An Almost Paperless Organic Chemistry Course with the Use of iPads

Mar 27, 2014 - Transitioning to a paperless course greatly reduces the amount of paper consumed by the students, making the course more environmentall...
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Technology Report pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc

An Almost Paperless Organic Chemistry Course with the Use of iPads Aaron W. Amick*,† and Nancy Cross‡ †

Department of Chemistry and ‡Educational Technology, Washington College, Chestertown, Maryland 21620, United States S Supporting Information *

ABSTRACT: The advancement of tablet computer technology has progressed rapidly in the past three years to the point where organic chemistry can be almost completely paperless. Students in one section of organic chemistry were provided iPads equipped with the application Notability to use in lecture to take notes and to use in the laboratory as a laboratory notebook. All laboratory assignments were completed, submitted, graded, and returned to the students electronically. Student feedback about using iPads in class was very positive, with 9-out-of-12 students preferring to use an iPad to take notes rather than the traditional paper and pencil method.

KEYWORDS: Second-Year Undergraduates, Organic Chemistry, Computer-Based Learning, Communication/Writing

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iPad USE IN LECTURE Prior to this work using iPads, course packets were prepared for both semesters of organic chemistry that paired with Solomons Organic Chemistry 10th edition18 textbook and were available for students as PDF files. Using these note packets as a foundation, students used iPads in lecture to take notes directly into the course packet PDF files. Students learned to navigate Notability and write on an iPad quickly with 9-out-of-12 students commenting favorably about the ease and benefits to using this technology. One of these students wrote a blog post about this trial and his positive experience (see Supporting Information for additional comments).19 An example of a student’s lecture notes taken on an iPad is shown in Figure 1. An additional advantage to having lecture notes on an iPad is that students can quickly access information from previously discussed note packets with or without WiFi, quickly access the e-textbook, or access the Internet. If a student chose to upload a copy of the notes to iCloud,12 Dropbox,13 or Google Drive,14 the lecture notes could be accessed on any device. The versatility of this technology was again demonstrated when a student received a physical injury that inhibited the ability to hold a pen or pencil. To accommodate this student, an iPad with Notability was supplied to the student so that notes could be taken using a finger as a stylus. Other applications are being explored, such as providing college-employed note takers with iPads to increase the speed of information transfer to students who require this service. A major limitation to becoming completely paperless is an inability to administer exams or quizzes on an iPad securely, as students can access notes and the Internet. Another possible

he introduction of smartphones and the iPad have begun to revolutionize the way chemistry courses are taught. Students using a smartphone1 or iPad now have at their fingertips programs and applications that can demonstrate chemical properties,2−4 applications that keep them engaged in the learning process,5,6 provide study guides,7 and allow students to access the chemical literature and databases in an instant.8−10 An iPad can be effectively used as a digital form of paper and pencil because of its size and applications such as Notability.11 This application allows a user to create “notes” into which they can type, add text by dictation, or handwrite notes or structures on a blank document mimicking paper. Notability also allows a user to annotate PDF files by either drawing on them or typing. A student can then transfer documents from an iPad to a computer, peers, or instructors via e-mail, iCloud,12 Dropbox,13 or Google Drive14 as PDF files. With this versatility, an organic chemistry lecture and laboratory can be almost entirely paperless. Transitioning to a paperless course greatly reduces the amount of paper consumed by the students, making the course more environmentally friendly, lowering the cost that the institution must bear on paper and other printing costs, and reducing the cost to the students in direct fees they are charged for paper and printing costs. A possible drawback is the initial cost of an iPad that students must bear; however, the 60% savings that they will enjoy by purchasing e-textbooks can help to offset this cost.15 To investigate the practicality of going almost paperless, a section of second-year undergraduate organic chemistry with 12 students was provided with iPads equipped with Notability and an EverTouch Capacitive Stylus16 or an amPen Capacitive Stylus17 to use in lecture and in the laboratory. © XXXX American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.

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Figure 1. An example of a student’s lecture notes taken on an iPad using Notability.

Figure 2. Example of a student’s laboratory work using the iPad.

notebook pages to the instructor at the end of each laboratory session. Collection of student work was accomplished with the use of the free online data storage site Dropbox.13 Students efficiently transferred their laboratory notebook pages from their iPads to a shared folder that was set up for the class. From this folder, their assignments could then be downloaded onto an instructor’s iPad. Feedback on their assignments was accomplished using Notability (Figure 3). To return graded assignments, each student shared a Dropbox folder with an instructor where graded work was transferred. Uploading and downloading files was very rapid and convenient, but required a WiFi connection.

drawback is that students could browse the Internet in lecture, but this was not observed.

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iPad USE IN THE LABORATORY The same group of 12 students also used iPads in the laboratory as laboratory notebooks. A laboratory notebook template was prepared for students to download and use for each experiment (this template is included in the Supporting Information). Students were able to write their experimental procedures or observations using a stylus, type them using the iPad keyboard, or use the talk-to-text function in Notability, which appears as typed text. Students typically used this dictation function when they were working in the laboratory, as they were not permitted to touch the iPads when wearing gloves or have the iPads in or near the hoods. This policy reduced the likelihood of chemical contamination. Notability also allows a user to take pictures using the iPad camera and insert images into a laboratory notebook, such as pictures of an apparatus or other important images (Figure 2). One concern is that students could erase a notebook entry instead of crossing out a mistake or they could change their original data to obtain a better result leaving no trace of this alteration. In this study, students continued to cross out mistakes and initial them. To avoid edits after the conclusion of a laboratory experiment, each student uploaded laboratory

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ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING Assessment of the effectiveness of this technology on student learning was accomplished by comparing the average score of students in the lecture and laboratory section provided with iPads (12 students) versus their peers in four other sections of the course (60 students). The average score of students who were provided with iPads was a 79% (B) in the laboratory portion of the course, while their peers scored an average of 76% (B−). In the lecture portion of the course, students with iPads again outperformed their peers with an average score of 77% (B−), while their peers scored an average of 74% (C+). B

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Figure 3. A representative example of an assignment graded with the iPad. (4) Lewis, M. S.; Zhao, J.; Montclare, J. K. Development and Implementation of High School Chemistry Modules Using TouchScreen Technologies. J. Chem. Educ. 2012, 89, 1012−1018. (5) McDonald, L. M. Anecdotal Uses of Facebook, GoogleCalendar, and Cell Phones in a High School Classroom. CCCE Newsletter Fall 2010, http://science.widener.edu/svb/cccenews/fall2010/paper4.html (accessed Mar 2014). (6) Lee, A. W. M.; Ng, J. K. Y.; Wong, E. Y. W.; Tan, A.; Lau, A. K. Y.; Lai, S. F. Y. Lecture Rule No. 1: Cell Phones ON, Please! A Low-Cost Personal Response System for Learning and Teaching. J. Chem. Educ. 2013, 90, 388−389. (7) iHelpNYC Software. Chem Pro: Chemistry Tutor in Your Pocket. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chem-pro-chemistry-tutor-in/ id386263255?mt=8 (accessed Mar 2014). (8) American Chemical Society Software. ACS Mobile. https://itunes. apple.com/us/app/acs-mobile/id355382930?mt=8 (accessed Mar 2014). (9) Molecular Materials Informatics, Inc. Software. ChemSpider. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chemspider/id458878661?mt=8 (accessed Mar 2014). (10) Libman, D.; Huang, L. Chemistry on the Go: Review of Chemistry Apps on Smartphones. J. Chem. Educ. 2013, 90, 320−325. (11) (a) Ginger Labs Software. Take Notes & Annotate PDFs with Dropbox & Google Drive Sync. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ notability-take-notes-annotate/id360593530?mt=8 (accessed Mar 2014). (b) Ginger Labs Software. Take Notes & Annotate PDFs with Dropbox & Google Drive Sync. http://www.gingerlabs.com (accessed Mar 2014). (12) iCloud Software. Apple. https://www.icloud.com (accessed Mar 2014). (13) Dropbox Software. Dropbox. https://www.dropbox.com (accessed Mar 2014). (14) Google Inc. Software. Google Drive. https://www.google.com (accessed Mar 2014). (15) This statistic is based upon the comparison of the list price of the hardcover Solomons 11th edition Organic Chemistry textbook ($262.50) versus the e-textbook ($99.50) posted at www.wiley.com as of August 2013. (16) The EverTouch Captive iPad Styluses were purchased from www. Amazon.com. This stylus is manufactured by BoxWave: http://www. boxwave.com/ipad-stylus/evertouch-capacitive-ipad-stylus/bwpdd/ mpk-tmmw/ (accessed Mar 2014). (17) The amPen Capacitive Styluses was purchased from www. Amazon.com. This stylus is manufactured by Tech Matte: http://www.

This assessment indicates that students who were provided with iPads slightly outperformed their peers in both lecture and in the laboratory.

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CONCLUSION Tablet computers, specifically an iPad equipped with the Notability application, allowed students and instructors to go almost completely paperless easily in an organic chemistry lecture and laboratory. This work also showed that students who used iPads in lecture and in the laboratory slightly outperformed their peers in both. The continued use of this technology has many financial and environmental benefits to students and institutions, and has a promising future.

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ASSOCIATED CONTENT

* Supporting Information S

A copy of the laboratory notebook template and student comments about the project. This material is available via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.

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AUTHOR INFORMATION

Corresponding Author

*E-mail: [email protected]. Notes

The authors declare no competing financial interest.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors would like to thank Washington College for its financial support and Andrea Vassar for her support on this project. REFERENCES

(1) Williams, A. J.; Pence, H. E. Smart Phones, a Powerful Tool in the Chemistry Classroom. J. Chem. Educ. 2011, 88, 683−686. (2) Schwartz, P. M.; Lepore, D. M.; Morneau, B. N.; Barratt, C. Demonstrating Optical Activity Using an iPad. J. Chem. Educ. 2011, 88, 1692−1693. (3) Czegan, D. A. C.; Hoover, D. K. UV−Visible Spectrometers: Versatile Instruments across the Chemistry Curriculum. J. Chem. Educ. 2012, 89, 304−309. C

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techmatte.com/amPen-Ultra-sensitive-Capacitive-Stylus-NonReplaceable/dp/B00HAOHV0G (accessed Mar 2014). (18) Solomons, T. W. G.; Fryhle, C. B. Organic Chemistry, 10th ed.; Wiley: Hoboken, NJ, 2011. (19) Straube Education Blog Entry by Sean Scarpiello (20 October 2012): http://straube.blogspot.com/2012/10/implementing-ipadsand-notability-in.html (accessed Mar 2014).

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