The Science Gap in Canada: A Post-Secondary Perspective

Despite having its students score among the top in the world in mathematics and science, the level of science literacy and participation in science-related fields in Canada is relatively low. In the context of the economic and societal benefits afforded by science, this article reviews what is already being done in support of science, technology and engineering, as well as identifying some missing pieces that may explain declining interest in its pursuit. The focus is primarily on the role of post-secondary institutions in addressing the challenges from both organizational and student-centred perspectives

Using home-laboratory kits to teach general chemistry

University-level chemistry courses that contain a substantial laboratory component have always been a challenge to deliver effectively through distance education. One potential solution is to enable students to carry out real experiments in the home environment. This not only raises issues of logistics and safety, but also the fundamental question of whether an equivalent learning experience could be achieved with home laboratories. Athabasca University, Canada’s Open University, has been successfully running chemistry courses for almost three decades. The migration from traditional supervised laboratories to home-study experiments over a fifteen year period in a general chemistry course is described. The study examines both student experience using the home-study laboratory kits, and their actual performance. Student grades in the course essentially remain the same as supervised laboratories are replaced by home-study laboratories, while at the same time offering the student increased access and flexibility. Furthermore, bringing experiments into a home environment contextualizes learning for the student and raises the possibility of incorporating the home-study laboratory experience, in whole or in part, into traditional general chemistry course offered on campus.Athabasca Universit

Student and Faculty Outcomes of Undergraduate Science Research Projects by Geographically Dispersed Students

Senior undergraduate research projects are important components of most undergraduate science degrees. The delivery of such projects in a distance education format is challenging. Athabasca University (AU) science project courses allow distance education students to complete research project courses by working with research supervisors in their local area, coordinated at a distance by AU faculty. This paper presents demographics and course performance for 155 students over five years. Pass rates were similar to other distance education courses. Research students were surveyed by questionnaire, and external supervisors and AU faculty were interviewed, to examine the outcomes of these project courses for each group. Students reported high levels of satisfaction with the course, local supervisors, and faculty coordinators. Students also reported that the experience increased their interest in research, and the probability that they would pursue graduate or additional certification. Local supervisors and faculty affirmed that the purposes of project courses are to introduce the student to research, provide opportunity for students to use their cumulative knowledge, develop cognitive abilities, and independent thinking. The advantages and challenges associated with this course model are discussed

Going the distance in Canada

Athabasca University; University College of the Fraser Valle

NEXT GENERATION: TRANSFORMATION TO A 21ST CENTURY UNIVERSITY VIA CORE STRATEGIC PROJECTS

thabasca University (AU) is recreating itself as a 21st century university. As an open and distance learning (ODL) university, its mandate is to remove barriers to university-level education. This is the vision and institutional context for any changes. Herein, we describe a series of projects with particular focus on two recent major initiatives that challenged our capacity to deal with large complex programs. An analysis of the effect of the start-up and operation of these two major programs with particular emphasis on project management, organizational change, acceptance by the academy, and absorbing the additional work is given. We offer, in the form of lessons learned, our experience for successful systematic integration of ICTs within an open university. These lessons, we believe are relevant for technology integration at any large educational organization

Remote Access to Instrumental Analysis for Distance Education in Science

Remote access to experiments offers distance educators another tool to integrate a strong laboratory component within a science course. Since virtually all modern chemical instrumental analysis in industry now use devices operated by a computer interface, remote control of instrumentation is not only relatively facile, it enhances students’ opportunity to learn the subject matter and be exposed to “real world” contents. Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) and Athabasca University are developing teaching laboratories based on the control of analytical instruments in real-time via an Internet connection. Students perform real-time analysis using equipment, methods, and skills that are common to modern analytical laboratories (or sophisticated teaching laboratories). Students obtain real results using real substances to arrive at real conclusions, just as they would if they were in a physical laboratory with the equipment; this approach allows students to access to conduct instrumental science experiments, thus providing them with an advantageous route to upgrade their laboratory skills while learning at a distance.Athabasca University – Canada’s Open University;Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, Canad

Using Computer Simulations to Supplement Teaching Laboratories in Chemistry for Distance Delivery

Computer simulations employing digitized video images were incorporated into the laboratory component of an existing first-year university chemistry course as part of a pilot study. The students were surveyed about their experience and their performance in this distance course was also tracked and compared with students who did not do the simulations. No difference in overall course performance was observed between students who did the simulations and those who did not. However, simulation students completed in-laboratory work in a shorter time frame and showed a slightly higher performance in the practical laboratory component

Teaching Chemistry at Canada's Open University

University-level courses in science that contain a substantial practicum or laboratory component have always been a problem to deliver through distance education. Because of the potential hazards inherent in the equipment and chemicals commonly used, chemistry is among the more challenging disciplines to teach at a distance. Athabasca University (AU) – Canada's Open University – has been successfully running chemistry courses for over two decades. The development and delivery of AU chemistry courses are described and the approaches that have been developed to meet the challenges of a North American distance-education university, including the use of new technologies, are discussed. The problems associated with providing distance students with appropriate laboratory experience are also examined. The first-year general chemistry courses are compared to an equivalent course at a neighbouring traditional university and an analysis of student performance in AU chemistry courses is presented.Centre for Science, Athabasca University Department of Chemistry, University College of the Fraser Valle

Evaluation of Student Learning in Remotely Controlled Instrumental Analyses

The Canadian Remote Sciences Laboratories (CRSL) website (www.remotelab.ca) was successfully employed in a study of the differences in the performance and perceptions of students’ about their learning in the laboratory (in-person) versus learning at a remote location (remote access). The experiment was completed both in-person and via remote access by 70 students, who performed essentially the same, academically, in the two modes. One set of students encountered the in-person laboratory first and then did the remote laboratory, while the other set of students did the activities in the reverse order. The student perception survey results (n = 46) indicated that the students found both experimental scenarios to be at appropriate levels of difficulty, clear to understand, and did not overall prefer one way of completing the experiment over the other. However, they felt that they learned more about the theory of the experiment, more hands-on skills, and more about the operation of the instrument when they performed the experiment in the laboratory in the presence of an instructor. They also believed that they learned more about the instrument operation from their laboratory partner when they completed the experiment in the laboratory, but learned more from their partner about the operation of the instrument software when they completed the procedure from a remote location

Synthesis and structure of [[Cu2(6,6’-bis(2-(2pyridyl)ethylminomethyl)-2,2’-bipyridine)2][PF6]2

In the structure of the title compound, [Cu2(C26H24N6)2]- (PF6)2, the Cu atoms of the cation are located on a twofold axis, and adopt a distorted tetrahedral coordination geometry. The terminal 2-(2-pyridyl)ethyl groups are not coordinated to the metal centersAthabasca University;bChemistry Department, University of Albert