CHED 1739

To date few studies have been done on the effectiveness of online homework alternatives. This study will evaluate the performance of four lab sections of second semester general chemistry students sharing the same lecture class. Two of these sections will be assigned OWL (On-line Web based Learning developed by the University of Massachusetts with Thomson/Brooks Cole publishing) assignments and two sections will download PDF assignments containing questions generated in OWL to be handed in on the due dates graded and returned. Both sets of students have been informed that they are taking part in this study. All attempts have been taken to make this study non biased (Same lecture, same instructor, same homework question format, same time available for completion of assignments, same office hours available, answers to assignments available after due…) A survey was administered to all the students in the class with the OWL students completing the survey online… Exams were completed in class. Students were given one 75-minute lecture period to complete the exam. The Final exam for the class is the ACS standardized general chemistry exam for the full year (form 2005). Statistics will be collected on the performance of the students as well as the students demographic data to insure a statistically uniformly disperse group of students across the sections.