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Recently I pivoted my assessment for my freshman chemistry class of 100 students taught in @EmoryChem. I wanted to share the experience in case others wanted to use it in the future. In summary, it was a huge success! @emorycollege @EmoryUniversity THREAD 1/8
I am currently teaching the 2nd semester freshman year class in our @EmoryChem Chemistry Unbound curriculum. This class covers Gibbs Free energy, Equil, pKa, Acidity, Nu Acyl Sub, Kinetics, and SN1/SN2. We transitioned to remote learning as we began the unit on Nuc Acyl Sub. 2/8
The original plan was to have a traditional exam at the end of the module but instead I wanted to try something different that promoted extensive practice & combined learning objectives from across the class. The result was to ask each student to develop an educational video. 3/8
This is not new but not common for an intro class of 100 students. The assignment entailed students creating a 3-4 min video working through a Nuc. Acyl. Subst. rxn mechanism & describing everything that happens. For example, H+ catalyzed hydrolysis of urea or anhydrides. 4/8
The students were required to provide a complete curved arrow mechanism, describe the orbitals involved, provide an energy diagram, and discuss delta G and K for the reaction provided. A rubric was provided to ensure all material was covered & the content was accurate. 5/8
We created 8 equally challenging questions & turned them into 4 versions of the assignment, each with 2 reactions to choose from. An added benefit is that this will provide me w/ 8 future educational videos for upcoming semesters. 6/8
The student response was fantastic! No major complaints or issues creating & uploading the videos. A 100% submission rate & a class average of 92%. Best part was that students saw the benefits of the assignment that will hopefully translate to their performance on the final! 7/8
Here is an example of one final product that was uploaded to YouTube (permission given by the student). Although it isn't perfect, it highlights the assignment. I would love to hear other's thoughts on this assignment @Teachforaliving @RissaChem 8/8
