Qualitative evaluations of a new curriculum can be very informative, particularly about the effects on student achievement and retention rates. There is, however, a great deal of information that this type of program assessment fails to reveal about the reasons a program is successful (or unsuccessful). In this study, we report the results a yearlong examination of the effects of an organic laboratory course on students' perceptions about what they were learning and why, and the roles of the instructor and the students in the course. Students enrolled in experimental sections of an open-ended, project-based organic chemistry course were compared with others who were enrolled in a more conventional "cookbook" laboratory course. Students were videotaped, interviewed, and asked to complete open-ended questionnaire forms. Those who were enrolled in the experimental lab sections were more likely to view the lab as a place to experiment and make mistakes, while those in the conventional sections were more likely to adopt a passive role. Insights into group functioning, the role of the instructor, and the role of the students were also obtained. While the information gathered in a qualitative investigation such as this is very different from the numerical data obtained in a quantitative assessment project, it is no less important.
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