Often, instructors teach the content with the expectation that students will either understand the concepts or volunteer to ask questions on the areas of struggle or confusion. While this assumption might work for some students, it might not be effective for students who shy off to ask questions. Such students are likely to be left out and continue struggling with particular concepts if not addressed in real-time. Soliciting information from students on what they understood or did not understand through classroom assessment techniques (CATs) can alleviate this barrier. A handful of quantitative studies have investigated the effects of CATs on student performance in chemistry; however, few in-depth qualitative studies, if any, have investigated the influence of CATs, such as the muddiest point, on student learning in chemistry. Using the Top Hat teaching technology, we investigated 1) how writing down perceived muddy points on specific chapter units in a general chemistry lecture course influenced students’ understanding of chemistry concepts, 2) how viewing peer responses on muddy points impacted, if at all, individual students in the course, and 3) how student buy-in in the muddiest point activities influenced their performance in the final exam. Findings revealed that identifying and addressing learning gaps was the most frequently reported benefit of writing down muddy points. Additionally, most participants reported the benefits of seeing their peers’ responses such as potentially overlooked areas of struggle, decreased anxiety, and increased confidence and persistence in the course as a result of viewing their peers’ responses. Findings also indicated that 52% of the study participants reported a positive influence of the CAT activities and scored 24.4% more ABCs and 24.4% lower DFs grades compared to those who reported ‘no influence’. Findings imply the need to intentionally embed opportunities for real-time student reflections on learning in chemistry classrooms.

General chemistry students’ perceptions of the muddiest point activities in learning chemistry

ACS Fall 2021

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