Collaborative Research: Moving Faculty from Experimentation With to Long-term Adoption of Engaged Student Learning in Analytical Chemistry

Bates College, Lewiston ME

Investigators

Abstract

The goal of this project is to implement a national professional development program that promotes the use of engaged student learning in the analytical chemistry classroom and laboratory. Each instructor will participate in a two-year process involving a national workshop, regional workshop, and site visit to the individual's campus. An online community will be developed to sustain engagement after the workshops. An education research project will examine the (1) characteristics of professional development workshops and follow-up support activities that result in effective sustained implementation of active learning, (2) ways instructors adapt the materials to suit their teaching philosophies and institutional environments, (3) impact of the implementation of active learning modules on student learning, and (4) best practices for creating an on-line community that supports sustained implementation of active learning. Formative assessment of early workshops will be used to refine and improve the strategies for later workshops and follow-up activities. This project will promote and study the adoption of evidence-based, active teaching methods by analytical chemical faculty members. Numerous studies show that small-group collaborative learning and inquiry-based activities lead to statistically significant improvements in student learning and increased student retention and engagement, especially among women, underrepresented, and first generation college students. However, wide-spread adoption of active learning pedagogies remains an elusive goal. Intense and collaborative forms of professional development are warranted to bring about changes in teacher knowledge, skills, attitudes, and beliefs that lead to changes in classroom and laboratory instruction. This project's process of networking in person and via an on-line community will provide sustained interaction between participants and facilitators with expertise in active learning leading to a shared vision and substantive change in the teaching methods of participants. The result will be a set of professional development experiences that support sustained adoption of active learning strategies. This will lead to more effective instructors of analytical chemistry courses and enhanced learning on the part of their students.