The journey into a flipped general chemistry classroom at Oregon State University (OSU) began in 2012 when Haak modified the format of a traditional general chemistry sequence for science majors. OSU operates on the quarter system. The regular academic year consists of three 10-week terms, so general chemistry is a sequence of three courses. Historically the first course in the sequence, CH 231, met for three 50-minute lectures per week and one recitation led by a graduate teaching assistant (TA). This was changed to a “semi-studio”
format where two class periods remained as traditional lectures but the Friday 40
Publication Date (Web): December 1, 2016 | doi: 10.1021/bk-2016-1228.ch003
class was reenvisioned. On Fridays students worked together in small groups to solve more challenging problems than usually encountered in a general chemistry course. Both group members and seats were assigned on Fridays and this setup was quickly dubbed “Friday Friends”. This new format was possible largely because of the construction of a new science building at OSU with a classroom designed to facilitate active learning pedagogies. The room seats 180 students and has two rows of seats on each level. The seats in the front of each row swivel, allowing students to face each other when working in groups (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. Photograph showing a section of the seating arrangement in the classroom, where students are able to face one another when doing group work.
A major limitation was noted almost immediately—50 minutes was not enough time to conduct in-depth problem-solving activities. In 2013 the third class period was moved to Thursdays and increased to 80 minutes. The move to Thursday was necessary because of classroom availability limitations. Having an 80-minute class period for problem-solving and critical thinking activities allowed sufficient time for students to work through the difficulties they encounterd while solving problems and still allowed 10 to 15 minutes at the end of class for wrap-up activities. Understanding the time needed to allow for effective problem solving was critical in the design of the hybrid course in 2014.
OSU began a Hybrid Course Initiative in 2011. The Hybrid Course Development Pilot Program was established as a joint initiative between OSU Extended Campus (Ecampus) in the Division of Outreach and Engagement and the Center for Teaching and Learning in the Office of Academic Affairs.
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Publication Date (Web): December 1, 2016 | doi: 10.1021/bk-2016-1228.ch003
Haak was a member of the Spring 2013 Hybrid Faculty Learning Community.
Members of the Learning Community were chosen through a competitive proposal process and came from a diverse set of departments: Business, Chemistry, New Media Communication, Public Health, and Women’s Studies. The Learning Community operated as a hybrid course, with some face-to-face meetings and other activities completed online using the OSU Learning Management System at that time,Blackboard. This was very helpful, allowing faculty a glimpse into the student experience in a hybrid course. It was also helpful to have discussions with faculty from such a wide array of disciplines. For some departments, such as New Media Communications, making the move to a hybrid format was not nearly such a major logistical and institutional undertaking as it was for Chemistry.
Development of the Hybrid Course
In the six months prior to teaching the first completely hybrid CH 231 course, we made over 50 topical videos that students would be assigned to watch outside of class in accordance with the “flipped” classroom structure. Our initial intent was to make videos 3–5 minutes in length, as recommended by OSU Ecampus at the time. Upon beginning the video recording process, however, it quickly became apparent that this length of time was impractical for our videos as it was simply too short. Thus, the majority of our videos were 15 to 20 minutes in length.
For the video recordings, we were fortunate to have a room equipped with a large whiteboard, two moveable, high-quality cameras on tracks, a system that allowed us to easily integrate camera shots, a document camera view, and a computer monitor view (8). The videos would typically begin with one of the instructors standing in front of a whiteboard to introduce the topic, then transition to a document camera view as notes were written. Occasionally a view of the computer monitor was also shown so images could be displayed. Some videos also included demonstrations filmed using the second camera. Both instructors were present when the videos were recorded. This was important since oftentimes the instructor watching the video being created noticed speaking or writing errors that were not obvious to the instructor being recorded.
The videos were not meant to replicate a typical 50-minute course lecture, but rather were designed to be smaller units to allow students to master one topic before moving on to the next. For example, the videos for the chapter on the quantum-mechanical model of the atom included:
The Nature of Light (Electromagnetic Radiation) The Bohr Model
The Double Slit Experiment The Wave Nature of Matter The Uncertainty Principle Quantum Mechanics of Atoms Quantum Numbers
Electron Transitions
Quantum Numbers and Orbitals 42
Publication Date (Web): December 1, 2016 | doi: 10.1021/bk-2016-1228.ch003
Another crucial aspect of the hybrid course was the development of appropriate in-class problem sets. Problem sets must be “group worthy,” meaning that it will take a group effort to solve the problems. If the problems are too simple there is no need for groups to work collaboratively; students can solve them on their own without input from others. The design and optimization of the problem sets is an ongoing process.