A Western pedagogy from an eastern context: reflections from a trans-national chemistry education research project

Joint Event on 23^rd International Conference on Advanced Materials & 10^th International Conference on Chemistry Education and Research

June 20-22, 2018 Oslo, Norway

Sheila Qureshi

Weill Cornell Medical College, Qatar

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Chem Sci

Abstract :

In this paper, we report on outcomes from a recently ended chemistry education research project that facilitated the transition of a Western pedagogical practice into a middle-eastern context like Qatar using a curriculum evaluation framework. An inquirybased approach such as process oriented guided inquiry learning (POGIL) was implemented in the foundation chemistry course at Weill Cornell Medicine in Qatar for students to develop key process skills such as teamwork, collaboration, and critical thinking, which foster lifelong learning and professional growth in medicine. Student-centered learning introduced at the foundational level can maximize their development, especially in the sciences. The positive impact of POGIL was evident from students� improvement of their cognitive and affective characteristics in a trans-national setting thus demonstrating efficacy and cultural transferability of the pedagogy. The study also focuses the effect of POGIL activities on students� confidence level in understanding of essential key concepts in chemistry. The talk also reflects the chemistry educator�s scholarship of teaching and learning activities related to discipline-based education research that used inquiry-based approaches in Qatar over a six-year period, three of which we funded by the Qatar Foundation.