Proof of Concept for a Thin-Layer Chromatography Digital Badge Assignment Within a Laboratory Practical Exam for a Nonchemistry Majors’ Organic Chemistry Lab

Abstract

Digital badges are credentials earned via a digital presentation to demonstrate the mastery of a technique. They have been utilized in General Chemistry laboratory courses as an assessment tool and to document students’ development of a skill. A digital badge assignment was developed for thin layer chromatography (TLC) and integrated into a laboratory practical exam in a large-enrollment Organic Chemistry laboratory course for science majors. The students filmed themselves carrying out the TLC technique while explaining why specific steps were taken. After completing the filming, they applied the TLC technique off-camera to identify an unknown. Detailed directions, filming prompts, and rubrics are provided for this digital badge. The assignment was updated on the basis of the results from quantitative and qualitative data collected from around 800 students and a dozen GTAs. This data was also analyzed to explore the affordances and challenges of implementing a badge within a laboratory practical. Data included students’ pre- and post-perceptions of their knowledge, experience, and confidence, scores on the laboratory practical and written final exam, and student and GTA responses to short-answer survey questions. The most helpful resources for the badge were the directions, filming prompts, and rubrics, while the challenges included filming oneself, time limits, and uploading videos to the learning management system (LMS). Overall, we believe the challenges students faced with the digital badge assignment were outweighed by the positive cognitive, psychomotor, and affective learning outcomes resulting from coupling a digital badge assignment with the identification of an unknown as complementary components of a required laboratory practical.