Literature Review

The definition of engagement has been conceptualized in many ways in recent literature. Some authors take a simple approach, focusing on students psychological investment in learning,(Newmann, Wehlage, and Lamborn 1992) while others define engagement as a multi-dimensional construct, typically with 2-3 components.(Appleton, Christenson, and Furlong 2008) For example, in her 2010 book, Elizabeth Barkley defines engagement as the intersection of two components: motivation and active learning,(Barkley 2010) and Fredricks et al. separate the concept into three parts: behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement.(Fredricks, Blumenfeld, and Paris 2004) Behavioral engagement concerns behaviors such as effort and participation, while emotional engagement includes having a positive attitude towards learning, an interest in the material, and a sense of belonging and cognitive engagement is about investment in learning.(Appleton, Christenson, and Furlong 2008; Fredricks, Blumenfeld, and Paris 2004) My project will focus on assessing emotional and cognitive engagement in the College Chemistry I lab setting with a specific effort toward evaluating the impact of a new lab focused on samples from the local environment.

Previously, professors at many institutions have introduced an environmental theme into their college level chemistry classes as a way of making the material more accessible to students. This approach has been used in classes at multiple levels ranging from a one semester course for non-majors (Robelia et al. 2010) to upper level analytical classes (Tomasik and LeCaptain 2014; Weidenhamer 1997). Multiple college level chemistry curriculums with an environmental focus have been published, including Chemistry in Context from the American Chemical Society (Stratton et al. 2003) and the Chem Connections Project developed by the University of California at Berkley and Beloit College.(“Chem Connections Workbooks” n.d.)

Most of the published studies focus on courses that have been completely redesigned to include environmental connections throughout the semester. For example, in 1993, Kegely and Stacy at the University of California – Berkley introduced an environmental chemistry lab that could be taken as part of freshman chemistry, with the goal of incorporating more problem solving and critical thinking into the course (although no information about evaluation of their program was available).(Kegley and Stacy 1993) Robelia et al. adjusted a one semester chemistry course for non-majors to focus on environmental examples to give context to the material. When compared to a course with no adaptations to include environmental examples, they found that there were no significant differences in chemistry knowledge at the end of the course but the students in the environmentally focused class had improved environmental attitudes and behaviors over the course of the semester.(Robelia et al. 2010)

Additionally, more advanced chemistry courses have been adapted to include an environmental focus. Jeffery Weidenhamer at Ashland University redesigned the laboratory for a quantitative analysis course so student groups would choose and develop their own environmentally focused projects. The new course exposed the students to a greater variety of instrumentation than the old one and Weidenhamer reports, “Students are enthused about using what they have learned to analyze samples of interest to them.” However, no quantitative analysis of student learning or engagement is provided in his publication. (Weidenhamer 1997) Tomasik et al. also redesigned a quantitative analysis course to focus on the environment. This course took place during Central Michigan University’s summer session and the labs were grouped together at the end of the course during a trip to the CMU biological station. Evaluation of the course shows that it has the potential to improve student attitudes about both chemistry and the environment, and that student performance on the American Chemical Society standardized exam was not statistically different from the traditional course.(Tomasik and LeCaptain 2014) Overall, it appears that chemistry classes focused on the environment may improve student attitudes/engagement over traditional courses, but do not produce less gain in chemistry knowledge. Environmentally based courses can also provide opportunities to introduce more instrumentation and critical thinking into lab activities.

Sources

Appleton, James J., Sandra L. Christenson, and Michael J Furlong. 2008. “Student Engagement with School: Critical Conceptual and Methodological Issues of the Construct.” Psychology in the Schools 45(5): 369–86. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pits.20303/abstract (January 5, 2015).

Barkley, Elizabeth. 2010. Student Engagement Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty. San Fransisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

“Chem Connections Workbooks.” http://chemlinks.beloit.edu/ (September 1, 2015).

Fredricks, Jennifer A., Phyllis C. Blumenfeld, and Alison H. Paris. 2004. “School Engagement: Potential of the Concept, State of the Evidence.” Review of Educational Research 74(1): 59–109. http://rer.sagepub.com/content/74/1/59.short (January 5, 2015).

Kegley, SE, and AM Stacy. 1993. “Environmental Chemistry in the Freshman Laboratory.” Journal of Chemical Education 70(2): 151–52. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed070p151.2 (December 22, 2014).

Newmann, Fred M., Garry G. Wehlage, and Susie D. Lamborn. 1992. “The Significance and Sources of Student Engagement.” In Student Engagement and Achievement in American Secondary Schools, ed. Fred M Newman. New York, NY: Terachers College Press, 11–39.

Robelia, Beth, Kristopher McNeill, Kristine Wammer, and Frances Lawrenz. 2010. “Investigating the Impact of Adding an Environmental Focus to a Developmental Chemistry Course.” Journal of Chemical Education 87(2): 216–20. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed800056e.

Stratton, Wilmer J., Gail A. Steehler, Norbert J. Pienta, and Catherine H. Middlecamp, eds. 2003. Laboratory Manual - Chemistry in Context: Applying Chemistry to Society. 4th ed. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Higher Education.

Tomasik, JH, and D LeCaptain. 2014. “Island Explorations: Discovering Effects of Environmental Research-Based Lab Activities on Analytical Chemistry Students.” Journal of Chemical … 91: 1887–94. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed5000313 (December 29, 2014).

Weidenhamer, Jeffrey D. 1997. “Environmental Projects in the Quantitative Analysis Lab.” Journal of Chemical Education 74(12): 1437. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed074p1437.