Student-Generated Digital Tutorials in an Introductory Organic Chemistry Course

• Published in: Journal of chemical education Vol. 96; no. 3; pp. 597 - 600
• Main Authors: Hubbard, Brittany A, Jones, Grayson C, Gallardo-Williams, Maria T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Easton American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc 12.03.2019; Division of Chemical Education, Inc; American Chemical Society
• Subjects: Chemistry; College Science; College Students; Computer Uses in Education; Educational activities; Feedback; Instructional Effectiveness; Introductory Courses; Learning; Online tutorials; Organic Chemistry; Science Instruction; Student Attitudes; Student Developed Materials; Students; Teachers; Tutoring; Second-Year Undergraduate; Multimedia-Based Learning; Computer-Based Learning; Student-Centered Learning; Organic Chemistry
• ISSN: 0021-9584; 1938-1328
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.8b00457

As a means to encourage engagement in a large introductory organic chemistry class, students were tasked with the creation of digital tutorials for specific problems sourced from the assigned class textbook. Students had the freedom to choose how to produce their tutorials as long as the final product was a digital object suitable for sharing with other class members. Analysis of the project outcomes showed that most students successfully produced a tutorial meeting the required criteria and engaged in self-regulated learning by improving their tutorials as a result of instructor feedback and peer review. Tutorial media varied depending on the students’ preferences, but video content was the most common medium chosen by students, followed by slide shows and infographics. Completed tutorials were made available to other students in the course and also to the general public in an online open-access repository. As a result of their development of these reusable assignments, students reported positive outcomes in their self-reflection forms, including new or improved organic chemistry content learning as well as the acquisition of new technical skills and an appreciation of the peer review process. This report details the design and outcomes of the project with an emphasis on student perceptions of the completed works.