Resumen de Constructing Explanations in an Active Learning Preparatory Chemistry Course
Molly B. Atkinson, Sandhya Krishnan, LaShawn A. McNeil, Julie A. Luft, Norbert J. Pienta
Active learning pedagogical approaches and methodologies have been shown to increase undergraduate student success. Specifically, the flipped classroom approach pushes course content outside of the classroom, allowing for the focus of each class period to be centered on student–student interactions and reducing student cognitive load in comparison to a standard lecture environment. Within this flipped classroom, the process of constructing explanations is one potential instructional tool to support student conceptual learning. This design-based research study focused on conceptual learning through the scientific practice of constructing explanations in a preparatory chemistry course. Using the claims-evidence-reasoning framework, students engaged in three activities individually and in small groups over the course of a semester, with each activity focusing on a separate chemistry concept and utilizing the explanation process of developing a claim, drawing upon evidence to support the claim, and using evidence to provide reasoning for the claim through highlighting relevant scientific concepts. To gain insight into how flipping these explanations activities can impact student learning, students in the course completed each activity while in class for the first iteration of the study; in the second iteration, students in the same course completed the individual portion of the activity outside of class and exchanged ideas in small groups during the next class period. Results show that shifting the process of individual explanation outside of the classroom allowed for more time for student discussion of the material in small groups, leading to better explanations of natural phenomena and greater chemistry content understanding.
