assessment is a 35 question multiple choice exam which was designed at UC Davis to assess the learning outcomes for each quarter of general chemistry. Attitudes towards chemistry was measured by using the well validated CLASS Chem instrument (1). Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS) Tool was adapted to characterize what type of activities are happening in the classroom (2). In Fall 2014, five lectures taught the first quarter of general chemistry. Four lecturers used more conventional teaching practices and one implemented a highly structured classroom pedagogy (3). This poster will show how the first attempt of this evidence-based approach compares to more conventional approaches using the new assessment system as the basis of comparison. (1) Adams, W.K.; Wieman, C.E.; Perkins, K.K.; Barbera, J. J. Chem. Educ. 2008, 85 (10), p 1435. (2) Smith, M.K.; Jones, F.H.M.; Gilbert, S.L.; Wieman, C.E. CBE Life Sci Edu. 2013, 12(4), p 618. (3) Freeman, S.; Haak, D.; Wenderoth, M.P.; CBE Life Sci Edu. 2011, 10(2), p 175.

Flipping general chemistry via a highly structured teaching pedagogy: Initial conclusions

249th National Meeting (2015)

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