Document Type

Article

Rights

This item is available under a Creative Commons License for non-commercial use only

Disciplines

*pedagogy

Abstract

The aims of this project were: to develop additional online pre-lecture resources for first year chemistry undergraduates at level 7 and 8 to complement those prepared in the 2010/2911 academic year for level 8 students by Dr. Michael Seery as part of his teaching fellowship, and to evaluate the effect of implementing the resources with this year by analysing quantitative (test and exam results) and qualitative (pre-and post-implementation surveys and focus group interviews) data. Ten pre-lecture activities on organic chemistry were prepared and used with 87 level 8 students in Semester 2 and ten more on general chemistry topics have been developed and will be implemented with level 7 students in September 2012. Analysis of the mid-semester test and examination results of the students with whom the resources were used in semester 2 showed that, among groups with similar CAO points level, the gap in performance between those who had and had not studied chemistry at Leaving Cert was eliminated. The surveys and focus groups undertaken revealed that learners felt more confident and they could focus more in the lecture when they had completed a pre-lecture activity.

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