Transforming the General Chemistry Program at a Large Research University

Abstract

The University of Central Florida has one of the largest student populations in the United States and offers many freshman chemistry laboratory courses taught by graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) every semester. As is the case with many U.S. institutions, assumptions were made that Chemistry Department GTAs enter the program with knowledge of teaching effectively and that they have retained the necessary chemistry knowledge to teach their assigned courses. Additionally, the courses were taught as verification style laboratories which encouraged a passive learning environment, and did not promote critical thinking for GTAs or students. A transformation project of the second semester Freshman Chemistry Laboratory instruction was initiated in 2011 with a focus on not only improving the learning experience for the undergraduate students but also providing long-term training in teaching methods and professional development for GTAs. The vision driving this change is that the faculty members in charge of these courses have two populations of students for whom they are responsible: the undergraduates taking the laboratory course and GTAs teaching the course. The transformation began with testing a guided-inquiry method of teaching in the laboratories. With successful results from the initial tests, further implementation of this teaching method continued. Pre-semester GTA training has been developed and successfully implemented. This training is further supported by weekly meetings with the GTAs assigned to teaching the maximum of 26 sections of the course. This presentation will cover the entire process of this transformation and the observations of the successes and challenges of various components.