Persistence In Learning (MCWeb): David Licata -- Detailed Description of MCWeb

A Study of Persistence in Learning Chemistry
Through Technology Applications

David Licata, Pacifica High School, Garden Grove, CA

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF MASTERING CHEMISTRY

Mastering Chemistry on the Web (MCWeb, pronounced em-see-web, not like an offering of a certain popular hamburger chain) was developed beginning in 1997 by Dr. Patrick Wegner (California State University, Fullerton). Grants from the National Science Foundation and the Fund for Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (US Dept. of Education) helped fund the development and dissemination of the program. Dr. Wegner and his staff continue to work on refinements. MCWeb can be accessed at http://titanium.fullerton.edu/mcweb. Teachers may use the system without creating a class using the link at http://treefrog.fullerton.edu.

MCWeb was developed in conjunction with the Molecular Science Project, one of the NSF Systemic Initiative Projects for chemistry. The central portion of MCWeb is the quizzing database. More than 55 units are available in nine broad categories of general chemistry. Each unit includes three to six topics. Teachers may assign each topic individually, or they may choose one of the pre-designed units. Some units are available in multiple configurations. Each topic quiz (or the summary "unit quizzes") requires students to answer from six to 15 questions. MCWeb includes three types of questions: proportional reasoning, visualization, and application of nomenclatures or formulas. Questions are posed in a variety of formats (see below) so that students do not become dependent on a single formulation terminology. The specific values, pictures, or formulas used in a question reside in a database. Each question and its accompanying items are selected randomly form the database resulting in as many as 50,000 different questions for each topic. It is nearly impossible for any two students to receive the same set of questions.

Sample Question

The topic "MOLE APPLICATIONS: Mass and Number" contains the following three formulations of questions (among others). The boldface items are selected from the database of values for this topic.

Sample 1: Determine the mass of one molecule of a covalent compound whole molar mass is 108.64 g

Sample 2: An 0.150 mol sample of a metal has a mass of 9.81 g. Determine the mass of one atom of the compound.

Sample 3: Determine the number of molecules in a 7.02 g sample of a covalent compound whose molar mass is 18.01 g.

Screen shots of sample questions

In this topic Avogadro's number is given. Interested teachers may explore other units and topics at the "treefrog" URL above. Each question is marked correct or incorrect immediately so the student knows if he or she understands the problems. Because of the number of questions involved, the huge number of different "quizzes" which each student may view, and the requirement that students earn a minimum score for credit there is little incentive for students to have their work done by someone else. Though sharing computers may require students to work together, they are most often observed talking about how to do the problems and sharing the actual workload - students are teaching each other!

Additional Components

The other portions of MCWeb include tutorials, ChemHelp, animations, and guided instructional activities. Each MCWeb topic includes access to the ChemHelp function. When students click the ChemHelp link they may read an overview of the topic, read a brief textbook style exposition of the topic with worked examples, or view additional worked examples similar to the problems they are doing. ChemHelp is especially useful to students who get answers wrong, though many students read through the sections before they begin work.

The guided instructional activities (referred to as GIAs) are designed to get students to work cooperatively, most often using partnered-discussions, to explore new concepts and practice new skills. More than 200 GIAs are available to be assigned through the MCWeb scheduling function. The paper and pencil GIA may be used as an online assignment or photocopied as a handout Teachers may assign a GIA appropriate to any topic and give students in-class time to work through it, or require the cooperative assignment to be done outside of class. Answers to each GIA may also be posted so students can check their work.

Links to sample GIAs

Students using MCWeb receive immediate feedback from the computer, have ready access to ChemHelp, and must achieve a teacher-defined mastery score. Thus the teacher can be assured they are spending more "time on task" than with traditional assignments. In addition, the GIAs force students to be accountable to a partner, further enforcing the "time on task" and making it more likely that they will do the assignment correctly. As a result, the instructor can quickly assess each student's level of achievement, and can work closely with individual students who are struggling. The teacher now uses time more efficiently and students who need help the most get help, while those who are doing well can be assured that they are performing as expected.

Dr. Andrew Montana prepared more than 100 Flash animations to teach Lewis structure, valence bond and molecular orbital Theories, and mechanisms of organic reactions. The Lewis animations teach the procedure for drawing and confirming Lewis structures, and then extend to applying valence bond theory and illustrating the molecular orbitals of nearly 100 molecules. Students may be quizzes on each of the bonding topics. Additional animations are also accessible from MCWeb to illustrate other significant topics in chemistry.

Link to sample tutorials

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