AN ACTIVITY FOR CHEMISTRY STUDENTS IN THE PHARMACY .... strategies training can consist of coaching the students in thinking skills that will allow.
ACADEMIC RESULTS DERIVED FROM THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AN ACTIVITY FOR CHEMISTRY STUDENTS IN THE PHARMACY GRADE: INTEGRATION OF ROOM, LABORATORY AND COMPUTER PRACTICE Gotzone Barandika1, Javier I. Beitia2, María-Luz Fidalgo2, Idoia Ruiz-deLarramendi2 1
Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU (SPAIN) 2 Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Facultad de Farmacia, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU (SPAIN)
Abstract Innovation projects allow the planning, implementation, and evaluation of new experiences devoted to the improvement of the learning process. In this sense, the University of the Basque Country (UPV / EHU) has developed the IKD concept attached to the teaching-learning process in a climate of confidence and dynamism through the promotion of educational material. In this sense, the design of new tools promoting this process is crucial, in order to enhance the acquisition of both specific and transversal competences. Thus, the work herein presented corresponds to an innovation project in education that has been granted by the University of the Basque Country (UPV / EHU), and it is linked to the field of Chemistry. In fact, the scope is the subject "Acids and alkalis", where theoretical and practical skills are fundamental. Thus, the work herein presented corresponds to the performance of volumetric analysis, and to the comprehension of the experiment by integrating this laboratory practice with two additional activities: previous room practice and posterior computer practice. The objective of this integration is to facilitate the learning process in a subject that needs special attention because students have been obtaining poor marks during the last years. Therefore, after implementation of the activities, this work is focused on the analysis of the academic results. Keywords: Integration of activities, Inorganic Chemistry, Pharmacy grade, acids and alkalis, Innovation.
1
INTRODUCTION
Innovation projects allow the planning, implementation, and evaluation of new experiences devoted to the improvement of the learning process. In this sense, the University of the Basque Country (UPV / EHU) has developed the IKD concept attached to the teaching-learning process in a climate of confidence and dynamism through the promotion of educational material. In this context, we have identified the strategies carried out by the students when facing self-learning. Thus, as observed in figure 1, students use three strategies: cognitive, metacognitive, and supporting ones. Metacognition is cognition about cognition, or more informally, thinking about thinking. It refers to selfmonitoring, self-representation, and self-regulation processes, which are regarded as integral components of the human mind. Moreover, these processes participate in general intelligence, together with processing efficiency and reasoning, which have traditionally been considered to compose fluid intelligence. Metacognition also thinks about one's own thinking process such as study skills, memory capabilities, and the ability to monitor learning. This concept needs to be explicitly taught along with content instruction. Metacognitive knowledge is about our own cognitive processes and our understanding of how to regulate those processes to maximize learning. Some types of metacognitive knowledge would include: (a) person knowledge (declarative knowledge) which is understanding one's own capabilities, (b) task knowledge (procedural knowledge) which is how one perceives the difficulty of a task which is the content, length, and the type of assignment, and (c) strategic knowledge (conditional knowledge) which is one's own capability for using strategies to
Proceedings of INTED2015 Conference 2nd-4th March 2015, Madrid, Spain
1537
ISBN: 978-84-606-5763-7
learn information. Young children are not particularly good at this; it is not until upper elementary where students start to develop the understanding of strategies that will be effective. Metacognitive-like processes are especially ubiquitous when it comes to the discussion of selfregulated learning. Being engaged in metacognition is a salient feature of good self-regulated learners. Reinforcing collective discussion of metacognition is a salient feature of self-critical and selfregulating social groups. The activities of strategy selection and application include those concerned with an ongoing attempt to plan, check, monitor, select, revise, evaluate, etc. Metacognition is 'stable' in that learners' initial decisions derive from the pertinent fact about their cognition through years of learning experience. Simultaneously, it is also 'situated' in the sense that it depends on learners' familiarity with the task, motivation, emotion, and so forth. Individuals need to regulate their thoughts about the strategy they are using and adjust it based on the situation to which the strategy is being applied. At a professional level, this has led to emphasis on the development of reflective practice, particularly in the education and health-care professions. Metacognition helps people to perform many cognitive tasks more effectively. Strategies for promoting metacognition include self-questioning (e.g. "What do I already know about this topic? How have I solved problems like this before?"), thinking aloud while performing a task, and making graphic representations (e.g. concept maps, flow charts, semantic webs) of one's thoughts and knowledge. Metacognitive strategies training can consist of coaching the students in thinking skills that will allow them to monitor their own learning. Examples of strategies that can be taught to students are word analysis skills, active reading strategies, listening skills, organizational skills and creating mnemonic devices.
Figure 1. Students´ strategies for self-learning. Taking into account the above mentioned aspects, the present work shows the academic results obtained by a group of students. The work herein presented corresponds to an innovation project in education that has been granted by the University of the Basque Country (UPV / EHU), and it is linked
1538
to the field of Chemistry. In fact, the scope is the subject "Acids and alkalis", where theoretical and practical skills are fundamental. Thus, the work herein presented corresponds to the performance of volumetric analysis, and to the comprehension of the experiment by integrating this laboratory practice with two additional activities: previous room practice and posterior computer practice. The objective of this integration is to facilitate the learning process in a subject that needs special attention because students have been obtaining poor marks during the last years.
2
METHODOLOGY
Research-based learning has emerged as an important research methodology for teacher educators. The overarching goal of this methodology is for one to examine their own potential with the notion of transforming it. As observed in figure 2, the work herein presented corresponds to zone “check 2” of the scheme. Therefore, previously, it corresponds to final step of the PDCA cycle shown in figure 2. Previously, we have identified “acids and alkalis” as a subject that needs special attention because students obtain poorer marks. Then we have identified one of the possible causes for this low marks. In our opinion, students have difficulties to correlate the different activities carried out about this basic chemical concept. Therefore, we designed an improvement action consisting of integrating classroom, laboratory, and computer practice around a single problem. After implementation, check 2 will provide information about the efficiency of our strategy.
Figure 2. PDCA cycle for a self-learning process As said, the three activities have been integrated by using a problem as reference: “Determine the concentration of dissolution of calcium carbonate”. This is a product that appears solved in natural water, and that is the major constituent of the mollusk-shells. The available reagents are sulphuric acid and fenoftaleine. The students can use book, handbooks and the web to get all the information they need.
1539
ROOM SESSION To design the experiment that permits the determination of the concentration, students must identify the reaction as a “acid-base” one, and they need to know volumetric analysis as the appropriate technique to determine concentrations. As a part of the design of the experiment, students have to determine the concentration of sulphuric acid they are going to use, and the volume of dissolution of calcium carbonate. LABORATORY SESSION Performance of the experiment must be carried out at least three times to provide an accurate value and its error. Monitoring of the experiment will be carried out by representing in a graph the change of pH with the added volume of sulphuric acid. COMPUTER SESSION Data processing consists of identification of the equivalence point, followed by the determination of the concentration and its error. Afterwards, the experiment will be simulated on the computer, producing theoretical data, that provide an “expected” value for the concentration of calcium carbonate that will be compared to the experimental one
3
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Previous marks obtained by students in the subject of “acids and alkalis” where really low. In fact, during the last years, the majority of them used to obtain marks lower than the average mark. In fact, average value for “acids and alkalis” has been lower than 4 over 10 for several years. When planning this improvement action, our intention was getting a considerable increase in the students´ marks. In fact, we intended to get the value of 5, as average for this subject. Last results have been measured after the implementation of the improvement action previously described. The group inder study was composed by 79 students (Pharmacy Grade, General and st Inorganic Chemistry, 1 term). The results can be observed in figure 3. Percentage of students (%)
Figure 3. Marks obtained by students on the subject “acids and alkalis”. As observed, the majority of them do not obtain the value of 5 (54,8%). This way, the average value is 4,24 which is higher than other academic years but still low. Figure 4 shows the results concerning laboratory practice. As observed, there are no marks below 4, the average being 6,9. Therefore, there is a big gap between results shown in figures 3 and 4.
1540
Figure 4. Marks obtained by students on laboratory practice
4
CONCLUSIONS
We have planned and implemented an improvement action to increase the academic results related to the subject “acids and alkalis” consisting on the integration of three different activities. The assessment performed at the end term showed a slight increase in the marks obtained by the students but still far from the desired values, that remain under average. Therfore, further improvement will be need in this particular subject.
AKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors acknowledge the financial support of SAE/HALEZ (UPV/EHU) for a PIE2013-2015(6695) grant.
REFERENCES [1]
Smith, J. D., Beran, M. J., Couchman, J. J., Coutinho, M. V. C., "The Comparative Study of Metacognition: Sharper Paradigms, Safer Inferences", 2008. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 15 (4): 679–691 (2008).
[2]
Kieran, C. R. F.; Christoff K., "Metacognitive Facilitation of Spontaneous Thought Processes: When Metacognition Helps the Wandering Mind Find Its Way". The Cognitive Neuroscience of Metacognition: 293–319. (2014).
[3]
Guisasola, J., Nuño, T., (Eds.) “La Educación Universitaria en Tiempos de Cambio”. Servicio Editorial de la UPV/EHU, 2006.
[4]
Klefsjo B. “Method for improving the quality of higher education based on the EFQM model.” Quality Progress, 2000, vol.33 p.124-124.
[5]
Gutiérrez-Ríos, E.: "Química Inorgánica", Reverté, Barcelona (1990).
[6]
Housecroft, C. E., Sharpe, A. G.: "Química Inorgánica", Pearson Prentice Hall, 2ª Ed., Madrid (2006).
[7]
Shriver, D. F. Atkins, P. W.: "Inorganic Chemistry", 3ª Ed., Oxford University Press, Oxford (1999).
[8]
Valenzuela, C. "Química General e Inorgánica para estudiantes de Farmacia", Ed. Universidad de Granada, Granada (2002).
[9]
Gotzone Barandika, Javier Beitia, Idoia Ruiz-de-Larramendi, María-Luz Fidalgo, EFQM-BASED PDCA CYCLE APPLIED ON SELF-LEARNING MATERIAL FOR CHEMISTRY STUDENTS, Proceedings of EDULEARN13 Conference, 1st-3rd July 2013, Barcelona, Spain (p5033-p5038) ISBN: 978-84-616-3822-2.
1541
