Abstract
A cognitively intensive companion service course has been introduced to the main fall general chemistry class at Cornell University. For years 2015 and 2016, priority students (those from groups under-represented and economically disadvantaged) show respectively improvement of +0.67 and +0.51 standard deviations in final course grade compared to priority students not in the program. Non-priority students show respectively a +0.66 and +0.62 standard deviation improvement. Progressive improvement (as measured by higher than expected Final Exam scores than what would have been expected solely from a given student’s earlier Exam 1 score) demonstrates conclusively the service course’s role in the enhanced outcomes. Progressive retention (as measured by the following year fall semester’s organic chemistry exam scores compared to what would have been expected based on a given student’s general chemistry final exam score) demonstrates that, on the average, the earlier observed progressive improvement is significantly retained in a chemistry course one year later. Preliminary retention statistics suggest a significant increase in first year to second year retention. A meta analysis of results from previously reported chemistry service courses indicate that such performance gains are difficult to achieve and hence common elements of the few effective programs may be of high value to the STEM education community.
Highlights
Scientific achievement in introductory STEM gateway courses is a national concern [1, 2]
Students belonging to under-represented minorities or coming from economically disadvantaged backgrounds are considered educational priorities: 250-300 students, roughly a third of the class total, are priority students
For the past two years, all students, priority and non-priority alike, have been invited to join a pass-fail companion gen-chem service course of the type described above as part of their fall gen-chem studies. Faculty involved in this two-credit fall service course are completely independent from those in the main class: the only information companion course faculty receive about the main class are course notes and documents received by the main chemistry class as a whole
Summary
Scientific achievement in introductory STEM gateway courses is a national concern [1, 2]. The key sociological observation that Dr Treisman noted was a six hour-a-week difference in collaborative work time between more vs less STEM-successful demographic groups It was this deficit which caused Dr Treisman to initiate four hours a week of peer-led mathematics workshops for each participating student. Our current realization of this Treisman methodology incorporates more recent pedagogical advances: students work through a combination of flipped classes (two hours/week), peer-assisted workshops (two hours/week), and scored practice exams (one-and-a-half hours/week). We further analyze literature reported R1 university gen-chem interventions, to assess the degree to which Treisman-like programs have hitherto been adopted and to provide a uniform analysis of the efficacy of these interventions with an eye toward the import of R1-university based flipped classes and peer-assisted learning
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