Flipping the General Chemistry Laboratory Lecture : Increasing Student Engagement by Enhancing Self-Directed Learning

Abstract

Strengthening instruction in STEM fields can benefit student learning as well as foster positive attitudes towards the sciences. This project tries to answer the question whether there is a measurable difference in understanding of and attitudes towards chemistry of two groups: students who complete a General Chemistry course where the laboratory lecture is in a flipped format and students who complete a General Chemistry course where the laboratory lecture is in a traditional lecture format. In this study, flipped and traditional student attitudes and understanding will be assessed by several quantitative and qualitative measures. A published, validated, and reliable attitude survey on the subject of chemistry will be given to student participants (the ACSI V2) at the beginning and at the end of the course. To quantitatively assess student understanding of General Chemistry of all groups, standardized final exam scores were examined and statistically analyzed.