computer series, 133
edited by JAMES P. BIRK Arizona State University Tempe, AZ 85281
Bits and Pieces, 47 Guidelines for Authors of Bits a n d Pieces appeared in July 1986; the number of Bits a n d Pieces manuscripts is expected to decrease in the future--see the July 1988 and March 1989 issues. Bits a n d Pieces authors who describe programs will make available listings andlor machine-readable versions oftheir programs. Please read each description carefully to determine compatibility with your own computing environment before requesting materials from any of the authors. Some programs described in this article and marked a s such are available from Project SERAPHIM a t $15 per disk ($20 foreign and Canada). Make checks payable to Project SERAPHIM. To order, or to become a memb e r of t h e SERAPHIM Clearinghouse a n d receive a Catalog ($20 per year), write to: John W. Moore, Director, Project SERAPHIM, Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1101 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706.
Preparing Hypercard Software for a Chemistry Study Center David J. Detlefsen, Umar Riaz, and Marian Chu ~allada' The University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 48109
When the microcomputer became widely available in the late 1970's, many viewed it a s a n educational Messiah. The idea of a n idmitely patient and omniscient tutor was extremely attractive. The excitement was (and still is) tempered by one or more of the following reasons: the implementation is difficult and/or boring to use, the programs are not readily available for everyday use, and the information included does not satisfy student needs. We have develooed instructional software that attemots to circumvent, or at least mitigate the first two of these problems and lend direction to the solution of the third. In this development process, we have tried to develop software that is utilired to simulate an ideal examination situation: one from which the student learns. This short note is not intended as a review of the available chemistrv cornouter-assisted instructional packages. We wish hereto report on a program that we have created and used to develop a General Chemistrr instructional package. We believe our program can, in-the future, be used by others to develop similar instructional packages. We hope that these instructional packages will target local needs and that the various packages so produced eventually will make up a series of widely useful instructional devices for students in many disciplines. The program, a s we noted earlier, aims to simulate a n examination situa'Author to whom correspondence should be addressed
tion for students, a practice examination, for which answers and study helps are included. Initially, we surveyed the machine and software platforms and decided on Apple Macintosh and Hypercard. These were consistent with our philosophy that the program should be available for everyday use on minimally configured machines to reach as many users a s possible. No special hardware such a s video discs and color screens were needed. HvoerCard is distributed with everv Macintosh computer iu'rchasc and is widely noted foreaLe ofuse. In addition. IIvuerTalk ( t h e oroerammine laneuaee of ~ ~ ~ e r ~ wch a r dits) "; ~ n & h - i i k 2 syntax, ys par%cuiarly simole a s a ommam construction tool. Further, the Macinto& offers premier graphics, adding a n attractive display. The result of our efforts were two Hypercard stacks: (1) ChemTutor (referred generically, as Lessons), the HyperCard stacks that students run, and (2) LessonMaker, the program that aids the instructor in making Lessons. (This note focuses on the latter.) LessonMaker The basic design of a Lesson is that of a multiple choice examination. orovidinr! a flexible format so that LessonMaker is not iimited f;o any particular discipline. Using LessonMaker, a n instructor constructs a Lesson by typing a file. This file contains the questions, choices, dialogs, and text references the instructor authors, along with flags that help in parsing the text. The instructorthen enters the LessonMaker program and locates the text fde to be used through a standard Macintosh file dialog box, and the lesson is completed, and ready for student use. (Note that no knowledge of programming is needed to create the Lesson.) Aspects of hypermedia were incorporated into the Lessons to address the concern of meeting the student's information needs.
Student. begin a i.csson by rnwring thr srnek and srart~ng welcome irreen. Here, they are presenwd ~ i t Bh brief descnpton ofhow to run a 1.essnn. They then proceed to the questions that consist of three hypermedia levels. nr a
First, the question screen, containing the text of the question as well as the choices. Second, when a lettered choice is selected, the student is transferred to the dialog screen, specificallytailored by the instructor to that choice. Third, if the student wants more information on the subject, another huttan can be selected, bringing the student to the last level, where the student is directed to passages and problems in the course texts, and the location of those able to offer personal help. 'The last two levels constitute what we consider a unique approach to computer-assisted instruction that removes a harrier to learning in that the student is not frustrated, soendine time to search far locations of additional information. ~
Volume 69 Number 1 January 1992
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The lessons in ChemTutor are now in the first ohases of preparation and testing a t the University of ~ i c h i g a n . ChemTutor has, for the most part, successfully addressed the problems of implementation, information suitability and availability identified a t the start of this note. During two semesters of limited trials, the LessonMaker-produced ChemTutor lessons were made available to approximately one fourth of the 2500 student General Chemistry population on the Ann Arbor campus. More than 750 voluntary student uses of ChemTutor were monitored during these trials (conducted during the winter and fall terms of 1989). The size of this a o u o of users reoresented a eood samnle (about 400 indigduais, or 16%)k t h e large i d relativky heteroeeneous uooulation of students enrolled over two terms 1% the va&o;s General Chemistry courses offered a t this university. Several facts in these initial trials were encouraging. Students spent, an average, between an hour and an hour and a half an each use of ChemTutor; Students using ChemTutor once during a term, came hack to use it again (71%repeat users); On average, student users performed at least 3%better than the class average; .The profile of student users showed that more women and minority students used ChemTutor than the population in the classes as a whole (65% women and 13%minority student users, compared to our typical 45% women and 4% minority class populations). The last two mentioned facts are important, since those who traditionally have been excluded from scientific and particularly chemistry professions have also had a history of chemistry test scores well below class averages. LessonMaker is being used currently to prepare instructional software for undergraduate bioloev a s well a s chemistrycourses a t t h e ~ n s e r s iot f~~ i c h i g & .Plans call for refinement of the LessonMaker oromam. including automatic importing of graphics, increased usage of hypermedia, and networking (so that one stack can serve many users). LessonMaker testing will go hand in hand with ChemTutor Lesson preparation and testing. Our intention is to report the results of planned full-scale availability of the ChemTutor Lessons a t national meetings and in this Journal.
A Role-Playing Exercise Using a Computer Simulation David M. Whisnant Wofford College Sparianburg, SC 29301 I n the recent report of the Project on Liberal Education and the Sciences (11,one of the recommendations was that "the ethical, social, economic, and political dimensions of science" be included i n science courses. This may encourage us to use other teaching methods along with traditional lectures and discussions. One possible method is illustrated by role-playing exercises that have been used in general chemistry (2)and analytical chemistry (3)courses. For the past eight years I have assigned two computer simulations in my chemistry course for nonscientists (4). These simulations involve students in scientific exploration and give them the opportunity to appreciate how science works. The students approach the simulations a s if they were doing actual experiments. They gather "experimental" data and other information from a simulation, analvze and dizest the information. draw conclusions. and thenwrite a scientific report. This year I made one df the simulations, BCTC, the basis for a class role-playing exercise.
42
Journal of Chemical Education
The BCTC simulation requires students to work on a solution to a realistic problem that must be dealt with, even in the absence of complrtc information. In this simulation a susperted carcinogen called BCTC has hren found in :I river below a chemical plant that is relurtant t , ~ install pollution-control devices. Metroburg, a city below the plant, draws its drinking water from the river but also is economically dependent on the plant. Students working with the simulation can sample the water, sediment, and fish from the river; analyze them for BCTC and other chemicals; consult the library for information on chemicals, mortality tables, and health records; find LD,,'s for different types of animals; and project the economic wnsequences of installing pollution control devices in the plant. The analytical data show that BCTC is present, but the laboratory animal data is ambiguous and the Metroburg health records show no significant increase in deaths due to cancer. The plant would experience severe cash flow problems if forced to install and operate pollution abatement equipment. There is no clear cut solution to the prob. . lem. At the beeinnine of the role-nlavina exercise based on this simulation, t i e students are given a handout that describes available resources. The handout also mentions an upcoming news conference on the BCTC controversy In which four r?ouvs ol'riti7ens are mvolved. The followmc description~ofthe groups are taken from the handout. a
"
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Enuimnmentalists: The hue and cry from the environmen-
talists raised this issue in the fint dace. The enviranmwtalisra are afraid t h a t Ies\~ngRCTC in the river rfferrrvely mnkcs the utircns of Ntrrlrburg t n r n ex. penmental nmmal~.Thrs nrr in Favor uf lnstall~ngpullution abatement equipment in the plant. Corporare O f f r r d s :The rorpnrate offic~als fcrl rhat BCTC is nor a demonstmtcd mwronmentnl hazard, but simply nn issue stirred up b y cnvironmenral extrcmlsri. Although they support further research into the matter, they are reluctant to install expensive pollution control equipment that threatens their plant economically. Townspeople: The townspeople are afraid of being lost in the fray. They are frightened about the health of their families hut also are worried about the economic wellbeing of the plant. They would like to find some solution that doesn't put them at risk. News Media: Newspaper reporters and TV crews have descended on Metroburg for the news conference. They suspect the environmentalists of making an issue out of nothing, solely for the publicity. They also suspect that the corporati& may he stalling and in the process endangering the lives of Metroburg citizens. The next Pulitzer Prize far investigative reoortine is in the backs of their minds. The members of the class are divided up among these groups, five people or so in each one. Their assignment is to work on the computer simulation, choose roles, plan t h e i r presentation, a n d come to class in two weeks oreoared for a 50-minute news conference. At the beein. ning of the news conference, three groups-the environmentalists, the corporate officials, and the townspeoplepresent five-minute s t a t e m e n t s . After t h e initial statements the members of the news media then question the different groups. In the interest of fairness, the groups also are allowed to question each other. Everyone in the same group receives the same grade for the exercise. Each group's grade is based on a number of factors:
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the quality of a written brief describingtheir position, which they hand in before the news conference; the force of their arguments during the news conference; the originality of their presentation; and the extent to which all members of the group participate. An assessment of each p u p ' s performance is made by three
