Guided inquiry learning is a powerful framework for active learning in STEM classrooms. To enable instructors to employ guided inquiry techniques in college-level polymer science classrooms, we have developed a collection of 19 guided inquiry activities designed to help students explore core topics in polymer chemistry, polymer physics, and polymer characterization. The activity collection, which is freely available and under ongoing development, has been used successfully as the primary instructional material for an undergraduate course in synthesis and characterization of polymers at the University of Pittsburgh over the past three years. Initial pre/post assessments in this course suggest that the guided inquiry approach improves students' confidence in figuring out how to solve unfamiliar problems and in reaching conclusions from given data or evidence even in upper-level chemistry electives. Implementation and evaluation of the activities at other universities will be a critical next step for refining the collection to serve as a useful resource across a wide range of educational contexts.

Development and assessment of guided inquiry activities for polymer science

ACS Spring 2022

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