I would like to enhance my instruction of the chemistry content and to incorporate writing and the peer review process into my general chemistry courses. I believe it is important for scientists and engineers to communicate effectively. It is important for students to learn how to connect their writing skills to science content. I find this can often seem intimidating for students or that students are not aware of the important role that writing has in science. I believe writing about science content enhances one’s understanding of the material. Furthermore, in the development of writing skills, it is essential that one practices and that feedback be given. I would like my students to also experience the peer review process, which is important in the progression of scientific endeavors. All of the above can be accomplished with the use of a web-based program, Calibrated Peer Review (CPR): cpr.molsci.ucla.edu.

I have already been using CPR in my general chemistry courses. I have only been requiring one assignment. I would like to increase to three assignments and align these with the exams. The first assignment will focus on material that I have found students struggle with: Reaction Stoichiometry. This assignment would be started during week 3 of the semester. The second assignment, given during week 7, will focus on covalent bonding and uses animations and tutorials as sources for background information. This assignment will allow me to incorporate these alternative methods- animations/tutorials – and enhance my instruction. The third assignment, given during the final weeks of the semester, will either be on interpreting Phase Diagrams or a research paper on an element or compound. Typically, the students are given a two-week timeline for the completion of these assignments.

It has been shown that the use of CPR enhances content learning and improves writing and reviewing skills. I would like to test the impact on content learning in my courses by aligning exam questions to the material in the CPR assignments. In addition, I would like to survey my students at the end of the semester to determine their perception on how this program affected: 1) their understanding of the content; 2) their technical writing skills; 3) their reviewing ability. 

My objectives are to:
1. enhance the content learning and understanding.
2. faciliate the development of writing skills in a science course.
3. faciliate the development of reviewing skills.

I will align certain exam questions to the content material from the CPR assignments.

I would like to evaluate the students' perceptions on how CPR has enhanced their learning experience and how it impacted their scientific writing and review skills.

I would like to use an online survey. I learned how to create and use online surveys during the EDU 090 course.

I would like to recieve feedback from the students (through the survey) on how CPR enhanced instruction. This will allow me to learn how I can effectively faciliate the development of writing and reviewing skills and enable me to choose assignments where the enhancement of the content is needed most.