implementation of an activity for the integration of

IMPLEMENTATION OF AN ACTIVITY FOR THE INTEGRATION OF ROOM, LABORATORY AND COMPUTER PRACTICE FOR CHEMISTRY STUDENTS IN THE PHARMACY GRADE: EVALUATION AND ACTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT Gotzone Barandika1, Javier I. Beitia2, Idoia Ruiz-de-Larramendi2, María-Luz Fidalgo2 1

Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, University of the Basque Country (SPAIN) 2 Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Facultad de Farmacia, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU (SPAIN)

Abstract A variety of activities can be carried out for the development of a subject, and in the case of “General and Inorganic Chemistry” in the grade of Pharmacy (University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU) there are up to four different methodologies: traditional lecture, room, computer, and laboratory practice. In this sense, the teaching team of the above mentioned subject has detected that students usually have difficulties to establish connections between the different activities. On the other hand, the team has also identified that during the last years students have been obtaining lower marks than average on aspects related to acids and alkalis. Therefore, these aspects needed special attention, and a plan was designed to this purpose where the objective was integration of room, computer and laboratory practice. The selected activity was the determination of the concentration of acetic acid in vinegar via volumetric analysis, making use of the reaction of acetic acid with a strong base, sodium hydroxide. Reactions, reactants, materials, procedure, and calculations were explained during a roompractice session. Then, the activity itself was carried out in the laboratory, where students performed a volumetric analysis by using a device consisting of an automatic burette attached to a pH meter. The as-acquired data were later analysed in comparison to the theoretical curves. Thus, this work is focused on the description of the implementation of the three activities, and its further evaluation. The work also includes the identification of improvement actions for next course. Keywords: Innovation, Inorganic Chemistry, Pharmacy grade, acids and alkalis, integration of activities.

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INTRODUCTION

There is general agreement among leaders in the field of educational technology that, due to a variety of barriers, teachers often fail to capitalize on the educational potential offered by technology resources. Barriers are defined as any factor preventing or restricting teachers’ use of technology in the classroom. Barriers impacting technology integration may be grouped into four main categories: resources, institutional and administrative support, training and experience, and attitudinal or personality factors. On the other hand, when integrated meaningfully into curriculum and instruction, technology can positively impact student learning and achievement. Many years of research has shown drill and practice programs to be effective in reinforcing basic skills and boosting student performance in specific areas. Likewise, students using simulations can gain deeper and more flexible knowledge of scientific concepts. More recently, research has shown that, when integrated into curriculum-based student-centred classroom activities, tools such as word processors, spreadsheets, databases, modelling and presentation software can promote the development of such 21st century skills as communication, collaboration, and analytical thinking. Key to the success of any intervention is the matching of the appropriate tool to the task at hand. If, as mentioned above, a teacher’s objective is raise test scores in a discrete area such as math facts, an appropriate tool would be one that offers opportunities to memorize and be drilled on those facts until secure. If instead the curriculum calls for conceptual understanding and the ability to apply principles of physics related to force and movement, an entirely different type of tool would best meet that need. Further, the impact of being able to place that tool in the hands of the student to manipulate, explore,

Proceedings of INTED2015 Conference 2nd-4th March 2015, Madrid, Spain

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and discover, will contrast sharply with the impact of that same tool used by a teacher to “present” information to a whole class of students. “Meaningful integration” of technology, then, refers to the process of matching the most effective tool with the most effective pedagogy to achieve the learning goals of a particular lesson. Each tool brings different opportunities to the learning environment and involves a different set of skills on the part of teachers and students. Each can play a unique role in the learning process when used at the appropriate time, under the most appropriate learning conditions. It is simply the degree to which a particular technology’s capabilities are matched to the expected learning outcomes and supported by appropriate pedagogy that will determine the impact that technology has on learning and achievement. When considering the range of available technologies and their potential impacts on learning, an important distinction can be made between two categories of technology tools. With the first of them, students essentially learn "from" the technology. The computer acts as a tutor and serves to increase students’ basic skills and knowledge, as is the case in the drill and practice reference above. Technologies of this type can be effective in helping teachers present and students acquire basic factual knowledge. Alternatively, students and can learn "with" computers—where technology provides a flexible tool that can be applied to a variety of goals in the learning process and can promote the development higher order thinking, creativity and research skills. Technologies of the second type are those that engage students in communication, hypothesis testing, and interactive information sharing. Tools such as word processors, database and spreadsheet applications can be categorized as second-type ones, when used in ways that involve personal engagement with authentic tasks. Also sometimes referred to as “disruptive technologies”, second-type applications have proven to be powerful agents of change in the classroom when teachers learn to adapt their instructional practice to the design and capabilities of these “cognitive tools”. Matching the tool with the most effective pedagogy means shifting teachers’ role from being providers of information to being providers of opportunities. Teachers must facilitate student exploration of ideas and questions in ways that engage them actively and centrally in their own learning. Disruptive technology-supported classrooms have the potential to become more learner-centred, and to promote engagement with subject matter in a way that is authentic and powerful. Taking into account the above mentioned aspects, this works presents the integration of room, laboratory, and computer practice for the teaching of Chemistry. Figure 1 shows a scheme of the process designed for active and autonomous self-learning.

Figure 1. Process designed for active and autonomous self-learning

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INPUT: DIAGNOSIS OF THE SELF-LEARNING POTENTIAL

Academic standards are the benchmarks of quality and excellence in education such as the rigour of curricula and the difficulty of examinations. Therefore, diagnosis of the students´ situations was carried out by using academic results. The teaching team observed that during the last years students have been obtaining lower marks than average on aspects related to acids and alkalis. Understanding the background to acids and alkalis, and particularly focusing on the identification and quantification of pH, gives students a solid foundation for the investigation of chemical properties. An effective diagnosis is absolutely necessary because self-direction in learning refers to both the external characteristics of an instructional process and the internal characteristics of the learner, where the individual assumes primary responsibility for a learning experience. Thus, self-learning potential determines the increase in knowledge, skill, accomplishment, or personal development that an individual selects and brings about by his or her own efforts, using any method in any circumstances at any time. This way, self-learning can be viewed as a set of generic, finite behaviors; as a belief system reflecting and evolving from a process of self-initiated learning activity; or as an ideal state of the mature self-actualized learner, and also as a process in which individuals take the initiative, with or without the help of other, to diagnose their learning needs, formulate learning goals, identify resources for learning, select and implement learning strategies, and evaluate learning outcomes. Figure 2 provides an scheme that explains the way in which diagnosis is a part of higher process, that conforms a PDCA cycle of improvement.

Figure 2. PDCA cycle for improvement consisting of diagnosis, design, development, and assessment.

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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. The subject area “acids and alkalis” provides an excellent opportunity to plan a research-case for students as activities are planned to be carried out in the classroom, in the laboratory, and by using computers. As observed in figure 3, integration of the three modalities starts with a guide that is provided by the teaching team to the students. Next, there is an exposition of the problem and the available resources to solve it which is performed by the teachers in the classroom. Taking into account the previous

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aspects, students are required to design a lab-experiment which will be performed during lab-practice. Computer-added monitoring of the experiment is a key-point. Students are also supposed to process the as-acquired data. Those are experimental data that will be compared to theoretical data. The significant aspect about it is that theoretical data are also produced by the students when simulating their experiments. This way, students can compare experimental and theoretical data. Comparison between them gives them the opportunity of deep thinking about the experiment, and about the basic chemical concepts involved.

Figure 3. Methodology applied to integrate room, lab and computer practice

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RESOURCES

Making the most of the available resources is one of the skills that professional should acquire. In fact, this work has been carried out thanks to the fact that our laboratory is equipped with pHmeter-burette with resolution 0.01 pH and 1 mV. The instrument is complemented with a kit suitable for the analysis. The results appear directly on the display without need to make calculations. The amount of reagent is low due to the high resolution of the burette. The device produces high reproducible results, the samples can be prepared and afterwards analyzed, and it has a specific program for burettes calibration. Additionally, there is an automatic and direct control over the stirring. These features are excellent for students which can produce their own data, and keep it, being conscious of the differences attributed to experimental.

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INTEGRATION OF THE THREE ACTIVITIES

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

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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. 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

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OUTPUT: ACQUIREMENT OF SKILLS AND ITS ANALYSIS

Students are encouraged to make use of the opportunities afforded to them to develop the appropriate skills which will stand them in good stead in later life. Intellectual, oral and written communications, organizational, interpersonal and research skills have been identified to be acquired. The teaching team follows the activity of students to support them. Finally, the students produce a report where the teaching team can assess the rate in skills acquisition. This is the material that is used for the identification of improvement activities. Analysis of the results, reveals that students are more motivated when they use their own data to study. However, as observed for other activities, students are more worry about their marks that about the subject itself. Therefore, additional effort will be made in explaining the importance of acid-base reactions in facts of their interest.

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CONCLUSIONS

We have detected an area where students traditionally get lower academic results, and have planned a process for the integration of the activities related to acids and alkalis. Integration consists of the design of an experiment, its performance and the processing of the as-obtained data by means of activities in the classroom, in the lab, and in the computer-room. The students seem to be more motivated but still do not get the expected rate of skills.

AKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors acknowledge the financial support of SAE/HALEZ (UPV/EHU) for a PIE2013-2015(6695) grant.

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