Inspired by similar activities in the literature, during my post-doctoral work Dr. John Hutchinson and I developed a paper-based activity that was analogous to the development of the periodic table. The paper-based activity was used in several settings (high school, college, science and non-science majors). Once at SIUE, I worked with a team of COmputer Science students to convert the paper-based activity to a computer activity. The team chose the name Chemistry Learning In Progress, or C.L.I.P., for the software program. A description of the program was published in the Journal of Chemical Education in 2009.

Among the advantages provided by the computer activity are the easy customization of the tiles used in the program, inexpensive use of color, and the ability to track movements made while working with the tiles. Thus both the product of the analysis and the process of the analysis can be studied, depending on what is of interest to the instructor or researcher. Initial data collection cycles from a grounded theory perspective have suggested several interesting lines of questioning related to complex data analysis. Currently, the focus of one project is to compare student predictions made using the program to their working memory capacity.

• 2009-2010, Lydia Bach: Correlation between working memory and success at predicting missing data

• Information about Computer Science Senior Assignment team that wrote software for this project