Strategies to Promote Active Learning in Chemistry Courses: Multi-Intiative Dissemination Workshops

University Of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI

Investigators

Abstract

Chemistry (12) The five major projects funded by the National Science Foundation through the Systemic Changes in the Undergraduate Chemistry Curriculum initiative have developed a wide range of teaching innovations that transform traditional passive lecture courses into active learning courses. These innovations have in common the goal of making students responsible for constructing their own ways of knowing. These projects, ChemLinks, ModularCHEM, Molecular Science, New Traditions, and Workshop Chemistry, have spent up to five years developing these innovations and have begun a number of efforts to disseminate the results. While the impact of various dissemination mechanisms is still being evaluated, it has become clear that the single most effective dissemination strategy is to hold hands-on workshops wherein faculty can gain experience with the diverse range of innovations and choose those which best match their individual teaching styles. Only then can they fully appreciate the impact such strategies can have on students' learning styles and habits. Faculty response to these early workshops has been extremely positive and suggests that there is a need for this dissemination effort to continue well beyond the five-year grant period of these reform initiatives. This project allows the five projects to continue to offer faculty development workshops for an additional three years. The schedule of workshops provides a predictable dissemination effort, allows continued evaluation of the effectiveness of the workshops, and significantly increases the likelihood that these collective efforts will impact the structure and pedagogy of the traditional general chemistry curriculum across the United States. The format at these workshops is to provide materials and meals at no cost to participants and to require participants to cover their travel expenses. We invite teams of faculty from participating institutions so that there is local, on-campus support for innovations that are adopted/adapted as a result of the workshop exposure, thus enhancing the probability that changes are sustained. The budget for each workshop includes funds to subsidize the travel for one institution that may otherwise not be able to send participants.