Communication pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
ConfChem Conference on Select 2016 BCCE Presentations: Introduction Jennifer L. Muzyka,*,† Tanya Gupta,‡ and Robert Belford§ †
Chemistry Department, Centre College, Danville, Kentucky 40422, United States Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota 57007, United States § Chemistry Department, University of Arkansas, Little Rock, Little Rock, Arkansas 72022, United States ‡
ABSTRACT: One of the challenges associated with attending a BCCE (Biennial Conference in Chemical Education) is choosing which talks to attend, because there are often concurrent talks in different symposia in which participants are interested. These conflicts between multiple interests are especially challenging for members of the CCCE (Committee on Computers in Chemical Education) who organize symposia and workshops. Thus, the responsibility of presiding in talks of their own symposium precludes them from attending other symposia that interest them. This year, members of the CCCE organized four different symposia during the BCCE. Organizers of three of these symposia each invited two or three authors to present papers related to the use of computers in chemical education in a follow-up online ConfChem Conference. This approach allows participants who could not attend these talks to interact with authors, and also allows members of the broader chemical education community who could not attend the BCCE to benefit from these presentations. KEYWORDS: First-Year Undergraduate/General, Second-Year Undergraduate, Organic Chemistry, Internet/Web-Based Learning, Testing/Assessment, Conferences, Professional Development, Student-Centered Learning
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INTRODUCTION The Biennial Conference in Chemical Education (BCCE)1 brings in researchers and educators from across the nation. However, a key challenge with attending the BCCE is its concurrent presentations during symposia organized in parallel sessions, which makes it difficult for meeting attendees to select between simultaneous presentations that may be of great interest to them. Symposia and workshop organizers who are members of CCCE (Committee on Computers in Chemical Education)2 found it difficult to attend various presentations because of their presiding duties. For the 2016 meeting, members of the CCCE organized four different symposia during this BCCE.3 Organizers of three of these symposia invited two or three authors to present papers related to the use of computers in chemical education in a follow-up online ConfChem Conference.4 The main purpose for inviting various participants from these BCCE symposia was to allow (i) participants to have another opportunity to attend talks that they were interested in but unable to attend, and (ii) members of the broader chemical education community to visit these talks in an online interactive format through the ConfChem format. This Communication introduces the Fall 2016 ConfChem on Select 2016 BCCE Presentations;4 the following six Communications describe the associated papers, with the actual papers and discussions provided as Supporting Information for each Communication. One paper from the symposium is not included among the Communications; that paper, “Conscious Assessment To Support Student Learning”, by Pamela Auburn describes the use of test blueprints to facilitate student metacognition about different levels of learning they will be expected to demonstrate on an exam © 2017 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
(see ref 5). The papers listed below were presented during the Fall 2016 ConfChem. 1. Radical Awakenings: A New Teaching Paradigm Using Social Media. Clarissa Sorensen-Unruh, Central New Mexico Community College. 2. Specifications Grading in the Flipped Organic Classroom. Joshua R. Ring, Lenoir-Rhyne University. 3. Changing Roles for Changing Times: Social Media and the Evolution of the Supplemental Instructor. Emily Alden, Central New Mexico Community College. 4. Tracking Student Use of Web-Based Resources for Chemical Education. Robert Bodily, Brigham Young University; Steven Wood, Brigham Young University. 5. Conscious Assessment To Support Active Learning. Pamela Auburn, Lone Star College. 6. Putting Your Own Personal Twist on a Flipped Organic Classroom and Selling the Idea to Students. Ashleigh Prince, Lincoln Memorial University. 7. 20th Year of the OLCC. Robert E. Belford, University of Arkansas at Little Rock; Jon L. Holmes, University of WisconsinMadison.
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SYMPOSIA STRANDS The three symposia from BCCE that were represented in the Fall 2016 ConfChem on Select 2016 BCCE Presentations are 1. Social networking in chemical education research (SNiCER): Using social media to communicate, teach, and research in chemical education Received: December 18, 2016 Revised: August 30, 2017 Published: November 10, 2017 1999
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.6b00983 J. Chem. Educ. 2017, 94, 1999−2001
Journal of Chemical Education
Communication
faculty who have implemented active learning, broadly defined, in their organic courses.
2. Web-based resources for chemical education (Webbased) 3. Active learning in organic chemistry (ALOC)
Mapping Symposia Papers to the Fall 2016 ConfChem on Select 2016 BCCE Presentations
Each of these three symposia was organized or co-organized by one or more members of the Committee on Computers in Chemical Education, and the symposium descriptions are provided below. For two of these symposia, the link to computers is clear from the symposium title. Active learning’s connection to computers may not be as obvious. Many instructors make time and space for active learning in their classrooms by shifting some or all of the content delivery to nonclass time, using technology to flip their classes.6,7 Thus, the ALOC presentations captured the technological tools that facilitate flipped classrooms. The fourth symposium organized by CCCE members but not covered by this ConfChem was Homework: Past, Present, and Future. Presentations in the homework symposium described the impact of online homework on student success. Homework systems described included those available from textbook publishers as well as materials developed within an institution.
Papers 1 and 3 in the Fall 2016 ConfChem are from the SNiCER symposium. The papers by Clarissa Sorenson-Unruh (paper 1) and Emily Alden (paper 3) describe the use of social media and a supplemental instructor, respectively, with courses at Central New Mexico Community College. Social media usage among chemists has increased dramatically since the 2010 publication of Belford, Moore, and Pence’s Symposium Series book Enhancing Learning with Online Resources, Social Networking, and Digital Libraries.8 These presentations were instrumental in addressing current trends in the use of social media in chemistry classrooms. Papers 4 and 6 are from the Web-based symposium. In paper 4, Robert Bodily and Steven Wood discuss the information gathered by instructors as they track student usage of webbased resources. In paper 7, Bob Belford traces the development of OLCC, looking back on the first 20 years of this intercollegiate chemistry course as we prepare to participate in another offering of the OLCC on Cheminformatics in 2017. Papers 2 and 5 are from the active learning symposium. Joshua Ring introduces specifications grading (paper 2), explaining the value of explicit learning outcomes to help students focus their own learning.9 Finally, Ashleigh Prince shares the innovative activities she uses to actively engage her students as they learn organic chemistry (paper 5).
Social Networking in Chemical Education Research
Using social media to communicate, teach, and research chemical education involves social networking tools, such as Facebook and Twitter, which have gained the attention of education researchers. Researchers have found these tools to be beneficial for social discourse and relevant for online learning communities. Several research studies are in progress to establish the benefits of social networking in various STEM disciplines. The SNiCER symposium at 2016 BCCE invited research presentations on the use of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and others that focus on chemical education research. Presentations in this symposium included using social networking sites for research on establishing affective communication; support for learning chemistry, problem solving, online learning communities; and other relevant ongoing research on teaching and learning of chemistry through these sites.
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CONCLUSION This Fall 2016 ConfChem offering4 became an opportunity for organizers to reach out to a wider audience for several presentations that were made at 2016 BCCE. The conference was held from October 30 to November 23, 2016, when seven papers were discussed online. The conference had over 6000 page hits, with 127 comments posted and shared (by email) with a list of 883 participants registered with the ConfChem listserv.
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Web-Based Resources for Chemical Education
This symposium sought out presentations on resources that can be obtained over the Internet, and ways they can be used for the teaching and learning of chemistry. Presentations in this symposium addressed perspectives of development and implementation of web-based technologies, and their applications to classroom, hybrid, and online learning environments. Topics such as the application of mobile devices, and how social networking and semantic web technologies are influencing chemical education, were also discussed. The objective of this symposium was to provide educators and developers opportunities to share resources and experiences.
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*E-mail:
[email protected]. ORCID
Jennifer L. Muzyka: 0000-0003-3948-3540 Robert Belford: 0000-0002-4933-6379 Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
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Active Learning in Organic Chemistry
REFERENCES
(1) Biennial Conference on Chemical Education (BCCE). http://www. divched.org/committee/biennial-conference-chemical-education (accessed Apr 2017). (2) ACS CHED Committee on Computers in Chemical Education. http://www.ccce.divched.org/ (accessed Apr 2017). (3) 2016 Biennial Conference on Chemical Education. http://www. unco.edu/bcce2016/ (accessed Apr 2017). (4) American Chemical Society, Division of Chemical Education, Committee on Computers in Chemical Education. Fall 2016 ConfChem: Select 2016 BCCE Presentations. https://confchem.ccce. divched.org/2016fallconfchem (accessed Apr 2017).
Studies over the past decade have shown that the use of active learning pedagogies in the classroom result in positive student learning outcomes in science courses. These improved outcomes include higher test scores and final grades, improved conceptual understanding of content, lower withdrawal rates, and improved attitudes toward science. A number of techniques can be implemented to make classrooms more active learning environments, including those that can be retrofitted into a traditional lecture or used to completely flip the classroom. This symposium included presentations of organic chemistry 2000
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.6b00983 J. Chem. Educ. 2017, 94, 1999−2001
Journal of Chemical Education
Communication
(5) Auburn, P. Assessment for Active Learning. https://confchem. ccce.divched.org/content/assessment-active-learning (accessed Nov 2017). (6) The Flipped Classroom; Muzyka, J. L., Luker, C. S., Eds.; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016; Vol. 1. (7) The Flipped Classroom; Muzyka, J. L., Luker, C. S., Eds.; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016; Vol. 2. (8) Enhancing Learning with Online Resources, Social Networking, and Digital Libraries; Belford, R. E., Moore, J. W., Pence, H. E., Eds.; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society, Distributed by Oxford University Press: Washington, DC, 2010. (9) Nilson, L. B. Specifications Grading: Restoring Rigor, Motivating Students, and Saving Faculty Time; Stylus Publishing: Sterling, VA, 2015.
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.6b00983 J. Chem. Educ. 2017, 94, 1999−2001
