Creation of an online stoichiometry course that melds scenario based leaning with virtual labs and problem-solving tutors

Assessment efforts

This course was developed as part of the Open Learning Initiative (OLI, http://www.cmu.edu/oli), whose goal is to provide a collection of "cognitively informed," openly available and free online courses and course materials that enact instruction for an entire course in an online format. The OLI course delivery system supports collection and analysis of log files that include time-stamped data on student views of web content, and interactions with tutors and simulations. In the summer of 2005, 40 students volunteered for a study and were randomly assigned to either the online course or a control condition. The control provided students with a detailed text review of stoichiometry whose content is parallel to that of the online course, but with the scenario removed, and without feedback. The contrast could therefore show effects of the scenario, virtual labs and online tutors. Analysis of the data is underway and will be reported in a later publication.

This course is now also part of the Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center (PSLC, http://www.learnlab.org), whose goal is to support research on robust learning through a research facility named learnlab. The learnlab provides technologies to facilitate experiments that combine the realism of classroom field studies with the rigor of controlled theory-based laboratory studies. This course has some significant advantages for such learning studies. The intent is that students would take this as an optional or required course either before arriving on campus or very early in the school year. As a purely online course, it provides a well-controlled learning environment for delivering various conditions. In addition, since students go on to enroll in a chemistry course, access to their performance in this course, and perhaps follow-on courses, provides a means to measure the robustness of their learning. The chemistry learnlab invites instructors and researchers who would like to participate in or carry out learning studies in real classrooms. Please contact us ( ) if you would like to explore this further.