Date of Award

2001

Level of Access Assigned by Author

Open-Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Education

Advisor

Herman G. Welter

Second Committee Member

Mitchell R.M. Bruce

Third Committee Member

Francois G. Amar

Abstract

Constructivist theories of learning posit that instructors cannot transfer their knowledge to students; students must actively construct their own understanding. The Inter-Chem-Net project uses technology and instrumentation to provide an individualized experience within the large general laboratory course, effectively establishing a constructivist methodology. A grading rubric was developed to communicate course expectations and provide an easy and reliable method of evaluating student work in the general chemistry laboratory. The grading rubric separates the learning outcomes into a checklist of skills associated with each particular grade. This checklist provides detailed feedback for individualized choices of experiments, a key component of the Inter-Chem- Net model. Questionnaires were used to evaluate the impact of the grading rubric on the students and teaching assistants. The results were compared to student evaluation data from the previous year's passlfail grading system. Results suggest the rubric helps students navigate course expectations and provides a consistent grading scheme across multiple sections of the course.

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