In common with other colleges and universities that teach chemistry in large lecture classes, UMBC has historically had too many students who are unsuccessful in introductory chemistry classes. The traditional model of teaching used in these classes relies primarily on faculty lecturing to students, with minimal active participation by the students. A highly regarded alternative to the lecturing format is to change the focus of the classroom from teacher-dominated to student-centered, using a constructivist approach. By this concept, learners actively take knowledge, connect it to previously assimilated knowledge and make it theirs by constructing their own interpretation. The teaching philosophies and techniques of constructivism comprise a teaching approach of intimately connecting the meaning of the lesson with student experience. Thus, students are encouraged to organize and analyze information, and teaching strategies are tailored to student understanding. This model is premised on (i) students being actively in learning, (ii) students learning by constructing knowledge, (iii) students learning from each other. Students then learn the process skills necessary to acquire and apply knowledge, to succeed in the workplace, and to become life-long learners.<br/><br/>It is well established that active learning results in greater gains in student conceptual knowledge and retention compared to traditional modes of teaching. However, active learning can be very difficult to implement in a large-enrollment course due to various course and institutional barriers. Herein, we describe the development and implementation of Discovery Learning, a novel active learning recitation for a large enrollment general chemistry course. Drawing on the very successful cooperative learning pedagogies Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) and Student-Centered Active Learning Environment with Upside-down Pedagogies (SCALE-UP), Discovery Learning involves students working in self-managed teams on inquiry problems in a unique learning environment, the Chemistry Discovery Center. In this presentation, we will describe the design and implementation of Discovery Learning and report data on its successes, which include increased student performance and retention.

Discovery learning: Development of a unique active learning environment for introductory chemistry

256th National Meeting (2018)

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