Embedded Video Questions as a Low-Stakes Assignment During the Remote Learning Transition

Abstract

During the transition from an in-person Organic Chemistry II class to a remote learning version of the class midsemester, a small-group problem-solving session exercise was replaced with embedded video questions as a low-stakes assignment with direct instructor feedback. Whereas the in-person small-group problem-solving session was a group submission, the embedded video questions were an individual submission. The benefits of this change included direct feedback for each student, which was proposed to assist all students, in contrast with the problem-solving sessions, which may have excluded students not fully participating in that particular social setting. Additionally, this was a way to engage each student directly during a period of social isolation. Costs include substantial time investment from the instructor and a narrower selection of problems for the students to view, as well as a lack of academic community building.