Pedagogy/Teaching & Learning

A brief introduction to Livescribe pens and their uses in the Chemsitry Department at Dartmouth College was presented.  A list of pros and cons of using the pen is included as well has some helpful tips regarding implementation.

For many years organic chemistry was taught at Gloucester County College using the traditional lecture format. During the past academic year I had the opportunity to “flip” the classroom for both semesters of the two semester sophomore organic chemistry sequence. This presentation will describe the techniques and technology used to accomplish and deliver the flipped classroom, explain and show how each semester topics were divided and presented to the student, and discuss the use of classroom time during the semester. Preliminary student performance and comments from this past academic year vs. standard lecture format performance from previous years will also be presented.

The “flipped” classroom is an approach to teaching that involves active learning while increasing student responsibility and improving comprehension.  The flipped, or inverted, model takes traditional lecture from in-class to outside the classroom in the form of online lectures or tutorials.   Work traditionally completed as homework is carried out through engaging group activities and instructor-guided problems during class.  Techniques used to flip an undergraduate organic chemistry course, including “vodcast” lectures, electronic homework, and “warm-ups”, are discussed.  In-class discussion and problem-solving are also investigated as means to facilitate deeper learning of organic chemistry.  Student learning outcomes in a flipped organic chemistry course are predicted to include efficient problem solving skills and the ability to verbally explain the material to one’s peers.  When an inverted classroom model is applied to organic chemistry, we anticipate increased comprehension and retention of the material, as well as improved performance on summative assessments (exams).