College Students’ Reflection on the Uncritical Inference Test Activity in Organic Chemistry Course

Abstract

Effective teaching and learning is a continuous process of monitoring and re-organization of teaching method, so to benefit both students and educators. Reflective journal writing is an effective method for students to reflect on their learning experience about a new concept or subject taught and at the same time enables educators to improve on their academic skills. In the present paper, we have examined and evaluated the effectiveness of the Uncritical Inference Test (UIT) that was conducted in our basic organic chemistry course through a systematic network built based on students’ reflective writing. From the data analysis, the UIT has benefited students in three dimensions, namely cognitive, affective and group learning domains. Moreover, the UIT activity instilled an active learning environment in organic chemistry classroom and deeper learning among chemistry students as shown in the collected data. In future, this activity could be adapted as a teaching method to enhance students’ critical thinking skills and question-asking capability in other teaching courses.