Reformed Experimental Activities (REActivities): Gauging the Fidelity of Implementation in a Reformed Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Laboratory

Reformed Experimental Activities (REActivities) is an innovative approach to the delivery of the traditional material in an undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory. To better understand the fidelity of implementing this pedagogy and what effects the framework of REActivities has on student-instructor interactions, an observational protocol study was employed. This paper also describes the Evaluation of Lab Instructor Time and Engagement (ELITE) observational instrument developed to evaluate instructional behaviors in a lab setting. The instrument was used in first semester undergraduate organic chemistry laboratories across seven universities to measure the robustness of the guided-inquiry materials when implemented and the nature of the instructor's interactions. The ELITE data was analyzed for laboratories delivered using REActivities and compared with expert delivery as well as with traditional expository methods. The data revealed that instructor behaviors when using REActivities were consistent and comparable and could be distinguished from traditional lab deliveries. The nature of the instructor's behaviors also showed a remarkably consistent trend for coded conceptual-based discussion when REActivities was employed, in contrast to the near absence of similar interactions when expository methods were employed for comparable laboratories.