Document Type
Assignment
Publication Date
8-2018
Abstract
The Foundations of Chemistry SCC 110 course is required for LaGuardia’s Health Sciences students interested in the Nursing, Dietetic Technician and Veterinary Technician programs. This course has been designated for the Inquiry and Problem Solving competency as well the Digital Communication ability. SCC 110 students will use SCC 110 lecture material and information in the SCC 110 lab manual to perform an electrophilic addition. Students will be able to correlate the organic theory concepts with the experiment by making physical observations (e.g., color changes) when carrying out the lab procedures. The student findings will be synthesized and expressed by making an in-class video and drawing the reaction using chemistry software.
Students, who successfully complete the hydrocarbon reaction lab and produce a corresponding satisfactory digital media report, will ideally have engaged in the assignment for at least three hours in lab followed by an additional 2-3 hours completing the digital components of the lab. The assignment is worth 2.5% of the final grade and is at the midpoint in the core competency for health sciences. This lab assignment was developed in the CTL seminar- Pedagogy of the Digital Ability where assignments were devised in the seminar followed by revisions of the assignment in a charrette format.
LaGuardia’s Core Competencies and Communication Abilities
The assignment will enable students to use digital media to explain complex chemistry concepts while improving digital literacy. In more detail, this is shown where SCC 110 students are asked to submit/upload a video of themselves performing an organic chemical reaction and providing audio commentary on the experimental observations with an explanation of the underlying chemistry principles. The second part of the assignment will entail students using chemistry software to draw out the chemical reaction from the lab and uploading the two digital media products in their ePortfolio. The crafted digital report addresses all four dimensions of the digital communication rubric with an emphasis on multimodal communication. It describes both on a macroscopic and microscopic level the step by step organic reaction of an alkene plus bromine to create a haloalkane. Students will be able to use appropriate scientific language to explain the reaction mechanism to the undergraduate scientific student community. The design of the experiment incorporates one of SCC 110’s course objective, which is to “introduce students to concepts about chemical bonding.”
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