Collaborative Learning and Peer Review in Chemical Learning Communities |
The Utopian Goal: Teaching to Enable Autodidactic Behavior
About Learning in Customary Educational Settings: Not only do individuals learn at vastly different speeds and in different ways, but man seems capable of astonishing feats of rapid learning when the attendant circumstances are favourable. It seems that, in customary educational settings, one habitually uses only a tiny fraction of one's learning capacities.
Complexities of Human Learning: Educators are therefore becoming increasingly concerned with these concomitant learnings. They are aware that the long-term significance of the arithmetical skill that the student consciously learns may be nugatory compared with the importance of what he learns about himself as a learner, about his capacities and limits, about his relationship with his teacher, about power and authority, about his relationships with his fellow students, about equality, collaboration, competition, and friendship.
Scope of the
Collaborative Projects
Having recognized the complexities of learning, it is the purpose of the
Chemistry 433 (Group) Projects to engage the students in
collaborative learning and to train and develop their ability to work with
peers and their peer review skills.
Depending on the number of enrolled students, study "groups" might
consist of individuals, or preferentially of two or three students.
I want at least five "groups". Each group will carry out two
projects.
The written part of both projects will be submitted to the
instructor in form of an electronic report and, upon approval, this report
will be hyperlinked and posted on the Chemistry 433 Project Page.
Both projects will require oral presentation to the class in form of
a lecture/discussion session. All projects will be evaluated via a guided
peer review by all the other groups.
Working in the projects, the oral interaction with your peers and the
feedback obtained through peer review, all of these mechanisms will
provide you with a opportunity for more active learning, will provide the
framework for support and constructive criticism, and will teach you
valuable lessons on group dynamics. You will have to focus on the peer
group rather than your internal standards alone. Also, there will be only
one grade for all members of each group.
Organizing Your Group
This should be no problem at all for most of you. Chemistry 433 is
usually taken by second or third year chemistry graduate students.
A list with the names of the students in Chemistry 433 will be posted on
the Chemistry 433 Course Page. This list will contain the electronic mail
addresses and the majors of the students. Students with their own home
pages are encouraged to submit the URLs of their home pages to the
instructor. Links will be established between the posted class list and
the individual home pages.
Practical aspects (where does (s)he live, what times is (s)he available,
...) are as important as personal matters (do you think you can get along
with this student ...) and your estimate of his/her ability and motivation
(is this student likely to contribute to the group ...).
Relevant Dates and Deadlines
Formation of Groups. Friday, January 30, 1998.
Send an email note to the instructor that contains the name of the
group and lists all of its members and their email addresses.
Further Information
The Collaborative Projects are being carried out in Chemistry 433 for the
first time in the present fashion. Your input is crucial to us. Please
be as open and frank as possible when commenting on any aspect of the
design, planning, and execution of the Collaborative Projects. Let us know
what works and what does not work. The Chemistry 433
Collaborative Projects will be monitored by professional educators and
your comments on any aspects of "Collaborative Learning and Peer
Review in Chemical Learning Communities" will be valuable. All
materials associated with this project will be used in thesis research in
the Department of Education. Thank you for you cooperation.