A Study of Persistence in Learning Chemistry
Through Technology Applications
David Licata, Pacifica High School, Garden Grove, CA
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE RESEARCH METHOD
Advanced Placement Chemistry at Pacifica High School, is a second year class. Three teachers share eight to ten sections of first year chemistry each year. There are usually two AP classes. The three teachers cooperate in planning the sequence and pace of instruction, share lab exercises, and often share quizzes and tests in the first year classes. This situation provided an excellent opportunity to assess the potential benefits of the MCWeb program. One of the three chemistry teachers was part of the MCWeb "Web-Assisted Tools for Chemistry, Developers Online Group" (WATChDOGs) and used the MCWeb tools regularly in class. The other two teachers used traditional paper and pencil homework and some self-developed online quizzing and other online research. Students in the group using the Mastering Chemistry program are called the "MCWeb group." Students in the traditional classrooms are the "control."
During the first week of school in 2003 all students enrolled in a Pacifica chemistry class completed the "OCCA" (1) assessment tool developed and validated by the WATChDOG team (2). This will be designated "pretest 1," or simply "pre1.". The OCCA includes 18 paired multiple choice questions testing students' visualization (VIZ) and proportional reasoning (PR) skills. Each question has six possible answer choices. Ten PR questions and eight VIZ questions comprise the test.
The Pacifica course of study covers moles, writing and interpreting formulas, balancing equations, and the gas laws during the first semester. Second semester includes basic quantum ideas and electron configuration, details about the periodic table, shapes of molecules, kinetics, calorimetry, and acid-base reactions. Since the primary instruction in molecular and reaction visualization and chemical proportional reasoning (stoichiometry) occur in first semester, teachers gave the OCCA as a post test at the beginning of the second semester (first week of February 2004). This is designated "post test 2," or "post2." Students in California take the California Achievement Tests, sixth edition (CAT-6) in late April or early May of each year. Student percentile scores on the math portion of this test were collected and are reported as "CAT6M."
Students in the MCWeb class completed 19 MCWeb units (approximately 55 individual topics) between pre1 and post1. They also did 15 GIA assignments in the classroom, besides their more traditional assignments. They did 15 labs during the first semester. The MCWeb group had fewer and shorter traditional assignments compared with the control group due to the work they did with the MCWeb program. During the second semester, after post1, students did another nine MCWeb units, eight GIAs, and 15 labs. The MCWeb classroom has 14 computers for 25 to 30 students. I encourage students to work together on MCWeb assignments. Thus, the online work also fosters cooperative learning as students often work in pairs.
Forty -six students continued from first year chemistry into AP Chemistry in the fall of 2004. Of these 22 students were part of the control classes and 24 students were in the MCWeb group during first-year chemistry. Each student took the OCCA again on the first day of class. This administration is designated "pretest 2" or "pre2." Students did not receive instruction during the summer and had no summer review assignments. At the end of 2005, after the AP Chemistry exam, students took the OCCA for a final time. This is "post test 2," or "post2."
All students took the California Achievement Test (sixth edition), known as CAT6 in late April of 2004. This test assesses reading, English/language arts, math and science in grades 9-11. These questions are all multiple-choice. Percentile scores for the reading, English, and math portions of the test were compared for the two groups of students. The science portion of the test was not compared, as that is the subject of this paper. The two groups of students had comparable scores that were not significantly different at the 95% confidence level for reading or English. However, the control group did have measurably better math ability than the MCWeb group, based on the CAT6. As a result, ANCOVA analysis was used to adjust the average OCCA scores for the differential math ability.
Copyright David Paul Licata, 2005. All rights reserved.