The Department of Chemistry at State University of New York at Old Westbury (SUNY-OW) will explore how undergraduate students can be motivated to work independently and gain skills with inquiry-based laboratory experiences. This project will bridge the gap between desired student learning outcomes and current instructional practices. Compared to traditional cookbook-style laboratory experiences, which leave many students unacquainted with scientific methodology and argumentation, inquiry-based experiences provide a richer and more meaningful learning experience. The project will also explore the impact of team teaching on student engagement and learning progress. SUNY-OW accepts a larger number of transfer students and will actively disseminate their findings to their feeder community colleges and other institutions.
This project will study creative approaches for improving STEM learning and learning environments, with a focus on a research-rich and a skills-rich chemistry laboratory curriculum. The goal is to improve undergraduates' understanding of scientific methodology and argumentation via inquiry-based laboratory teaching and argumentative writing. By integrating students' self-designed projects into teaching laboratories, the project will provide opportunities for students to work independently and to think critically as scientists. Through guided argumentative writing, students' deep thinking will be persistently focused on projects while their knowledge-based understanding develops. The impact of instructor-guided and student-generated inquiries on learning will be examined. This project will generate new evidence regarding effective instruction in the chemistry laboratory, thus leading to a better instructional design in undergraduate chemistry.
