Browsing by Author "Canelas, DA"

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Open Access
Cooperative Learning in Large Sections of Organic Chemistry: Transitioning to POGIL
(ACS Symposium Series, 2019-01-01) Canelas, DA; Hill, JL; Carden, RG
A brief review of recent literature describing cooperative learning in organic chemistry, and the use of POGIL in particular, is presented. A case study of the steps one instructor took to implement the POGIL pedagogy will be outlined along with instructor reflections on the overall experience. Examples of outcomes from experiments comparing cooperative learning sections to lecture sections will be reviewed and expanded. Differences in learning between the participants in the experimental (cooperative learning) and control (lecture format) groups have been found in three key areas: (1) psychological affect variables, (2) development of transferable skills, and (3) self-reported gains in key organic chemistry content areas. Comparison of the two groups in terms of their elucidation of molecular structures from spectroscopy data will be discussed. When compared to the lecture group, students in the cooperative learning group self-reported higher gains in skills, and this was confirmed using a direct measure: performance on free response spectroscopy problems on the final exam. Indeed, the cooperative learning group scored higher than the lecture group on these spectroscopy free response exam problems, and this difference between the scores of the two groups was statistically significant.
Open Access
Cooperative learning in organic chemistry increases student assessment of learning gains in key transferable skills
(Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 2017) Canelas, DA; Hill, JL; Novicki, A
Open Access
Persistence, performance, and goal setting in massive open online courses
(British Journal of Educational Technology, 2021-05-01) Li, K; Johnsen, J; Canelas, DA
Goal setting is an important component in successful teaching and learning, but relatively little is known about its impact on course persistence and achievement in massive open online courses. Using an experimental design and employing a variety of data including student writings, content-related assignment attempts, and quantitative achievement in the courses, we compared the outcomes of two groups of learners who were given different writing prompts at the beginning of their course. While no overall effects of writing prompt type on the dependent variables were observed, highly statistically significant differences were found when goal writings were more closely examined and compared via qualitative coding. When learners’ written responses to prompts contained either learning or performance goals, those participants both achieved more and engaged in learning longer than participants whose written responses did not fall into either of these categories. Practitioner notes What is already known about this topic Goals are related to students’ behaviors and performance. Performance goals’ influences on learning have inconsistent results, while learning goals are considered beneficial. What this paper adds The effects of conscious goal setting in massive open online courses (MOOCs) may be different from traditional learning contexts. Having either learning and performance goals results in better persistence and performance than not having these goals. Implications for practice and/or policy More interventions should be designed to help MOOC learners set and commit to their goals. Use MOOC learner's learning and performance goals to promote learning and persistence.
Open Access
Understanding the massive open online course (MOOC) student experience: An examination of attitudes, motivations, and barriers
(Computers and Education, 2017-07-01) Shapiro, HB; Lee, CH; Wyman Roth, NE; Li, K; Çetinkaya-Rundel, M; Canelas, DA
During the widespread development of open access online course materials in the last two decades, advances have been made in understanding the impact of instructional design on quantitative outcomes. Much less is known about the experiences of learners that affect their engagement with the course content. Through a case study employing text analysis of interview transcripts, we revealed the authentic voices of participants and gained a deeper understanding of motivations for and barriers to course engagements experienced by students participating in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). We sought to understand why learners take the courses, specifically Introduction to Chemistry or Data Analysis and Statistical Inference, and to identify factors both inside and outside of the course setting that impacted engagement and learning. Thirty-six participants in the courses were interviewed, and these students varied in age, experience with the subject matter, and worldwide geographical location. Most of the interviewee statements were neutral in attitude; sentiment analysis of the interview transcripts revealed that 80 percent of the statements that were either extremely positive or negative were found to be positive rather than negative, and this is important because an overall positive climate is known to correlate with higher academic achievement in traditional education settings. When demographic data was added to the sentiment analysis, students who have already earned bachelor's degrees were found to be more positive about the courses than students with either more or less formal education, and this was a highly statistically significant result. In general, students from America were more critical than students from Africa and Asia, and the sentiments of female participants' comments were generally less positive than those of male participants. An examination of student statements related to motivations revealed that knowledge, work, convenience, and personal interest were the most frequently coded nodes (more generally referred to as “codes”). On the other hand, lack of time was the most prevalently coded barrier for students. Other barriers and challenges cited by the interviewed learners included previous bad classroom experiences with the subject matter, inadequate background, and lack of resources such as money, infrastructure, and internet access. These results are enriched by illustrative quotes from interview transcripts and compared and contrasted with previous findings reported in the literature, and thus this study enhances the field by providing the voices of the learners.