Rationale One of the primary goals of our upper-level undergraduate laboratory and interdisciplinary courses is to increase students' understanding of the techniques and skills used by practicing scientists. In the physical-chemistry laboratory, electronic laboratory notebooks are envisioned as a replacement for traditional hardcopy laboratory notebooks with improved functionality. These electronic notebooks should also enhance the ability of students to work as team members, by giving them the ability to share data and information electronically. Collaboration skills and sharing of information will increase in importance for the practicing scientist as advances continue to be made at the interfaces between scientific disciplines. The essential skill to be emphasized in the solid-state and materials course is computer modeling. In chemistry, the use of computational software with graphics is now routine and is widely used as a complement to experimental techniques. These computational tools allow for the plotting of numerical data sets, the rendering of graphics that aid visualization of molecular structures in three dimensions, and the solving of complex problems that would not be readily approachable otherwise. Chemical modeling and electronic-data management and analysis are important aspects of the work of the practicing chemist. In this context, the tablet PCs represent an ideal tool for educating the scientific leaders of tomorrow. As seen from our 2005 grant in Chemistry, students integrate software use better via in-class exercises versus outside use only. Combining learning the software with learning the concepts increases students’ ability to understand the software and the concepts being taught. We are now starting to apply this teaching methodology to other disciplines and to our application of GIS.

Impact on Teaching Our objectives for this project are to provide students with: Electronic laboratory notebooks that facilitate the management and sharing of data, and provide the ability to perform analysis of experimental data on-the-fly. In-class activities that facilitate the visualization of complicated three-dimensional crystal structures, and the analysis of structure modification on experimental data measured by solid-state chemists. The physical-chemistry laboratory course not only emphasizes hands-on experimentation with state-of-the-art instrumentation, but is also designated as a writing-intensive course. One goal of such courses is to improve student writing during the semester. This spring, for the first time, the submission of the student reports and the instructor feedback were handled electronically. The instructors feel very strongly that using the tablet PC’s facilitated higher quality feedback on student reports than was possible previously. For example, unlike electronic margin comments, typical pen-and-paper mark-ups do not allow for erasing illegible comments or editing comments for clarification. Yet, the instructors were able to “write” these margin comments as one would with paper and pen. Also, using tablet PC’s for grading increased more detailed typewritten feedback. In previous years, the instructors did not add these more detailed typed comments to the graded reports. This improved feedback is essential to obtaining the writing-intensive goal, because incorporating instructor comments back into subsequent writing assignments is needed for students to improve their writing skills as the semester progresses. The electronic submission of the student reports also improved the instructors’ information management and organization. Because the instructors are active in the development and refinement of novel teaching experiments, keeping copies of student reports is vital for evaluating the efficacy of the laboratory exercises. Previously, large stacks of photocopied reports were kept; now such reports are kept electronically and can be easily accessed during the assessment and refinement of the experiments. In previous years in the solid-state chemistry course, students were introduced to the PowderCell software through in-class demonstrations of the software’s capabilities, such as visualization of complicated three-dimensional crystal structures from perspectives controlled by the user, user modification of the crystal structure, and the ability to see how these modifications influence experimental data measured by the solid-state chemist (X-ray powder diffraction patterns). From these demonstrations, the students were then expected to use this software for their homework exercises. With the tablet PCs, for the first time, students were able to perform these exercises with the instructor; they were not constrained to watch the instructor’s manipulations of the model. The students were able to make changes of their own choosing and rotate crystal structures for viewing from any angle. This resulted in the students being more engaged and interactive than in prior years, according to the instructor’s observations, even during the non-tablet PC sessions. Consequently, the instructor added more in-class exercises this past spring and can not envision teaching this class without the use of the tablet PCs.

Implementation (pedagogy) The physical-chemistry laboratory course emphasizes hands-on experimentation with state-of-the-art instrumentation, and is also designated as a writing-intensive course. One of the goals is to teach our students techniques and skills used by practicing scientists. For example, the ability to maintain detailed documentation of experimental parameters and data records has always been an important tool in scientific laboratories. In previous years, the students used traditional paper laboratory notebooks, and although the instruments' computers collected data, there was no electronic method to transfer and analyze that data during the laboratory period. With the wireless tablet PCs, we have now changed from paper notebooks to electronic notebooks, which allow for on-the-fly managing and analyzing of large amounts of experimental data that can be rapidly acquired with modern chemical instrumentation. The Solid-State and Materials Chemistry course emphasizes the necessity of computer modeling in visualizing the complex solid-state structures and in simulating experimental data. Hence, the course uses chemical-modeling software for a large number of exercises, particularly in the first one-third of the semester. In previous years, the instructor would demonstrate the software in class and then the students had to learn and use the software, outside of class, to solve homework problems. The wireless tablet PC's have allowed us to bring these chemical-modeling tools into the class for students to learn and use during in-class activites, before having out-of-class assignments. The project's participating faculty work closely with the Washington University Teaching Center to develop and refine innovative and effective teaching methods, and to develop appropriate assessment tools.

Implementation (technology) Instrumental Methods in Physical Chemistry Laboratory students use wireless tablet PC's as electronic laboratory notebooks to replace traditional paper laboratory notebooks. Students use Microsoft Word with the tablet PC extensions for their notebook pages, which allow students to easily add figures, tables, and graphs to their notebook. The handwriting capability allows students to modify the figures, draw their own sketches, and write their observations directly into their electronic notebook for use later in writing their laboratory reports. The electronic notebooks allow easy wireless transfer of data from networked computer-interfaced laboratory instruments into the laboratory notebook. The wireless capability also allows easy transfer of the electronic notebook pages to a data-storage computer for remote access later. On-board data analysis (Origin) make the electronic notebook a research tool rather than a static data archiving device. The data-transfer ability in combination with the analysis software facilitates the evaluation of the data and encourages on-the-fly calculations, which results in students performing repeat experiments to obtain better data. Solid-State and Materials Chemistry students use the freeware program PowderCell to visualize complicated three-dimensional crystal structures from perspectives controlled by the user, modify the crystal structure, and analyze and refine X-ray powder-diffraction data to see the influence of the structure modification on experimental data measured by the solid-state chemist (X-ray powder-diffraction patterns). From in-class activities, the students then use this software for their homework exercises. In-class discussions based on these activities are facilitated with the HP digital projector with Smart Attachment Module and HP Presenter-to-Go software.

Contact Us Dr. William E. Buhro ([email protected]) Dr. Regina F. Frey ([email protected]) Dr. Dewey Holten ([email protected]) Mr. Aaron N. Addison ([email protected]) Project Website: http://www.teachingcenter.wustl.edu/HP

"We try to expose our students to the real-world applications of chemistry and convey our passion for science."

Impact on Student Learning Two Years Ago - Students in the physical-chemistry laboratory used traditional paper laboratory notebooks. During the laboratory period, no electronic transfer of data was possible. Therefore, the students were unable to analyze the data on-the-fly and decide if additional experiments were necessary. Students in the solid-state course had to watch the instructor demonstrate the modeling software and then use the software on their own outside of class to attempt to solve the homework problems. Also, in class, the students had to try to draw the three-dimensional solid-state structures instead of copying figures from the software and making notes. Today - In our solid-state course, over the past two years of having in-class exercises using the software on the tablet PCs: Scores on homework using PowderCell have improved. When additional in-class exercises were added in year 2 (spring 07), the scores improved over spring 06. Student participation and interactivity increased when the use of tablet PCs were introduced. In spring 07, when additional in-class exercises were added, the instructor observed that the increased student participation and in-class dialogue continued even in the non-tablet PC sessions. In post-semester surveys, students rated the following items on a scale from strongly agree (=5) to strongly disagree (=1) over both years (06 and 07): Incorporating Tablet PC exercises into lecture improved my understanding of course content: 4.6 average Understood concepts more easily using in-class computer exercises than waiting until after class to try the computer exercises: 4.1 average More comfortable working computer exercises outside of class because used tablet in class: 4.31 (4.1 in 06 and 4.5 in 07 when more in-class exercises were added). In the physical-chemistry laboratory course, using the tablet PCs as electronic notebooks resulted in: Immediate sharing of the experimental data, which led to increased team work. Improved pre-laboratory notebook templates by allowing the incorporation of graphic information such as instrument schematics and wiring schemes. The students were then able to write notations and changes on these graphics, which led to information consolidation. Improved instructor grading feedback, which led to higher-quality laboratory reports. Increased on-the-fly data analysis by students, which improved final experimental results. In post-semester surveys, students have positive attitudes about using the tablet PCs: Preferred electronic over hardcopy laboratory notebooks: 4.1 (Spring 07 only). 85-95of students agreed to strongly agreed that electronic allowed them to better manage and organize their notebooks and experimental data. 90-100of the students agreed to strongly agreed that electronic allowed for easier sharing of data. In addition to the chemistry courses, we are now using the tablet PCs in other disciplines to teach Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) applications. Although we are still testing this expansion, the initial results are promising. We will be setting up evaluation studies in the fall.

Quick Facts Dept: Chemistry, Washington University Teaching Center, Washington University GIS Facilitiy Courses Impacted: Chemistry 445 (Instrumental Methods in Physical Chemistry Laboratory), Chemistry 465 (Solid-State and Materials Chemistry), EPSC 201 (Earth and The Environment), IAS 180 (International Development), and UC CIM 300 (Advanced GIS) Students Impacted: 200 students over 3 years (freshmen through seniors) Key Faculty Involved: Dr. Dewey Holten, Dr. William E. Buhro, Dr. William M. Spees, Dr. Regina F. Frey Total Number of Faculty Involved: 8 Other Collaborators: Mr. Aaron N. Addison (WU GIS Facility), Mr. Greg Noelken (Dept. of Chemistry), Ms. Elizabeth Peterson (WU Teaching Center), Mr. Jason Crow (Dept. of Chemistry)

References & Publications 2007 Grant A. Addison and R. F. Frey. "Promoting Active Learning with Tablet PCs." ITeach 2008 Symposium, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, Jan 10, 2008. "Active Learning Using Tablet PCs." 2008 HP Technology for Teaching Worldwide Higher Education Conference, San Diego, CA, Feb 18-19, 2008. For further reading: "HP grant supports expansion of tablet PCs into humanities, social sciences." The Record, Dec 6, 2007. 2005 Grant W. Spees, "Teaching with a Twist: Tablet PCs in Chemistry," ITeach 2006 Symposium, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, Jan 12, 2006. "Wireless Tablet PCs in the Classroom and in the Laboratory." 2006 HP Technology for Teaching Worldwide Higher Education Conference, Monterey, CA, Feb 2-3, 2006. "Integrating Technology with Traditional Teaching Techniques." Teaching and Technology: ITeach Newsletter, Spring 2007. For further reading: "Wireless Tablet PC Grant in Chemistry." Teaching with Technology: ITeach Newsletter, Fall 2005. N. Schoenherr, "New Technology Improves Teaching and Learning." The Record, Vol 30, No. 1, April 15, 2005.

This project supported in part by an HP Technology for Teaching grant.