Poster presentation of a CSU Long Beach course redesign project leveraging technology for a "flipped class" approach. Presented in May 2014 at the CSU Board of Trustees meeting.

1. Flipped Technology and
Active Learning
Elaine Villanueva Bernal, CSU Long Beach
Abstract
The number of students entering STEM
disciplines in the California State University
System has increased 56% in the last ten years
with 6.7% in the last year alone. Many of these
students are required to take organic chemistry
as a prerequisite to Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
professional and graduate programs. However,
organic chemistry is widely known for high
failure rates. Collaborative and small group
teaching practices in chemistry have been shown
to increase student engagement and
performance in general, organic, and
biochemistry courses, and serve as a viable
option for increasing success rates in organic
chemistry.
CSULB is recognized as a Hispanic Serving
Institution with 29.2% of the student body
reporting as Latino or Hispanic. Many students
are first generation college students and come
from underrepresented and underserved
minority groups. Most students taking organic
chemistry have a full load of courses - along
with organic chemistry, students normally take
physics, calculus, biology, and a general
education course during the semester. Many
students also work between 20 to 30 hours a
week on or off campus.
Lyon, D. , & Lagowski, J. (2008). Effectiveness of
facilitating small-group learning in large lecture
classes. Journal of Chemical Education, 85(11),
1571.
Peters, A. (2005). Teaching biochemistry at a minority-
serving institution: An evaluation of the role of
collaborative learning as a tool for science mastery.
Journal of Chemical Education, 82(4), 571-574.
Szu, E. , Nandagopal, K. , Shavelson, R. , Lopez, E. ,
Penn, J. , et al. (2011). Understanding academic
performance in organic chemistry. Journal of
Chemical Education, 88(9), 1238-1242.
“Your course really connected the dots for me
and every other student in my lecture. I
especially appreciated the open forums in class
where we told you were we were struggling,
which allowed us to not waste time on topics we
knew.” (Sheila, Biology Major)
“I really appreciated the helpful links you would
email to the students as well as helping us go
over our classwork. Doing group work, putting
the answers up on the board, and discussing as
a class proved to be very beneficial as
well.” (Mark, Biology Major)
Why Students weren’t Passing
Outcomes and ResponseRedesigned Materials and Activities
Student Profile
References and Resources
Contact Info
elaine.bernal@csulb.edu
Lessons Learned
CSULB Organic Chemistry faculty currently
employ teaching strategies that include:
lectures for 40-60 students, laboratory courses
tied to the lecture, assigning problems from the
textbook as well as additional problems created
by the instructors, assigning students to
learning groups where they have an opportunity
to discuss and solve assigned problems, one
office hour each week dedicated to additional
discussion and problem solving, and
supplemental instruction. Although instructors
report that student performance and success
improves with additional engagement, the
results remain anecdotal at best and these
practices have not been sustained, developed,
or formally implemented.
Class Format
As part of the course redesign project, the
CSULB Department of Chemistry and
Biochemistry launched CHEM 324 in Fall 2013
to create additional opportunities beyond
lecture for small group discussions and
problem solving, as well as implementing a
flipped technology classroom format to engage
students in an active learning environment.
• During class, students will be placed into
small groups and participate in a "jigsaw"
activity:
• Each small group is assigned a problem;
• The groups solve and discuss the problem
they are responsible for;
• Each member of the group is the "expert" on
their problem, and explain to members of
the different groups on how to solve it.
Students in active group work.
Screenshot of reaction mechanism
Academic Technologies
Students are encouraged to watch selected
videos before class, and then discuss and
critique the video content as they solve
problems during class.
The selected online resources were used:
• Khan Academy
• UC Davis Chem Wiki
• Spectral Database for Organic Compounds
(SDBS) from the National Institute of
Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
(AIST), Japan.
• Chemhelper.com
• “Propane Elaine” Closed Group Facebook
Page
Sample board work by students.
Screenshot of Spectral Database
• Students in CHEM 324 found the course
helpful
• For the third exam during Spring 2014
semester, students performed 2-4%
better than students not participating in
CHEM 324.
Acknowledgements
This project was supported by the CSU
Enrollment Bottleneck Solution Course
Redesign with Technology program.
Organic Chemistry