Creating an Expert Decision Model Designed to Improve Student Learning in First-year General Chemistry Courses

Abstract

The potential benefits of structuring first-year general chemistry courses around an expert decision model (EDM) to help students develop conceptual understanding and sustainable problem-solving strategies are discussed, as is the creation of the EDM and the challenges faced in doing so. The usefulness of categorizing the course material as either process knowledge, conditional knowledge, or conceptual knowledge is also outlined. The EDM created for the course consists of four fundamental content domains branching out with a series of hierarchal questions and actions designed to guide students toward characterizing a question or solving a problem. The key characteristics of each of these domains are described along with aspects of this EDM structure that have been implemented over the past couple of years in the author’s classes and the impact this has had on the students and the author’s teaching.

Citation

Wood, S.G. (2021), "Creating an Expert Decision Model Designed to Improve Student Learning in First-year General Chemistry Courses", Wentworth, N., Plummer, K.J. and Swan, R.H. (Ed.) Decision-Based Learning: An Innovative Pedagogy that Unpacks Expert Knowledge for the Novice Learner, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 45-53. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80043-202-420211005