Una experiència en docència invertida i docència virtual en química general i química orgànica

He vist al Journal of Chemical Education un interessant article titulat Flipped Learning in Synchronously-Delivered, Geographically-Dispersed General Chemistry Classrooms que fa referència a la docència invertida (flipped classroom) en la docència en química. Aquest article fa referència a una experiència d’educació a distància (Interactive Distance Learning) on no hi ha contacte presencial estudiant-professor, però sí que hi ha interacció perquè els estudiants tenen ordinador i micròfon: es tracta d’estudiants de zones rurals distants dels campus presencials de les universitats. El resum d’aquesta contribució és

In synchronously-delivered, multisite classrooms, the physical separation between distance students and instructors may create a perceived divide that negatively affects learning. Building on prior experience in flipping organic chemistry in single-site face-to-face (F2F) classes, we decided to extend our approach to multisite, synchronously delivered general chemistry courses. Our thought was to narrow the perceived instructor–student divide in distance teaching by using the flexible in-class time that flipping affords to increase the number of positive teacher/distance-student interactions. In this effort, we gradually developed a technique called “bridging questions,” through which the instructor becomes more familiar with student interests and then connects those interests to chemistry topics discussed in class. Despite anticipating overall positive results, actual consequences were mixed: after flipping the class, evaluation scores and positive feedback increased slightly. However, the mean final exam scores decreased for F2F students by 26.2% but increased for distance students by 4.4% (not statistically significant). Thus, this new approach (flipping with bridging questions) may have unintentionally skewed our focus to distance students, though this conclusion is speculative. (We acknowledge statistical limitations, due to small sample sizes.) We accordingly advocate proactive efforts to balance engagement between both F2F and distance sites. In this paper we also discuss modifications we made to adapt our flipped format to multisite, synchronously delivered freshman chemistry courses, as well as the basic idea of bridging questions in general.

Aquest article també cita un article anterior a la mateixa revista, el 2014, sobre flipped classroom a un curs de Química Orgànica: Inverted Teaching: Applying a New Pedagogy to a University Organic Chemistry Class. En aquest cas es tarctava d’un curs presencial, però invertit:

que tenia per resum

Inverted teaching, not to be confused with hybrid learning, is a relatively new pedagogy in which lecture is shifted outside of class and traditional homework is done in class. Though some inverted teaching (IT) designs have been published in different fields, peer-reviewed reports in university chemistry remain quite rare. To that end, herein is disclosed a sophomore organic chemistry course design in which two groups of students were each taught by one of two methods: Group 1 through traditional lecture (TL) and Group 2 through IT. Design rationale and objectives are discussed. Academic performances are compared, along with anonymous student feedback contrasting the two techniques (TL vs IT). Student attendance and viewership, instructor prep time, and total lecture time are also presented for both styles.

Em sembla que paga la pena fer un cop d’ull a aquestes dues experiències. Pel que fa a l’article recent, que actua a la vegada sobre una classe presencial i sobre una classe amb docència remota, els resultats no són pas els esperats. Segons els autors, potser no es poden aplicar les mateixes consideracions a estudiants amb contacte físic, que a estudiants remots, encara que hi hagi interacció visual i auditiva.