Designing and Evaluating Context- and Problem-Based Learning Resources

Christine O’Connor, Michael SeeryDublin Institute of Technology, Ireland

Overview

• Background

• Resource Design and Development

• Trialling Process

• Evaluation

Background• Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) received HE-STEM (UK)

funding to develop C/PBL resources

• 4 of the 10 ten themed resources were developed in DIT and are available on the Learn Chemistry website: www.rsc.org/learnchemistry

• Each resource is based on 50 learning hours (25/25)

• Wiki

• Supported by 2 research assistants over 9 months

What is Context and Problem Based Learning (C/PBL)?

Uses real-life applications.

Learners collaborate to solve problems.

Provides the opportunity to develop transferable skills (see later).

Engaged, Enterprising, Enquiry based, Effective, Expert

C/PBL Resources Resource Title Theme Format

Molecules against Malaria

Medicinal chemistry, drug design

Lecture/ workshop

Small Materials to Solve Big Problems

Nanochemistry, energy, medicine, materials

Lecture/ workshop

Faster Greener Chemistry?

Organic/inorganic synthesis, green chemistry

Laboratory

Pollutant Detection and Remediation

Physical chemistry, adsorption, advanced auto-oxidation processes, kinetics

Laboratory

Resource Components

• Each resource contains– Context Information– Tutor Guide– Induction Presentation – Student Guide– Wiki (group collab and tutor monitoring)

• Some additional materials– Nanomaterials has several online resources on

instrumentation and techniques– Some resources contain extensive annotated bibliographies

Small Materials to Solve Big Problems

Small Materials to Solve Big Problems

Workshop 1:

Module induction

Overview of library resources

Workshop 2:

Student presentation on “Applications of Nanomaterials in

Society”

Workshop 3:

Class debate on “Advantages and Disadvantages of Nanomaterials in

Society”

Workshop 4:

Research on synthesis of nanomaterials

Workshop 5:

Research on characterisation of

nanomaterials

Workshop 6:

Student presentation on case study

Close of module

Module Assessment

Assessment ComponentMark

Allocation

Assessment

mark

Information retrieval (Workshop 1) Individual 10%

PowerPoint presentation (Workshop 2) Individual 20%

Debate (Workshop 3) Individual 20%

Case Study 50%

Breakdown:

Attendance and contribution at workshop 4-6 Individual (15%)

Group wiki Group (20%)

Peer assessment mark for wiki presentation Group (5%)

Final individual reflective piece Individual (10%)

Transferable Skills DevelopedTeam work: work in groups to complete the tasks.

Organisation and planning:

prepare procedures and plan effective use of time in the laboratory.

Communication: oral presentation and report writing.

Drawing conclusions and recommendations:

Justify decisions, assumptions and conclusions with reference to results from other groups and supporting literature.

Numeracy: apply green chemistry metrics to experimental results.

Professional role & responsibilities:

adopt role of a professional chemist to consider the environmental impact & costing

Problem solving: address the brief in the scenario presented.

Information technology skills:

use a wiki to collaborate & develop ability to use word-processing, spreadsheet, presentation, chemical drawing and library database software.

Metacognition: reflect on the case study using the guidelines provided.

Students asked to summarise their reflections on the development of these transferable skills at the end of

the case study

Graduate Attribute/SkillEngaged eg within Professional, community, social,learning global contexts

Context, adopting role as professional scientists

Enterprising Eg Career development, innovation projects, creative practice etc

Fulfilling a professional contract – achieving specified targets

Enquiry based Eg Digital networks, knowledge creation,reflective practice, problem solving etc

Nature of investigation requires inquiry

Effective Eg Team projects, co-curricular activities,Time managers, communicators

Group work, complex task involves time management

Expertise (subject discipline)Professional tasks, field studies, practicals, placements etc

Applying prior knowledge to problem solving

Tutor Guide Support

Constructive alignment

Introductory text from tutor

Pages created using project

headings

Log of recent activity used to monitor student contributions

Create new pages and upload files

Trialling Process• Eight institutions across UK and Ireland

piloted resources

• Feedback on improvements to resources

• Feedback on implementation

• Resources now on Learn Chemistry

Evaluation: Tutors• Keen to use context and problem based learning

– No “hard-sell” required– Lack of time to develop cited as a reason for not doing this before

• Flexibility in design important for uptake (constructive alignment)– Assessment, content, delivery, extensions

• Wiki a useful tool to organise group work and provide ongoing feedback

• Learning and understanding perceived to have improved – Exam in one trial

• Assessment (workshop based) is more time consuming

Evaluation: Students

• On the context:– “It makes you feel like an actual scientist rather than just a

student following a set of instructions on a sheet” [Environmental Trial 1]

– “Good way to learn – makes a change from the format most other modules take” [Nanomaterials 1]

– “I found it exciting and rewarding to develop a novel compound and really enjoyed the challenge” [Medicinal 3]

– Lot of work involved, should not be done for more than one module in a year [Medicinal 3]

Evaluation: Students

• On wikis:– 93% preferred wikis to paper, although 67% had

technical difficulties. [Medicinal 1]

– “Editing of others work can be difficult if they do not upload their material in a timely fashion.” [Medicinal 2]

– “Wiki presentation did not work.” [Nanochemistry 2]

Evaluation: Students

• On learning:– “Confidence in medicinal chemistry increased”.

[Medicinal 1 & 2]

– “It has been an absolutely fantastic learning curve, I have gained so much confidence in just being able to plan an experiment and work out where and why it’s gone wrong. Which is definitely something until now I haven’t experienced before in my degree.” [Environmental 1]

Evaluation: Students

• On transferable skills:– “Working in a team was a good experience for me

as I enjoyed it at times, but sometimes I felt other members took over rather than sharing the workload” [Medicinal 3]

– “Did not see how [debate] was relevant to course of career in future!” [Nanochemistry 2]

– “The main skill I have picked up here is problem solving.” [Environmental 1]

Conclusions

• Four C/PBL resources developed and will be available on www.rsc.org/learnchemistry

• Resources provide context and develop transferable skills explicitly – can relate to graduate attributes

• Feedback from tutors positive – flexibility in delivery and technical support key aspects

• Feedback from students positive – clarification on assessment and technical barriers main support requirements

Acknowledgements• Dr Claire Mc Donnell & Dr Sarah Rawe (Academic Developers)

• Dr Brigid Lanigan & Mr Damien Coman (Research Assistants)

• Dr Luke O’Neill, Focas Research Institute

• Trial teams, external evaluator, and their students

• RSC HE-STEM funding programme

• School of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, DIT