Changing Undergraduate Chemistry Instruction Through Discovery Learning: A Look at Student Performance and Attitudes
The results support the potential of discovery learning as a way of enhancing student performance, with gains found in each of the performance indicators examined. Still, however, room for improvement in these indicators exists. For example, the class mean score on the final exam increased from 46.1 percent to 63.4 percent. The percentage of students receiving a grade of "A' or "B" for the course increased from 27.3 percent to 45.5 percent. The picture with regard to attitudes offered some surprises. In almost every category student responses decreased after course participation, showing a more negative attitude toward chemistry and some aspects of discovery learning. The one exception was strategies related to collaborative learning which received very favorable ratings. This pattern was true for chemistry and biology majors, as well as for students intending to major in other fields. TAs responses also tended toward the negative. Considerable dissatisfaction was expressed with regard to their preparation in the use of the discovery approach. Surprisingly, however, most said that they would be willing to be a TA in a course using the approach again.
