Premisas de Diseño

VILS has not been employed in any other course but CHEM 1001 and 1002. Therefore, application to other courses is totally theoretical at this time. However, there is research available on using videos OUTSIDE of lecture in a multitude of courses. This is what is known as Just-In-Time Teaching (JITT)33 _{or Flipped}37 _{classrooms. In JITT or flipped classrooms, the model} of teaching is “flipped”. A traditional lecture devotes the entire (or most) of the lecture to the

104

PowerPoint while students take notes from the instructor. The student then does homework and practice problems outside of lecture. In a flipped classroom, the student watches videos of

lectures, takes notes, and does the “traditional” lecture on their time outside of class and the classroom is devoted to working example problems, problem solving and other student- centered activities.

VILS combines aspects of both traditional and flipped classrooms. Students watch videos in lecture, discuss videos and then assess knowledge via POD or other assessment tools. This works easily in a course like CHEM 1001 or CHEM 1002 where media plays a vital role in the course. But how would it work in a course such as organic chemistry? VILS would have to be selectively used for only certain lectures that lend themselves to this methodology and the lesson plan would have to be very structured.

For example, using VILS for a second lecture on stereochemistry in organic chemistry could proceed as follows. Students would be required to read the chapter on stereochemistry before coming to class and take a pre-lecture quiz. This is the standard assignment for all

chapters of organic chemistry at UNO taught by this instructor. Assume the first lecture covered the basics of stereochemistry and the second lecture was focused on identifying and classifying chirality centers and naming compounds using R and S (Cahn-Ingold-Prelog, CIP) rules.

A VILS lecture would start with a quiz to set baseline knowledge of students prior to lecture. This would be followed with a short, overview of CIP rules and assigning chirality centers. Next, a video would be shown on how to determine R and S by just visualizing the molecule in 3-dimensional space. A short discussion would follow and then a worked example or two would be done. Then, a video would be shown using molecular model kits to determine

105

R and S. Again, a short discussion and worked examples would follow. Finally, a video could be

shown using “tricks” to solve R and S, such as if the smallest group is wedged, then assign R and S and reverse the answer. If the smallest group is neither wedged or dashed, then do the double switch and then assign R and S.

After these videos, students can be assigned 3 problems and they have to solve each problem using a different method. After solving those problems, students can be asked which way they prefer to solve the problem. A short recap discussion will follow and then a post- lesson quiz will be administered. Students will be given 5-7 problems. Three of the problems must be done with an assigned specific method (visualization, model kits or tricks) and the other problems can be done using any methodology. After the quiz (or at the beginning of the next lecture), there would be a discussion of the methodology utilized for each problem and what worked best for the students.

Analysis could be done for the VILS methodology of teaching stereochemistry versus a traditional lecture on how to classify chirality centers. Pre and post lecture quizzes would be the best metric of this analysis (along with analysis of test and exam scores). But, student

evaluations of how effective each method was for their understanding of stereochemistry would also be a very important metric in the analysis of these two methodologies.

Depending upon the effectiveness of VILS, this methodology could be applied to other topics that would be amiable to the VILS methodology. For example, intermolecular forces, spectroscopy, SN1 vs SN2, Diels-Alder, Claisen rearrangements, Aldol reactions could all be

taught using VILS methodology. Topics in general chemistry could also be analyzed to figure out which would be most likely to work well with VILS methodology.

106 6.5 Future Work

The online cohort of CHEM 1001 and 1002 will be a great source for this data. An analysis of how many of those students click and watch the videos that are assigned can be done. While this will not provide scalability to all populations, it will give an initial view of how many of these videos are watched. Additional questions can be posed to see if students in the online cohort retain the material. A comparison on POD and thinking question performance for the lecture cohort versus the online cohort could provide information on retention of the

material from viewing material prior to a “lecture” versus during lecture. Additionally, a study

can be conducted where some lectures ask the students to watch the video prior to coming to lecture and compare their performance on POD versus the cohort who watched the videos in lectures. A simple way of checking student’s preference for learning can be done using Qualtrics or some other survey method.

As mentioned in section 6.4, a comparison of pre and post lecture quizzes in a

traditional lecture versus a VILS lecture in organic chemistry or general chemistry could assess the scalability of VILS to other classes. Additionally, VILS will need to be tested at other

institutes of higher learning (community colleges, private universities, large PhD granting

universities, liberal arts colleges, HBCU…). Also, different faculty would need to test this to

make sure there is not a faculty bias in VILS.

VILS was not the result of a well-thought out research study. VILS developed on its own,

“organically” from teaching CHEM 1001/1002. The concept of using videos to help teach the course was a conscious decision but the percentage of time in lecture spent watching videos and the reaction to this teaching method from the students led to the actual formalization of

107

this lecture style. As such, there was not a designed plan to analyze VILS, nor was there even an acronym VILS or the idea of creating a new teaching style until analysis of the first year teaching the course illuminated that a new teaching style may have been created and may potentially be a very useful method of lecturing to generation Z students.

108

Chapter 7 Pedagogical Changes in Organic Chemistry Lecture