A General Chemistry and Precalculus First-Year Interest Group (FIG): Effect on Retention, Skills, and Attitudes

Abstract

General chemistry and precalculus have been linked together through the University of Hartford First-Year Interest Program (FIG) as a means of creating an effective learning community of premedical, biology, and chemistry–biology students. The Integrated Learning Blocks that were created allowed each course to retain the majority of its original content and structure while emphasizing and reinforcing concepts that are common to both classes. The principles of the calculus reform movement, which focuses on treating real-life data numerically, graphically, and symbolically as well as implementing technology when appropriate, contributed substantially to the fertile environment for an effective multidisciplinary collaboration. Calculus reform’s goals were effectively carried out by using the chemistry laboratory class to supply experimental data and preliminary graphical analysis, followed by a more complete symbolic function analysis and predictive exercises in precalculus. Assessment of the FIG project showed an increase in students’ skill transfer between classes, an increased sense of community, and a substantial increase in retention among the FIG students through their sophomore year.