Over the past several years, the Department of Chemistry a t Central State University has become concerned with the oerformance of an increasine number of underore~ared stu-

L. Shelbert Smith and Albert W. Schlueter

Central State University Wilberforce. Ohio 45384

hents and the need of the students for more indi;idualized attention. Often after these students have attempted for one year to assimilate a vast number of scientific facts, which are not structured for them academicallv or ~svcholoaicallv, they

A Mini-Course Approach for Teaching Freshman Chemistry

. . . seek another discipline in which to pursue a professioha~ ci - reer.

The Department studied thp pnhlem it faced in the re- cruitment and retention of students in chemistry and thr problem of providing the most thorough program to these students who presented a variety of background skills and training. For the underprepared student, the self-paced in- struction was not satisfactory since it was dependent on readine comnrehension and self discioline of the student.

smaller departments and for those departments which are concerned about the retention of the potential professional chemistry student.

Although no specific prerequisites are given for these courses and they may he taken in any sequence, it is recog- nized that one of the moat important courses is Stoichiometry and the Mole Concept (Chemistry 101A). Therefore, it is recommended that a student must successfully complete or demonstrate adequate proficiency in this course before en- rolling in any 102 level course. For those students without any previous training in chemistry or with a demonstrated weak background, Chemistry 100 should he taken, while those students with previous experience may omit this course and enroll in the 101 level courses. It should he noted that Chemistry 100 is not a remedial course, but it is a course which contains descriotive chemistrv with a non-mathematical ao-

~ ~ ~~ "~ . characteristics frequently lacking in the underprepared stu- proach and which provides the basis for the quantitative ap-

After careful consideration. it was felt that several oroach in the other courses. Each course is develo~ed without problems were more prevalent than others, namely: (1) the dependence on the content of the other courses ofher than an need for individual attention for manv students; (2) the need understandina of stoichiometrv and the mole concept. How- to provide a strong basic background in chemistry, yet not discourage students because of the rigorous and quantitative approach; (3) the need to maintain a rigorous, challenging course content for the normal progress of the more able stu- dent; (4) the ability to satisfy specific needs of students in nonscience disciplines; and (5) an opportunity for students to be exposed to more of the instructors of the department.

Based on these problem objectives and a need to attract and to retain students in the chemistry program, the department developed a conceptualized approach or "mini-course" ap- proach as an alternative to the traditional structure of the first year chemistry course. The structure of the program and the content of the courses have undereone several minor revisions

ever, an understanding of basic mathematics is reqkred for all courses, and problem solving is an integral part of each course. Students may enroll in any number of the courses in any given term depending on their abilities and needs.

Course Titles: 100 Descriptive Chemistry (2 Cr. Hr.) lOlA Stoiehiometry and Mole Concept (2 Cr. Hr.) lOlB Structure and Bonding (2 Cr. Hr.) lOlC States of Matter (1 Cr. Hr.) 102A Colligative Properties (I Cr. Hr.1 102R Equilibria (2 Cr. Hr.) 102C Thermodynamics and Oxidation-Reduction (2 Cr. Hr.) 102D Nuclear Chemistry (2 Cr. Hr.)

fm impn)vement and its present;tructure is presented here lw?R I n t r d u ~ t ~ ~ m 10 ~ i f r Chemistry ( 2 Cr. Hr , for the interest ofthosede~artments who have facrd asimilar With the development and revision of [he first year lecture dilemma. The program shbuld he especially attractive to the courses, it was recognized that there was a need to reexamine

392 / Journal of Chemical Education

the lahoratory program. Because of the random distribution of students in the various modularized course, the lahoratory courses were desiened as seoarate credit hour courses. In undertaking to restructure the lahoratory program, the de- partment considered the following elements as basic to the structure of the course: the necessary lahoratory skills and training needs of the students as they entered the higher level courses, the desire to make the lahoratory work both chal- lenging and interesting, and the kind of lahoratory experiences needed by those students who terminate their chemistry training a t the end of the first year. It was felt that fulfillment of these course ohjectives would generate in the student an inquisitive interest in scientific problems and applications while developing sound lahoratory skills, and minimize the loss of these often intelligent though poorly prepared stu- dents.

'I'he development of a lahoratory course, which is indr- en dent of the lecture. orovides an o u ~ ~ r t u n i t v for a flex~hle program for the introdktion of various laboratory skills. I t has been our ex~erience that two primary handicaps--the lack of self assurance and a tendency koward memorizhon rather than creative thinking-interfere with the ongoing success within the sciences of the first year students with poor or varied educational backgrounds, Though these factors have been internalized deeply by most students, it was felt that these handicaps can he overcome in a lahoratory situation in which success~is realized hy the student in the achievement of his goals. While the department enrolls many students with a good background, a large percentage are not prepared ade- quately to master the course content without remedial help or strong motivation.

As with the lecture courses, the lahoratory courses were desiened for an academic calendar structured on the quarter system. The first lahoratory course is devoted to thidevel- opment of basic lahoratory skills and techniques, and quan- titative and stoichiometric relationships. In the second course, the student builds upon the basic skills and techniques mas- tered in the first course, hut withgreater attention to the ap- plication of these skills to practical or new problems, employing basic instrumental techniques where appropriate. In the third course, in which the lahoratory work is project- oriented. a wide ranee of laboratorv techniaues are introduced. The instructor series as a guide"for the project so that the student will utilize the skills and techniques previously de- veloped rather than seek short cut methods. The ability to tackle a problem, gain facility with the scientific literature, and achieve a product in hand provides a psychological stimulus to the student, generates a sense of self-confidence, and stimulates creative thinking and enthusiasm for the sci- entific process. If time permits, the student may he assigned other projects which require a greater degree of sophistication of techniques. Thus, this course is designed to be an ongoing learning process and not an end in itself. More importantly, a knowledge of the students' abilities must he considered in assienine iroiects. For examole. unknown to the student. he " -. . . . is assigned projects which will insure some measure of success rather than disillusion and frustrate him with chemistry. Hopefully, after completion of the lahoratory course, the student is stimulated for lahoratory work and prepared to handle the more rigorous work that is demanded in the upper level chemistry courses. It should he noted that the student hegins the labbratory sequence the term following the en- rollment in the lecture courses, which is the characteristic sequence of all of the lahoratory courses in chemistry.

Discussion and Evaluation Since the initiation of this program, the department has

been making assessments of the effectiveness of the program, and has revised parts of the program based upon the assess- ments. One of the critical factors that was evident in the suc- cess of the program was the required cooperation of the faculty members involved in the teaching of the various lecture

courses. This cooperation is necessary in order to insure that the concepts are introduced and learning ohjectives achieved without the necessity of repetition of a concept in another course. However, reinforcement of concepts are encouraged for the advantage it provides to the student.

A measure ofthe success of the program has been the sig- nificant improvement in performance by students in their upper level courses as noted by those teachers who have taught upper level courses before and since the initiation of this oroeram. In Tahle 1. the accumulated data shows the com- baXon between thetwo methods of presentation. The data show that in the orevious traditional method of oresentation the department achieved about a 50% average success rate in the first course. while under the mini-course oromam we have achieved about a 70% success rate. The suceessrate was cal- culated as the number of students who successfully passed the course compared to the number enrolled in the course one week after the beginning of the course. I t was felt that the success rate wouldbe a more meaningful measure of the course effectiveness since those students who dropped the course during the quarter were indicating the failure of the course to fill their needs or their inabilities to comprehend the mate- rial.

From the data in Tahle 1, two conclusions are apparent reeardine the imoact of the mini-course anoroach on the " " . . performance of the students in the introductory chemistry sequence: (1) a significant reduction in the students with- drawing from the course is evident which indicates that the new approach is meeting more satisfactorilv the psvchological needsof the students; and, (2) more students are achieving higher grades which we attribute to an actual higher achievement level rather than grade inflation since, for the most part the teaching staff in the mini-courses has remained unchanged from the traditional courses. The higher level of performance is again a reflection of the increased motivation instilled in the students hv the new aooroach. . .

Although a significant change is noted in the number of students receivine A and B erades. the percent of students who . . received n passing grade is lesssignifirant.'i'his factor may be the result o f the tendenrv tu eivr failing erodes to marginal . - students since the courses are only for on;or two creditsand they may he repeated the next quarter. In this sense the

Table 1. Results ol Students Taklng the Traditional Introductory Chemistry Sequence and the Mini-course Introductory Sequence at Central

State Unlversity from 1970-1977. % with- drawing % receiving % receiving

from passing A and B Year course grade grades

1970 21 54 14 traditional 1971 19 62 14

1972 18 64 19

1973 8 69 23 1974 9 63 21

mini-course 1975 6 68 29 1976 8 60 20 1977 5 71 36

Table 2. ACT Scores (average) of All lncomlng Students at Central State

University Year Composite Mathematics Natural Science

1970-1971 13.2 (20.0) 13.2 (19.6) 14.6 (20.8) 1971-1972 11.5 (20.0) 11.9 (19.6) 12.4 (20.9) 1972-1973 11.0(20.0) 110 (19.6) 11.2 (20.8) 1973-1974 11.3 (20.0) 11.7 (19.6) 13.1 (20.8) 1974-1975 10.1 (20.0) 10.2 (19.6) 12.2 (20.8) 1975-1976 10.7 (19.8) 9.8 (19.5) 13.0 (21.5) 1976-1977 10.3 (18.5) 9.8(17.8) 12.6 (20.9)

National average scores in parentheses.

Volume 56, Number 6, June 1979 / 393

mini-course annroach has orobablv increased the level of work struction and other audio-tutorial learning aids. In addition, demanded frym the students. ~ u r i n ~ the same period of measurement we noted that the ACT scores of the incoming students as shown in Table 2 had not changed significantly; thus, the high school preparation of those students enrolling in the chemistry courses had not changed significantly. We believe that the significant increase in the success rate is due in a large measure to this improved method of presentation. Other measures to substantiate further these findings will require more data and more time for collection and anal- ysis.

During the planning process and since the beginning of this program, we have observed certain advantages and disad- vantages which should he mentioned.

1. The program provides for flexibility to fit a wide variety of circumstances. Because the courses are one or two credit hours, a variety of course schedule options may be used. This allows for the preparation of a schedule with fewer conflicts with other course offerings and permits the arrangement of schedules to offer the faculty member with more blocks of time for research. In addition, many of these mini-courses can be offered more frequently during the academic year and can he utilized as a part of a continuing education program.

2. One of the great advantages of this program is for the student. There is a psychological disadvantage to the student who performs poorly in the traditional course which carries a credit hour assignment of five or more hours. A poor per- formance in a traditional five-hour course might discourage the student from continuing in science, while the poor overall grade might be due to his lack of development of skill and understanding of a single concept. In this program, when a student who does poorly in a single "mini-course" his grade point average is not as adversely affected as with a five-hour course. The student can readily repeat a course without overloading his schedule and not interfere with other sched- uled courses in any given term. Each mini-course has a much narrower scope and clearer objectives than offered in the traditional course and thus provides an opportunity for a more positive attitude from the student.

3. The program allows for the rapid advancement of stu- dents whoare-better prepared and nked only certain concepts to round out their backgrounds. Also, this program can offer a better sequence to those students in engineering, home economics, allied health fields, or other disciplines who need chemistry hut not necessarily all the concepts of the tradi- tional freshman chemistry course.

4. We have found that this program adapts well to the various self-teaching methodssuch as computer-assisted in-

the program is much better adapted to proficiency examina- tions. The usual proficiency examinations covers a wide range of topics and yetmay not give a true assessment of a student's ability in the use of a particular concept because of the limited time snent on testing a single concent.

5. ore staff memberscan be &zed in this program giving the student a wide exposure to a number of teachers in his first year. Since we do not all teach alike, the student may find one teacher who is inspirational and provides the confi- dence and attention that he needs in his first approach to a difficult subject matter. Thus, the involvement of many fac- ulty members in this program maximizes the studentlteicher contact.

6. This "mini-course" congept can be used to develop other topics or courses such as electrochemistry, qualitative analysis, transition elements. or environmental chemistrv. The flexi- bility of the topics offered would relate to the local demand for such tonics.

7. The reader should be aware of some of the disadvantages of the course structure. As indicated above, there is a need for constant cooperation and communication among those teaching the course. Without close cooperation, duplication or omission of material can become a serious problem. There must be care in advising students outside of the department of the appropriate sequence of courses. Also, it is difficult to find a single textbook that many instructors can agree upon for use inall of the courses.

We feel that the "mini-course" program has proved to be a success for students with varied background oreoaration. This program has a format which has maximized the oppor- tunities for success of the able but under~renared student and yet is well suited for the well prepared student. I t also provides for flexibility in meeting the diverse needs of students, for flexibility in scheduling, and for flexibility in conducting courses by self-teaching, audio-tutorial, or computer-assisted techniques.

We have reported this course format that we have devel- oped in order to present an alternative to the first course, which might be useful to others. We would be pleased to dis- cuss this program further with anyone who is interested.

Literature Cited 11) Lewis, D. K..and Wolff. W.A.. J. CHEM. EDUC..50.51 (19731: 51. 665 (19711. 121 Meckstrulh. W. K.,J.CHEM. EDUC., 51,929 (1971). IS) Walter, R. 1.. IEdilur). "Chemical Education for theUnderprepared Student,"SCripes

Publishing Company. Champaign. 11.. 1971. 141 K ~ t n i k , L.., J.CHEM. EDUC..51.165(19741. (51 Hedrick, J. L.,J.CHEM. EDUC., 52,65(19751.

394 1 Journal of Chemical Education