An Audio-Tutorial Program in Allied Health Chemistry Students taking chemistry for nursing or other allied health programs a t community colleges bring a variety of backgrounds to the course. They may be loosely classed into three groups: ( I ) Many are recent h ~ g hschool graduates, hut, even in these cases, the group is heterogeneous. (2) Some are veterans and former medics in the armed services. They may not have been exposed to a chemistry course for four or six years hut bring a great deal of practical experience with them. (3) There is a considerable number of housewives who have been out of school for five to twenty years or more. The paramedical student in a two-year program usually takes just one chemistry course. In this one quarter (or semester) he is exposed to most of the biochemistry he is going to get for his associate degree. Obviously, structure and propertm of organic compounds must also be met to understand biochemical principles. The challenge to the instructor is overwhelming. First, he must sift through the vast storehouse of biochemical knowledge for the minimum that the paramedic needs for success in his program. Then, he has the even greater task of making the material understandable, interesting, and practical. An audio-tutorial program is one route that was found to he successful at the Western Campus of Cuyahoga Community College. After dissatmfaction with traditional approaches, meetings were held and questionnaires circulated to directors of the programs to determine what they believed to be important in chemistry for their particular programs. Attendance of one chemistry instructor at nursing arts classes for two quarters gave further insight into the needs of nursing. In all cases, the paramedical directors want their students to have an understanding of fluid and electrolyte balance. vitamins and intermediarv metabolism of carbohydrates. lipids, and protens. Inhalation t h e r a ~ i s t sneed additional'study of gas laws hut this isbetter placed in a preliminary introductory chemistry or physics course: The paramedical students are pre-tested and, if the high school background is found to be inadequate, they f i n t take introductory inorganic chemistry for one quarter. After completing this, they are enrolled in a one-quarter organic chemistry, biochemistry course. Minicourses for the audio-tutorial program were designed for the following topics: 1) hydrocarbons, 2) halogen compounds, alcohols, phenols, ethers, 3) aldehydes, ketones, acids, esters, amines, and amides, 4) carbohydrates, 5) lipids, 6) proteins, 7) body fluids, 8) DNA, 9) protein synthesis, 10) enzymes, 11) digestion, 12) carbohydrate metabolism, 13) lipid metabolism, 14)prateinmetabolism. In addition, several were designed for review of chemical principles for some few students who needed preliminary work but were excused from the prerequisite. There are 4 of these: 1) the metric system, density, 2) atomic structure, bonding, formulas, and equations, 3) acids, bases, pH, and buffers, 4) solutions. The minicourses are designed a s outlines and worksheets to be filled in from reading and problems in texts, laboratory observations, viewing of slides, charts, etc., and information obtained from listening to cassette tapes. Each is headed by behavioral objectives and materials needed. Along with preparation of the student hand-out, a script had to be prepared for each cassette to accompany the minicourse. Two of us worked during the spring and summer quarters as well as the fall, while the course was going on. The minicourses still need editing and, after two quarters of classroom use, some changes that were suggested by colleagues and students. The class was scheduled for four hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory per week. The students met as a group for only one hour per week for discussion and questions. Other than that, they worked in the laboratory with the minicourses and cassettes, each at his own pace. There was a quiz given upon completion of each minicourse. The student had the privilege of repeating a quiz without penalty and many took a second test aver the same material. A few even tried a third time. T h e technique of using an audio-tutorial program with open lab and repeated testing has many advantages. Theoretically, a student may complete the course work in fewer than the scheduled ten weeks. However, only one student finished early. She took eight weeks to complete the work. In the first quarter that the course was offered, six students took a grade of incomplete. Four used the final exam week and the three weeks of the Christmas break to finish and two others extended their work into the next quarter. Thus one student needed eighteen weeks to complete the minicourses. Other advantages of the A-T method include a reduction of attrition and a decrease in student'frustrations and anxieties. Frequent quiz and drill sessions established a rapport comparable to that found in traditional chemistry programs. Scheduling problems were practically eliminated since the students could use the tapes and complete their lab exercises during a variety of available time periods. The students' major complaint was the time the program took. They claim to have spent much more time than they would with a traditional course. Checking on time cards made out when cassette players and tapes were issued, the average number of hours per week spent by a student was seven. With one additional hour in class, this does not seem to be unreasonable since the students stated that little additional time was needed for study outside. Grades were higher than usual, hut this was probably because of retesting without penalty. There is no way, a t present, to measure how much knowledge was obtained, or will be retained from the A-T experience. Since there was not a statistical sample of students, a comparison of the A-T program with the traditional program was not possible. Presented by E. Laughlin a t the Livingston Symposium on Continuing Education at the Sixth Central Regional ACS Conference in Detroit, April 22, 1974. Cuyahoga Community College
Parma, Ohio
Ethelreda Laughlin Norbert Kurnath
Volume 52, Number 2, February 1975
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75
