ChemCompanion is a new and novel web-based teaching resource for first-year college chemistry courses that couples innovative delivery of the course content outside of the classroom with increased opportunity for active learning inside of the classroom. The goal is to deliver the core course content as a series of filmed presentations with simultaneous presentation of supporting visual elements in an engaging virtual classroom environment. The resource also features inline self-assessment activities and video problem-solving tutorials inserted at regular intervals throughout the presentation materials. The fully-developed product will be capable of replacing the course textbook. This full function "next-generation textbook" creates new opportunities for innovative use of student-instructor classroom time and is the first step toward the goal of building a broad-based online community of educators and learners. Since ChemCompanion delivers the course content and introduces the skills of the first-year chemistry course outside of the classroom, instructor-student interactions in the classroom are able to emphasize activities that promote better understanding, deeper learning, and application of concepts to real-world examples. The additional time and effort to implement active learning can be a barrier to adoption for instructors. Thus, resources supporting these activities are being developed for instructors to facilitate the adoption of active learning strategies in the classroom that integrate well with ChemCompanion. These materials are being made available through a website that will lay the foundation for future Web 2.0 capability. Informed evaluation of the piloted use of ChemCompanion is guiding the continued development and improvement of materials. Evaluation is both quantitative and qualitative as well as both formative and summative. Intellectual Merit: ChemCompanion simultaneously delivers a conceptually-oriented concise text and high-quality visual elements that illustrate, demonstrate, and animate the content. It is designed for self-paced student learning outside of the classroom, providing a student with immediate feedback via inline assessment tools. Its use frees up classroom time for increased active learning and for more "real world" applications. To support this new hybrid approach to teaching, the instructor resource website is hosting materials designed for in-class use with ChemCompanion as well as application-based teaching modules. Broader Impact: The first-year college chemistry course is central to the chemistry STEM curriculum as well as to that of biological sciences; hence, large numbers of students are affected by any improvements or enhancements to this course. The availability of quality machine or web-based resources that effectively deliver course content outside of the classroom has the potential to transform STEM teaching away from the traditional lecture model. Such materials also offer students the possibility of more control over their learning and help them come to class more equally prepared regardless of their prior preparation and backgrounds. In addition, if the course content is presented in audiovisual format, students are less likely to use it in support of working the assigned problems, as they do a traditional textbook, and more likely to view the complete story as intended by the author. ChemCompanion is designed with these opportunities in mind.
