On the Web
JCE QBank: Physical Chemistry Question Database for Quantum Chemistry Erica Harvey Chemistry Program, Fairmont State University, Fairmont, West Virginia 26554
[email protected] Theresa Julia Zielinski* Department of Chemistry, Medical Technology, and Physics, Monmouth University, West Long Branch, New Jersey 07764 *
[email protected] Over the past five years, a collection of nearly 1000 closedresponse questions has been created to support learning and assessment in undergraduate quantum chemistry (1). Questions were constructed using images, concepts, and equations from Quantum States of Atoms and Molecules (QSAM) (2) and were designed primarily to help students build skills at the knowledge, comprehension, and application levels of Bloom's taxonomy for the cognitive domain (3). The collection consists mainly of multiple-choice and multiple-response questions, plus a few fill-in-the-blank and matching questions. The questions are organized into groups that coincide with the 10 chapters of QSAM. An 11th question group provides a comprehensive content review. Students who read QSAM or any other standard physical chemistry text have available all the basic information needed to answer the questions in this collection. Instructors will find that the categories of questions match the typical table of contents found in quantum chemistry texts used with undergraduates. Testing and Usage
The question collection has been tested at Fairmont State University in West Virginia and Monmouth University in New Jersey with a total of 11 different classes of students studying quantum chemistry as part of their physical chemistry course requirements. Course management systems were used to generate randomized, electronically graded quizzes, which supported students with (i) recall of vocabulary and relationships and (ii) recognition of graphs, equations, and formulas, and simple applications. Specific learning outcomes supported (and assessed) by the quizzes were provided explicitly to students. The learning outcomes and course requirements used by Harvey and Zielinski were developed collegially but were not identical. Outcomes and detailed explanations of course requirements are provided in the materials that accompany the QSAM QBank collection of questions (2). Fairmont University Details
Questions were developed originally to support student learning in a fully online quantum mechanics course at Fairmont State University (FSU), and have been tested there for five semesters (the course is offered at FSU every spring term). The questions were used to create quizzes that were used first in a practice phase and then later in a mastery phase. All the questions in the
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collection are grouped according to QSAM chapters, and within each group questions are placed in “question sets”. A question set is a subgroup of questions addressing the same topic or learning outcome within each of the main QSAM collection groups. For example, the first question on each version of the harmonic oscillator quiz was chosen randomly from a set of 15 questions that ask students to make qualitative predictions about changes in energy levels and spectroscopy as physical parameters (e.g., force constant, reduced mass, vibrational frequency, dipole moment) are changed. The 10-question quiz accompanying the harmonic oscillator course module would then use one question from each of the subsets within the harmonic oscillator full collection. This method permitted the generation of a very large number of unique quizzes with many different questions appearing in each quiz. Students demonstrated mastery of the set of learning outcomes associated with a QSAM module by earning a perfect score on the practice quizzes created as described above. Students were allowed to take each type of practice quiz an unlimited number of times during a practice phase for each course module (e.g., harmonic oscillator module), using any resources they wished. Correct answers were not provided electronically, though missed questions were marked wrong. Once a perfect score was achieved in the practice quiz phase, partial mastery was recorded and the student was automatically eligible to take up to two attempts at a full mastery version of the quiz. Students never saw the same quiz twice because the order of answer choices was randomized, the questions from each subset were randomized, and each QSAM question group contains many questions. Most students achieved full mastery on the quizzes, often after 10-20 practice attempts. Monmouth University Details
The questions have also been tested in a face-to-face, Webenhanced course at Monmouth University (MU). At MU students were required to prepare for class by reading 15-20 pages of the QSAM text and answering the questions in an online quiz on that material. Quizzes were generated as a set of 10 questions chosen randomly from a subset of 30-40 questions. The subset for the reading assignment was drawn from the complete collection of questions for the chapter being studied. Students were allowed to take the quiz twice, and only the higher score was recorded in the electronic grade book. Quizzes were limited to 25 min, and students were allowed to use the text, homework solutions, and other resources during the quizzes. The
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Vol. 87 No. 9 September 2010 pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc r 2010 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc. 10.1021/ed100458w Published on Web 07/14/2010
On the Web
intent was to increase time on task in learning quantum chemistry. A quiz preceded each class meeting except for the midterm exam class period. MU students found the quiz structure, one quiz preceding each and every class, somewhat daunting. Nevertheless, compliance with quiz deadlines was excellent. On rare occasions students needed some extra time, usually only a few hours, when circumstances prevented compliance (e.g., school network failures). By the fourth week of the semester students had transitioned smoothly from traditional class lecture/exam format to the use of the course management system and quiz structure. The vast majority of quiz scores were in the 8 to 10 points' level for the class. No makeup quizzes were used in this approach.
have the question answers identified with an asterisk.) Instructors can customize the collection by editing the questions provided as well as adding questions from their own archives. Using Respondus, questions can be uploaded to WebCT/Vista, Blackboard, Angel, eCollege, Desire2Learn, and IMS QTI formats. The authors can verify that it works seamlessly with WebCT/Vista, Blackboard/ Vista, and with Desire2Learn. Additional questions for the collection and expansions of the collection to include other areas of physical chemistry should be sent to Theresa Julia Zielinski at
[email protected] or Erica Harvey at
[email protected]. The QSAM collection of questions is just the first step in building a JCE Qbank of questions that spans the physical chemistry curriculum and serves as a resource for ongoing assessment and evaluation of student learning.
Observations
Both instructors noted substantial pedagogical benefits from using the quizzes. Instructor time was freed for providing feedback on more open-ended work involving higher levels of cognitive challenge, including analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Examples include Mathcad or other SymMath (4) projects, as well as writing, reflection, presentation, and critiquing assignments. Because the course management system automatically records quiz scores and attempt dates, it was easy to keep track of student progress and compliance with quiz deadlines. Students had a low-threat environment to practice the fundamental skills for the course, and were clearly motivated to read the text more closely and ask questions in class (including online) about questions they missed on quizzes. While a few students went to considerable effort to find ways other than simply learning the material to get perfect scores on the quizzes, the majority of students effectively used the quizzes to take responsibility for their own learning. Students expressed how much easier the quizzes became as the course progressed. Thus, the quizzes directly provided the students with a measure of their increasing familiarity with quantum mechanics. Students also assisted with the database project by noting errors in a few questions and suggesting improvements to others. Questions in the database were built using Respondus Campus Edition 3.5, and are available for download as Respondus 3.5 archives, as either or both Word files created by Respondus, or as Word files in page-saving, printer-ready format. (The Word files
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About the QBank Collection
The complete JCE QBank collection, including answers, is available for instructors at http://www.jce.divched.org/JCEDLib/QBank/answers.html (accessed Jul 2010). To obtain the question set and answers include your full name, title, and e-mail address, as well as the name and address of your school, college, or university in an email to
[email protected]. Once your status as a teacher has been verified, you will be sent a username and password, valid for one year, to the download site. There is a one-time $20 fee for handling each request. Literature Cited 1. The JCE QBank Physical Chemistry Collection with sample questions can be accessed without a password at http://www.jce.divched. org/JCEDLib/QBank/collection/pChem/index.html (accessed Jul 2010). 2. Quantum States of Atoms and Molecules, a JCE LivText, is available at JCE Online at http://www.jce.divched.org/JCEDLib/LivTexts/ pChem/JCE2005p1880_2LTXT/index.html (accessed Jul 2010). 3. Don Clark's presentation of Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning, Cognitive Domain is available at http://www.nwlink.com/∼ donclark/ hd/bloom.html#cognitive (accessed Jul 2010). 4. JCE SymMath: Symbolic Mathematics in Chemistry. http://www.jce. divched.org/JCEDLib/SymMath/index.html (accessed Jul 2010).
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