The pursuit of better teaching methods is an on-going process on the Iowa State campus, and in that pursuit, Nenad Kostic, a professor of chemistry, has been watching his two sections of Chemistry 178 very closely.

In a special study, Kostic has taught the two sections with identical coverage except for one detail.

In the 1 p.m. section, a separate handout was given to the students with guidelines to reason and in the 3 p.m. section the same information was provided verbally and repeated throughout the lectures, Kostic said.

“There is absolutely no significant difference” between the two classes, Kostic said.

Kostic calls it innovative teaching to discover the best way to teach general chemistry.

“I have found that students do better and learn more with focused reasoning opposed to the traditional memorization,” Kostic said.

While teachers experiment with different ways to teach their classes every semester, some students are concerned about the effect on their chemistry grade in Kostic’s class.

“This is not a peon chemistry class. I need it to go on to professional school,” said Elizabeth Blair, a junior in zoology/agriculture. “I don’t want to be the one getting a crappy grade to help someone else,” she said.

Three other students also have expressed concern over Kostic’s study, but did not want to be quoted in the paper in fear that it would affect their grades.

Kostic said the distribution of scores is virtually identical, and it is perfectly normal for the students to feel frustrated because it is a difficult class.

“I don’t see a difference between an “A” or a “B” in the class,” said chemistry department adviser and associate professor Tom Greenbowe. “Maybe just a few points,” he said.

Kostic’s study was not approved by the ISU Human Subjects Committee, said Chairwoman Patricia Keith. “I did point out to him that research must be approved by the committee.”

But Kostic said he did it on his own educational free time.

Keith said she cannot do anything about the study because it is not considered research, and Kostic told her it is just the way he teaches his class.

“It is a curriculum pilot study, this in not an educational designed study. It was designed by him not for someone’s master thesis,” Greenbowe said.

Professors that conduct studies in their classrooms are not that common in the chemistry department.

“It’s not as common, but [Kostic’s study] is certainly interesting and useful,” said George Kraus, chairman of the chemistry department. “Many faculty try to improve their courses, and try new ways to help students learn,” he said.

Kraus said he understands that Kostic is taking great pains to keep the education fair, and the study has great potential to help the students better assimilate the knowledge and to connect the concept.

“I feel worse because he didn’t tell the class at the beginning,” Blair said. “I didn’t want to be a guinea pig.”

Classes on this campus are not identical, Greenbowe said. “Chemistry is chemistry. There are multiple ways to learn chemistry. If we are to improve, we have to try different things,” he said.

Kostic has received the Miller Fellowship to pursue further educational studies next fall.

“I replied by the request of the university for the Miller Fellowship for improvement in undergraduate teaching and learning,” Kostic said.

The reviewers and the Provost accepted the proposal and found it worthy of further development. “The committee welcomed my innovations,” Kostic said.