Patricia Ann Redden Blology Department
Saint Peter's CoNeae Jersey City, NJ 07366
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Developmental Science
Many students entering college in recent years have been diagnosed as being in need of developmental work in mathematics, communication skills, and (frequently) specific suhject areas such as chemistry. However, our feeling was that the prohlem goes deeper than these surface areas, and that it also involves basic difficultis in conce~tualization.reasonine. and problem solving (see Appendix f i r data supporting this hypothesis). Saint Peter's College had developed a course (Introduction to the Natural Sciences) to deal with the deficiencies in chemical knowledge, and we also offer courses in algehra and developmental communications. To deal with the more fundamental problems involving reasoning and logic, we adopted the Guided Design Technique (1) in aone-credit course entitled Methods of Scientific Investigation, offered to the developmental students as a co-requisite with Introduction to the Natural Sciences. Gulded Design-Description and operation Guided Design is a method developed by Dr. Charles Wales and Dr. Robert Stager a t West Virginia University and selected for funding by EXXON Educational Foundation under the IMPACT program. I t has a twofold goal: (1) teaching suhject matter and (2) developing the decision-making skills ' to apply what has heen learned to the solution of real-world ~rohlems.In the course of solvine a n ooen-ended orohlem posed by the instructor, students apply the decisionhaking steps (enumerated in Table I), not randomly or according to whim hut in a definite sequence as directed by the instructor and written in a narrative stvle. Each step must he satisfactorily completed before the students are &wed to proceed to the next.'I'he work isdone insmallgroupsof four toseven studentseach. bur there isa olaw In the method for individual prohlem solving as well. There is a maximum time limit set for completion of the project; the groups can spend as long as they wish on individual steps as long as they conform to the maximum time limit. The best way to explain the method is to use one of our projects, "To React or Not T o React," as an example. The prohlem deals with the desirability of huilding two nuclear reactors in the Atlantic Ocean twelve miles off the coast of New Jersey at Atlantic City. This was a real project proposed by Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE & G) and later abandoned by them in 1978. The project hegins with an anti-nuclear citizen's group - (ONE, Opposed to Nuclear Energy) writing to a congressman from New Jersey requesting his support. He passes the question on to his administrative assistant and a moun of colleee workine" as eov" soohomores . ernment interns, asking them to investigate the question thorouzhlv and recommend a course of action. Our students play the rile of the five college interns, ostensibly majoring in chemistry, biology, political science, psychology, and sociology. The students are initially given a series of ohjectives to he completed by the end of the project. Some are stated in general terms, for example: Explain in your own words the distinction made in the project between the "best" and the "correct decision." Develop a method of determining the views of a group of people on a given topic. This paper is based in part on a paper presented at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Honolulu, April 1919. 712 / Journal of Chemical Education
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Table 1.
Steps In Declslon Making
A. Identify lk problem. B State the basic objective or goal. C. State the constraints, assumptions, and facts. D. GBnwate possible solutions. E. Evaluate and make a deasion. F. Analysis. G. Synthesis. H. Evaluate the sdution. I. Report the results and make a decision. J. implement the decision. K. Check the results. T t e gathering 01 informationis usually a component of each step in the process and $0 is not i,stedseparately.
Other ohjectives deal with specific, scientific information: Describe the difference between a fission reaction and an ordinary chemical reaction. Be able to give a description of the atom and its component parts. These ohjectives are reinforced by assigned homework which must he com~letedhv each student and which is graded. For example, 'to satisgthe first objective given above, the student has to decide whether the choice of a maior in chemical engineering is the best or the correct decision. For the last ohiective above. the student would have tocomolete a table comparing mass, charge, and location in the atom of protons, neutrons, and electrons. After receiving their basic introduction to the prohlem, the ohjectives, and the homework assignment, the students are presented with their first instruction. In this example, Instruction 1states: Discuss the information I have given you and decide what your objective is. The students then discuss the instruction in their small
-mourn. . After thev reach a conclusion. thev discuss it with the
instructor. 1f the;? is evidence oisufficieit thought, they are given a written feedhack whichshould contain some. but not the iecessariiy or even desirahly all, of the answer. feedback reada
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The students discussed the congressman's letter and decided that they had to research nuclear power plants and make a recommendation to Congressman Dullea about the advisability of building the power plants. Their decision would have to be the best passihle, and the evidence used to reach the decision would have to be factually correct and as unprejudiced as possible on such a eontroversial question. Students will frequently have an answer that differs from the feedback. even occasionally one that comes t o a totally different conclusion. If this happens, the students' response should he accepted and followed through, as long as it is logical. With the feedback from Instruction 1, the stuclents also receive a narrative which includes the second instruction: Generate a list of alternative solutions to the prohlem as stated in Feedback 1,without attempting to evaluate them. Possible responses as given in Feedback 2 (and by the student discussion groups) are:
agree with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Public Service Electric and Gas and approve the plants; agree with ONE (the citizen group) and oppose the plants; ignore the issue entirely; study the problem further before making a decision.
The project continues using the instruction, discussion, and feedback sequence until a final decision is made on the oroblem. During the course of the problem, a great deal of information must be gathered. Rather than present all the information initially, we first establish the need for it and then ask the students to discuss possible sources and collect the information themselves. s b c e a topic such as the construction of nuclear power plants is controversial, they have to examine their sources with a view to bias or prejudice and decide how t o evaluate and deal with the sources themselves and the material contained within them. Thev are then eiven some sperific reading ahsignrnents, with an acrumpunviny injunction toeather as much additivnnl informarim as oossible. For this project we use newspaper and magazine articles, two textbooks (Fine's "Chemistrv Decoded" and Hodaes' "Environmental Pollution"), a i d material requestkd from PSE&G1 and the Atomic Industrial Forum2 (2-5). The information required is quite specific and requires a grasp of subject matter: ~~
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Bob suggested that they begin by learning about atomic structure and the origins of nuclear energy. "We need to learn to be able to describe in our own words the source of energy in anuclear power plant." How does the cost of electricity produced from nuclear energy compare with that of the alternative sources? Look specifically at the olant PSE&G is oronosine to build-a oressurized water reactor generating 1156 MW &year. We do not want the students simply to report data. An important skill is the ability to abstract, summarize, and interpret, and so we include instructions such as, "Read the literature and summarize t h a arguments pro and con concerning the safety of nuclear reactors." Instructions such as these reinforce reading and interpretative skills and in addition force the student to give equal consideration to both sides of the argument. Since most students seem to think that solution of technological problems only requires a grasp of science, real world oroblems introduce them to the need to consider economic,'legal, pqlitical, and ethical factors and constraints in reaching a decision. Thev also face the need to balance various values against each other in coming to a decision, and they carry out a riskbenefit analysis. As a final step, the students must "decide whether to recommend that Congressman Dullea support the PSE&G plan to build a reactor or oppose it as ONE requests." That recommendation must be written by each individual student, summarizing the group's discussions and decision. The report includes a summary of the arguments pro and con, refutation of the areuments disaereeine with the recommendation. a list of assumptions and constraints considered in arriving a t the decision, and a bibliography of references consulted in reaching the decision. Since many of the spdents are in need of developmental communications work. thev are rriven the opportunity to rewrite the report when necess&. ~n'tbiicase, a cover sheet is given hack to the student with the report (Table 21, indicating the mechanical errors or sections of the report which have been omitted or which are in need of a complete revision. Tutors are available in the chemistry and the English departments to help in the revision. The grade for the report depends on both content and grammar. In order to determine whether a student really understands the material and is able to apply it, each student must indi-
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Public Service Electric and Gas Co., Inc., 80 Park Place, Newark, NJ 07101. Atomic Industrial Forum, Inc., 7101 Wisconsin Am., Washington, DC 20014.
vidually complete a parallel project. The parallel project is related to the group project in subject area hut differs from it in application. Two alternatives are usually given. In this example, one of the parallel oroiects involves a decision about the safety of an operating ieaitor built on a geologic fault which has lately shown some signs of minor seismic activity. The other choice is on the expansion of nuclear technology, with United States support, to an underdeveloped nation. These parallel projects, in other words, take the same body of information hut change the constraints. The student must individually apply the decision-making steps, reach a conclusion, and write a report. Grades on the vroiects . . are based on attendance and narticipation in the group discussions, the homework assignment, the report on the ~ a r a l l e. vroiect. l . and the final revision of the group report. As the equivalent of a fmal examination in problem solving, each student is given an individual problem to solve. These problems are tailored to the student's interest and career goals. For example, a student interested in physical therapy was asked to evaluate our science building and propose practical changes that would make it more accessible to the handicapped student. For the biology major interested in environmental and ecological studies, we propose wiping out the tsetse fly on the African plains and in the game parks, and ask the student to evaluate the imvact on wildlife and indieenous tribes. Many of the so posed require mo;e technical knowledge than the students have. so we allow them cn indicate that a ; . k t l t a f i u n n,ilh a specialist in a particular iield would be necessarv. However, thev then have 10 r~n)ix,se how they would handleihe results of these c o n s u l t a t i ~ n s . ~ h e emphasis here is on the logical approach to the problem rather than the solution itself. The students are given several weeks to work on the problem, and then the results are written as a paper and a grade is assigned for the report.
Table 2.
Cover Sheet tor Returned Report -
Methods of Scientific Investigation Name Section Written Report Yourrepart has been found to bedeficient in the following areas. Please rewrite and conact it, and resubmit the final report by INCLUDE THIS SHEET WITH THE FINAL. CORRECTED REPORT. Your report requires a compiete rewrite. See Dr. Redden befae resubmitting. Rewrite the following sections: Evaluation of possible Identification of the Problem Solutions Objectives a Goal Gathering Information Constraints. Assumptions & Facts Analysis Generation of Possible Solutions Synthesis MECHANICAL ERRORS Pages n d numbered, or numbered incorrectly Sections of report missing Too many spelling errors Poor grammatical construction Too many punctuation errors Paragraph form lacking in qection Not neat enough Margins not maintained Did not use 8% X 11 inch white paper Writing illegible Report sections stan with ~ i g u r T a a b l a Equation0 or ~ i s q (no introductory sentence)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0Figures andlor Tables placed in wrong location 0Material used not referenced correctly in written report 0Material used not referenced at all
0Other
Volume 57, Number 10, October 1980 1 713
Projects WrlHen For our course, Methods of Scientific Investigation,, we wrote five ~roiects.In the first oroiect. "Studv Skills," we start with the suggestion that several students mewhavingacademic oroblems in a reauired course and thev must find a wav to cupe with the mnirrialand theteacher.lnrhesolution to-the owblem the real students find out what help is available to them on our tampus by going to the different offices and tutorial centers and interviewing students and faculty. They also take a diagnostic test (6)to evaluate their individual study prohlems and design a program to solve them. The second problem uses "The Scientific Method" to solve the problem of getting to school. Students coming from a distance are faced with the options of buying a car, taking public transportation or renting an apartment near campus. trom a common starting point.ihe s"lution takes these three branches, depending on the group's response to an early instruction. If they decide to buy acar, they must then use the scientific method to dt.cide which model: similar problems confront thrm for either uithe other two choices. In the process, they discover ;ituarinns where a decision cnnnltt be made using thescientific methwl but which invol\.esmore iuhiertive factors. "The Case of the Decaying Statues" investigates the cause of the disintegration of some statues on a building in New York City. After identifying the cause as a component of air pollution and narrowing this down to sulfur oxides in the air, the students investigate the sources of the pollution and methods of reducingit and protecting the statues. Concepts introduced include writing chemical equations, the design of exoeriments. interoretation of numerical data. stoichiom&. , and the balancingof economic and scientific'interests. In "Human Resources and Water Pollution." students in an ecology class attempt to analyze some of the effects of pollution (low pH, elevated temperature. and the oresence of instcticides~on fish and crustncean-. in a river. They must in\.estigate the sources of water oollution, dilution techniaues. ~ o n c e ~ t r a t i ounits n (including ppm), the concept of ;H; Henry's Law, the use of experimental controls, LDm, and synergism. They must design-an experiment and interpret the results both quantitatively and qualitatively. If desired, the students can actually carry out the experiments. "To React or Not T o React," the last class project our students carry out, has been described in some depth. This project requires a t least eight hours of class time, depending on the breadth of knowledge the students bring to the project.
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~onclusions There are a few difficulties connected with the implementation of the Guided Design format in any course. One is the length of time required to write the projects. We had two faculty members working with summer support (and student assistance) to prepare our five projects, with additional time needed for a rewrite after they were used for the first time in class. The initial staees of outlinine the oroiect and estahlishing the logical sequence of instkctin& is more difficult than a t first appears. Avoidine bias can be ~articularlvdifficult on contr&ersial subjec
