TEACH WITH EXPERIMENTIUM

Click on the Explore Experiments Guide to discover how to access, filter and select an experiment. Open one experiment prompt and explore options.

Once you choose an experiment that you are excited to teach, consider the following:

• Do you see yourself teaching with a video-based approach?
• Would the structure of the prompt work for you and your students?

If you are intrigued, but not sure yet, here are the reasons for our choices:

• Why do we use prelabs? (Can you make this a link to a video?)
• Why don’t we use quizzes? (Can you make this a link to a video?)
• How do we work with data? (Can you make this a link to a video?)
• How do we approach communication of results? (Can you make this a link to a video?)

Click on the Build Your Course Guide to discover how to access, filter and select a course. Open one course and review the experiment list. If you are a registered user, you can replace experiments, modify the order, and use your edited experiments in the course. When you are satisfied with your collection, save and download the course.

Explore the grading rubrics included in the Grade Student Submissions with Rubrics collection. Download and customize the versions you prefer so they match the structure of your prompts from Step 1. Review the tutorials demonstrating how the rubrics can be applied in scoring actual student work samples, as needed.

If you want to use your existing syllabus, use the table of experiments from Step 2 and confirm that your grade categories and point allocations are consistent with the structure of the assignments.

If you want to develop a new syllabus, download the syllabus template provided in the Building your Syllabus collection, update the list of experiments and associated assignment dates in the schedule, and add your institution-specific requirements to ensure compliance with your institution’s syllabus policy.

The videos included provide the reasons for our choices.

The Planning for the First Day collection provides resources describing what we do and in what order on the first day of the laboratory. This includes introductions, presenting the syllabus, safety training with active engagement and an incentive structure, and teamwork development.

We believe that laboratories are where students develop as scientists. That includes acquiring the skills to work with the available instruments and technology. The Assess Practical Skills collection provides samples of practical final exams and skill portfolios that you can download and edit to fit your expectations around what students should be able to do in the lab, when and what methods are the most suitable to demonstrate those skills.

Students work in groups in most labs, but there is little or no instruction on how to be effective in that group. The Teach and Assess Teamwork collection provides teambuilding ice-breaker activity samples, a team constitution template, a reflection prompt, and tutorials on why, how and in what sequence those activities may be helpful.

Chemistry is a central science and everyone can engage with it as part of their life. We want to make that participation possible for all students in the lab, too! The Considering Accessibility collection begins with an accessibility framework that addresses student agency, learning materials, instructional delivery, and laboratory setup. The Chemistry through Touch videos demonstrate how chemistry laboratories can evolve beyond visual observations and traditional equipment.

Meaningful chemistry experiences don’t need to be limited to formal education. The Planning Outreach collection offers kid-friendly activities appropriate for science-themed events. All the activity guides include a brief description of the procedural steps, a list of non-hazardous chemicals with amounts and the list of required equipment.

Experimentium is and will remain an Open Educational Resource, which allows all users to access it freely, share it freely while acknowledging the source, and modify within the allowance of each license. The Using Open Educational Resources collection describes the Creative Commons licenses applied to all Experimentium resources and what that allows you to do. Each downloaded document already includes the attribution required by the license. If you edit the document, your contribution is acknowledged as well. We share this information, so you can pay it forward for future chemistry instructors.