provocative opinion Whatever Happened to Self-paced Chemistry? Carl J. Popp New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM 87801 As with many pedagogic methods, self-paced chemistry courses have run the gamut of waxing and waning in popularity, even gaining notoriety in the popular press ( I ) . A number of articles have appeared in the literature (2-3) as
in i97i. A recent uoll of universitv educators indicated that about
of interest in PSI. Our self-paced chemistry program has operated for six years and is considered successful from both the student's standpoint and from a pedagological standpoint. (Results were reported a t the ACS symposium mentioned above.) Because of the success and longevity of our program, it is particularly distressing to discover that none of the publishers responding to our inquiry are considering offering a textbook package for self-paced chemistry. (However, the accompanying study guide of many textbooks may be suitable for students to use without reauirine a seDarate self- aced studv euide such as placing th'k Keller ~ i a into n proper perspective in the educational process. Student Selection Initially, selection of students was based on percentile ranking on A.C.T. tests. We have found that students scoring in the 90th percentile on either the natural science section or the composite test score have a 70-80% pass rate for the selfpaced course. Students who score below the 80th percentile on these tests are only successful in the self-paced course about 15%of the time. Completion of high school chemistry does not seem to be a good criterion for success in the selfpaced class because about equal numbers of students who passed and withdrew had high school chemistry. We now administer a placement test in chemistry, and those students who score above 70% on this test have proven to be very successful in completing the self-paced course. Students who opt for the self-oaced . class in the second semester after takine the first-semester traditional course are very seldom successful unless their first semester grade was an A or B. Students who do not initially meet the criteria are given an opportunity to earn their wav into the self-uaced class hv uassine three units t of those in the first t& weeks of theLlectureclass: ~ h o u50% selecting this option get into the self-paced program.
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Supervision Requirements Initial time requirements from the instructor were high due to unfamiliarity with the organizational problems. The selfpaced section is offered each semester with both sections of the two-semester sequence scheduled for meeting a t the same
r i m . 'rtm htruria a,rch .in.,cr aside fur nieelillg, wid ~llt..svdre divided IINO I I . I I I 2 . 5 h < ~ 1.vgmentsm r [hree.lI,tt.r~i,~~~~~~~l~id one evening per week. with-the use of tutors, the time requirement for the instructor is equivalent to a normal lecture course with the major proportion of time spent a t the beginning and end of a semester. About 14 hours of tutor time per week (two tutors available during the busy periods) are enough to handle an enrollment of 50-60 students. We have averaged 40-60 students enrolled in the PSI course each semester compared t o two hundred or so in the lecture courses. Grading Grading is based on the unit completion percentage with 85% required for a B, 70% for a C, and 60%for a D. T o receive an A, a student must complete 90%of the units and receive an A on the final exam. Several quizzes are available for each unit. The tutor may exercise some discretion and orally quiz a student on auestions which are answered onlv uartiallv wane. This discre&n is allowed because a score oii00% is requirz on each auiz to receive credit. Grade distribution for the uast six semesters has been 16%A, 34% B, 13%C, 2% D, and'35% W with a total of 283 students enrolled. The withdrawal/ failure rate in our lecture course averages 2890, so the success, as expected, is lower in the self-paced class. Students receiving a W are not allowed to enroll in the self-paced section again. Seventy-seven self-paced students took the final exam during this 3-year period, and 42 received an A indicating that completion of the units prepares the students well. The low number of C and D grades reflects the psychology involved in making progress. When a student passes the required number of quizzes to receive a D, it is a relatively simple matter to pass one or two more units to raise a grade to the next level. This spurs many students on. Summary Most of the problems and advantages associated with the Keller Plan are summarized by Silberman (5).Advantages to the students are flexibility of schedule, instant feedback, and introduction to self-study. A commonlv cited disadvantage is that students tend to procrastinate,-which results in attempts to cram many tests into the end of the semester. A disadvantage to the instructor may he the considerable time commitment in setting up the course. In agreement with our experience, a number of studies have shown that there is no difference in the amount of material learned bv the students when thev take a self-uaced course as compared to a lecture-type course (6)(7).This may be related to the observation that students will learn in s ~ i t of e the instructor's efforts, or it may be due to the better.prepared students selecting the self-paced option. There can be any number or combination of problems associated with programs which fail. One common problem is the attempt to place all sorts of students into a Keller Plan course instead of letting the students make their own choice. We have learned that self-pacing is not for everyone. The underprepared student usually doesn't have the study skills Volume 60
Number 1 January 1983
35
necessary to succeed, and when this is coupled with a poor background, the student will be likely to fail. Finally, organizational problems encountered when initiating the program often discourage instructors from continuing long enough to give self-pacing a chance to succeed. Careful selection of students enrolling in a self-paced chemistry course is the key to a successful program. Students who are successful unanimously endorse the approach, although not always for the same reasons. We have found that
36
Journal of Chemical Education
the quality and quantity of learning, as determined by testing, is comparable to the traditional lecture course. Literature 'Ited
van
(1) dyne, L . , N * ~york T ~ ~ 1~ 2 .~~ 0, 14 ~ s.(1876). ~ ~ . (2) Sanders,H. J.,Chrm. ondEng N E U I S .39-40. ~ ~ . Oct. 9 (1972). K U I ~J. ~A,. , K U I ~ L , Cand .. ~ ~ ~K . , ~S C ~i ~183, ~ ~C:a70 ~ ,(19741. h ~ ( 4 ) Buy1an.H. R..JournniuiPer~unoliredinslruclion,4.40 (1Y80).
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~ e d r i ~J.k L.. , J. CHEM.EDUC.,52.65 (1975).
665 (1074,,
