Facilitated Study Groups for Undergraduate Organic Chemistry: Experience from a Large Public Canadian University

Autor/inn/en	Hamidzada, Homaira; Sinha, Sarthak; Roberts, Maggie; Dalili, Shadi
Titel	Facilitated Study Groups for Undergraduate Organic Chemistry: Experience from a Large Public Canadian University
Quelle	In: Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 14 (2023) 1, Artikel 3 (33 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Undergraduate Study; College Science; Organic Chemistry; Science Instruction; Intervention; Small Group Instruction; Program Effectiveness; Peer Teaching; Grades (Scholastic); Academic Persistence; Student Diversity; Inclusion; Student Motivation; Student Participation; Cooperative Learning; Group Discussion; Feedback (Response); Facilitators (Individuals); Canada + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Grundstudium; Organische Chemie; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Peer group teaching; Peer Group Teaching; Notenspiegel; Inklusion; Schulische Motivation; Schülermitarbeit; Schülermitwirkung; Studentische Mitbestimmung; Kooperatives Lernen; Gruppendiskussion; Kanada
Abstract	Undergraduate organic chemistry courses have a reputation for being difficult among students in biological and physical sciences programs. Due to the extensive problem-solving, visualization, and depiction of chemical structures/reactions required, students may perceive learning such content as similar to learning a new language. Several interventions such as course-integrated tutorials or discussion sessions have aimed to assist students. Another effective approach that chemistry educators might consider is Supplemental Instruction (SI), a well-established program that emphasizes student-driven learning whereby student SI leaders facilitate discussions to help students arrive at solutions while also developing effective communication and study skills. A type of SI, Facilitated Study Groups (FSG), established by the Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) in 2009, were introduced regularly into organic chemistry courses in 2012. This program provides semester-long optional small-group peer learning sessions, each of which corresponds to a course lecture. The aim of this paper is to provide comprehensive coverage detailing the structure of the organic chemistry FSG program, peer facilitation strategies employed, quantitative/qualitative synthesis of student outcomes indicating program uptake. We consistently find significantly higher grades and significantly lower attrition rates for students who regularly attend FSG sessions in comparison to those who do not (n=16 semesters). Given the growing diversity of undergraduate classes in terms of approaches to learning, language, and cultural barriers (international students, English second-language learners, learning and psychosocial disabilities), our FSG sessions seek to foster inclusion amongst our heterogeneous pool of attendees. Here, we describe strategies that tailored FSG sessions to a diverse group of undergraduate students as suggested by a sizable percentage of the class availing themselves of this resource and by a narrative synthesis of end-of-term surveys. Together, we demonstrate successful adoption of an SI-based model for organic chemistry and present a practical framework that includes pedagogically informed session strategies and cost estimates to guide design of similar programs for post-secondary students at other institutions. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	University of Western Ontario and Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Mills Memorial Library Room 504, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L6, Canada. Tel: 905-525-9140; e-mail: info@cjsotl-rcacea.ca; Web site: http://www.cjsotl-rcacea.ca/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01