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An Assessment of a Physical Chemistry Online Activity

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Marcy Hamby Towns , Kelley Kreke , Deborah Sauder , Roland Stout , George Long and Theresa Julia Zielinski

Ball State University, Department of Chemistry, Cooper Science Bldg, Muncie, IN 47306

J. Chem. Educ., 1998, 75 (12), p 1653

DOI: 10.1021/ed075p1653

Publication Date (Web): December 1, 1998

Section:

History, Education, and Documentation

Abstract

A questionnaire and list server archive were used to investigate the perception of students and faculty who took part in a physical chemistry online project. Students at four universities worked cooperatively in their own classrooms and collaborated as a larger team on the Internet via a list server to determine the best mathematical model to describe the PV behavior of a gas at a specified temperature. The strengths of the project were the interaction among students, the use of Mathcad and modern technology, and the experience of authentic problem-solving. The weaknesses were the problems with the technology, the facilitation of interaction, and the student's ability to ask questions to solve an ill-defined problem. The suggestions for improvements focused on facilitating interuniversity interaction between students, clarifying tasks and goals, and implementation of the online activities. We discuss how our evaluation of the project guided and informed the design of a subsequent online project, and our planning for future projects. In addition, we describe the professional learning community that evolved among faculty who participated in this project.

Keywords (Audience):

Upper-Division Undergraduate

Keywords (Domain):

Physical Chemistry

Keywords (Feature):

Chemical Education Research

Keywords (Pedagogy):

Internet / Web-Based Learning

Keywords (Subject):

Learning Theories

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This article has been cited by 1 ACS Journal articles (1 most recent appear below).

Predictors of Success in Physical Chemistry
M. Elizabeth Derrick , Frederick W. Derrick
Journal of Chemical Education2002 79 (8), 1013
- Predictors of Success in Physical Chemistry
  M. Elizabeth Derrick , Frederick W. Derrick
  Journal of Chemical Education2002 79 (8), 1013
  Physical chemistry is commonly viewed as formidable by chemistry faculty and students alike. It is the gateway course to advanced chemistry courses in ACS-certified degree programs. Hypotheses concerning success in physical chemistry based on previous ...
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