Teaching space-group diagrams to chemistry students through a peer-tutoring approach

Shao-Liang Zheng; Michael G Campbell

doi:10.1107/S2056989021008744

Teaching space-group diagrams to chemistry students through a peer-tutoring approach

Acta Crystallogr E Crystallogr Commun. 2021 Aug 27;77(Pt 9):864-866. doi: 10.1107/S2056989021008744. eCollection 2021 Sep 1.

Authors

Shao-Liang Zheng¹, Michael G Campbell²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
² Department of Chemistry, Barnard College, 3009 Broadway, New York, 10027, USA.

Abstract

Peer tutoring is a teaching strategy that offers a creative way of getting students more involved and accountable for their own learning in college-level chemistry courses. The authors have found that the 'Symmetry and Space Group Tutorial' [Jasinski & Foxman (2007). Symmetry and Space Group Tutorial, V1.55. http://people.brandeis.edu/~foxman1/teaching/indexpr.html] lends itself well to a peer-tutoring approach in a crystallography course for chemistry students. This in-class activity provides an opportunity for students to learn space-group diagrams, understand basic symmetry concepts, organize what they have learned, and explain it to their peers, which leads to a deeper overall understanding of the subject. We report on our experience in planning peer tutoring, advise on best practices, and demonstrate the positive impact on student learning and engagement.

Keywords: collaborative/cooperative learning; crystal structure; graduate education; peer tutoring; research; space group; symmetry; upper-division undergraduate.

Grants and funding

This work was funded by Harvard University.