Analysis of Assessment on Biochemistry Threshold and Core Concepts in Students with Varying Chemistry Backgrounds

Abstract

Stockton University is one of a few number of universities that do not follow the traditional introductory Chemistry sequence. Instead of the usual year of General Chemistry followed by one year of Organic Chemistry, Stockton follows a 1:2:1 one model of one semester of General, two semesters of Organic Chemistry followed by one of General. The prerequisite for students to take Biochemistry at Stockton is the first two semesters of Chemistry or one semester of General and one of Organic. About half of the students take Biochemistry with these prerequisites while the other half have various combinations of Chemistry courses. Previous assessments have shown there is a stronger correlation between the students grade in Biochemistry compared to previous Chemistry courses rather than the number of Chemistry courses. An assessment was developed to test the level of knowledge on three threshold concepts for incoming Biochemistry students: biochemical pathways, physical basis of interactions and free energy. A fourth component was added based on functional groups and organic chemical reactions. Students were given the assessment on the first day of class as well as at the end of the term. To insure that the students took the assessment seriously, extra credit (2% of final grade) was offered for a high enough score on each test. For the analysis of results, the exam questions were divided into categories based on the threshold concept and average scores were calculated for students based on the chemistry background. Grades less than 50% were described as lacking an understanding of the topic, grades between 50 and 70% were described as having a basic understanding of the topic and grades greater than 70% were having a deep understanding of the topic. While there were differences in other threshold concepts between the groups, all students were lacking in the free energy question at the start and end of the semester and showed the smallest improvements.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.