How students should utilize assessments.

The role of assessment for the students is to make sure that what they are getting from class or studying is what is expected of them. If the assessment is difficult to the point where minimal progress is made and it is extremely difficult, then the student needs to assess their own place (meta cognition) within the class expectations.

Students should use assessment to either encourage themselves that they are on the expected path or to correct their learning so that they are on the path laid out by the instructor. I apologize for saying path but I cannot think of a better term for what a professor should be doing with the laying out of knowledge.

Response to in Class Activity

The in class project helped me to see how difficult it can be to utilize FA in a course. And in addition to providing opportunities of FA, but using that in such a manner that the education experience is that much better for the students.

I would say that the most salient features of FA is flexibility. An instructor must be willing to adapt what is being taught in response to the FA, while still advancing far enough in the teaching that the students do not lack in material covered.

Student Interview Reflection

I was happy with how my mock interview went. My interviewee did a fantastic job of answering questions and had some great suggestions. One idea that I will definitely employ is to have a very general equation of an equilibrium reaction so that students can know what I am talking about. I will likely have the student draw the equation to see how they draw it. I missed a fundamental question on what the equilibrium constant is that will be useful to use. It is important to make sure that I have the student define all the concepts that I will then ask them questions on later to ensure that there is an understanding of the definition but a lack of the conceptual understanding.

The other trick I want to use is to have them write down anything they want to and keep track of that as they do it. I need to make sure to expand on the questions to delve into what the students understand.

Student Interview: Chemical Equilibrium

Chemical equilibrium is a concept introduced in the first semester of chemistry. However, students usually just look at equilibrium as a number to a solution and do not actually understand what is occurring at the molecular level. These questions will hopefully probe these usually overlooked concepts.

1.       What does it mean for a system to be at equilibrium?

2.       What are the compounds doing if a system is at equilibrium?

3.       What factors influence the equilibrium?

4.       Does temperature change the equilibrium? Why or why not?

5.       What is the relationship between equilibrium and how fast the reaction occurs?

6.       Assume we have 15 A molecules and A is in equilibrium with B. The equilibrium constant is 1.5. How many B molecules do we have?

7.       What would happen if we then added 6 B molecules?