First-semester General Chemistry Research Articles

Factors that influence general chemistry students’ decision making in study strategies

This qualitative study delves into the intricate landscape of general chemistry students' study strategy decision-making processes, examining the guiding factors that shape their choices. Past work in chemistry education has shown that students’ study behaviors are dynamic in nature. Employing self-regulation theory, the study aims to provide a deeper understanding of how students decide to maintain or change their study behaviors. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to capture the study processes of nine students enrolled in first-semester general chemistry classroom. The results indicated these students’ study behavior decision-making process was either driven by metacognition or affect. Students who adopted metacognitive decision-making showed evidence of enactment of declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge which could be influenced by either the nature of the content studied (content-driven), or the time-efficiency of the strategies employed (time-driven) during their self-regulation. On the contrary, students who adopted affective decision-making based their choices regarding their study behaviors on the emotional aspects and the value they attribute to the study strategies (intrinsic-value or instrumental-value driven). The findings of the study are foundational yet highlight the nuanced nature of changes and constancy within the study strategy decision-making process. This suggests a one-size-fits-all approach to improve student study behaviors may not yield fruitful outcomes and therefore, distinct methods should be devised to reach students with different decision-making processes.

Addressing Equity Asymmetries in General Chemistry Outcomes Through an Asset-Based Supplemental Course.

Undergraduate first-semester general chemistry (GC1) functions as a gatekeeper to STEM degrees, asymmetrically impacting students who are nonwhite, from lower socioeconomic groups, non-native English speakers, two-year college transfers, and first-generation in college. Nationally, just under 30% of students earn grades of D, F, or withdraw (termed DFW) in GC1; however, DFW rates are much higher for subgroups underrepresented in STEM occupations. Socioeconomic inequalities tend to increase over an individual's lifetime due to the magnification of cumulative disadvantage. Because undergraduate degrees correlate with higher employment and STEM occupations correlate with higher earnings, GC1 represents a critical path point where disparities can be interrupted. The most common strategy employed for GC1 is deficit remediation for students determined to be at risk of DFW. Unfortunately, extensive evidence demonstrates that the use of remediation strategies for GC1 does not sustain benefits for students. In this work, an asset-based approach, less prevalent in higher education than preuniversity, was employed to stress test theories about interrupting disparities in STEM education. This causal-comparative study involving 1,807 observations reports on a 1-credit asset-based supplemental course in which DFW-potential students at a minority-serving institution coenrolled during six semesters. The study outlines this intervention, its impact on GC1 outcomes, and its potential residual impact on progression to the next course in the general chemistry sequence (GC2). Descriptive and hierarchical inferential analysis of the data revealed socially important patterns. The asset-based intervention successfully attracted students with greater cumulative disadvantage. The intervention closed asymmetries between students identified as DFW-potential and ABC-potential in GC1 when a nontraditional curriculum was used but not when a traditional curriculum was used. Mixed results and contingent effects were found for the intervention's impact on subsequent course outcomes. Taking at least 11 credits in the semester of taking GC1 provided an inoculate for participants in the asset-based intervention, increasing the likelihood of passing GC2.

E-Homework and Motivation for Students’ Success in First-Semester General Chemistry

e-Homework and Motivation for Students’ Success in First-Semester General Chemistry

Personal Characteristics Influencing College Readiness of Hispanic Students in a STEM Gateway Course, First-Semester General Chemistry

Personal Characteristics Influencing College Readiness of Hispanic Students in a STEM Gateway Course, First-Semester General Chemistry

Particle Focus in Prep Chem

WVU students who do not meet the pre-requisites for first semester general chemistry (Chem 115) are placed in prep chem (Chem 110). A minimum grade of C- in Chem 110 is the effective pre-requisite to Chem 115. For decades, an expectation that the same collection of assessments would be administered to all Chem 110 students obligated our instructors were to follow a relatively uniform course presentation across all sections. This practice was justified by our data that indicated Chem 110 “graduates” passed first semester general chemistry at the same rate as those entering directly. Unfortunately, the Chem 110 pass rate was consistently low. In an effort to boost prep chem student success, we developed an alternative prep chem course pedagogy. This course possesses a strong focus on presenting and testing students’ understanding of the particulate nature of matter. Our premise was that particulate understanding was a more meaningful focus to carry forward to future chemistry courses than our prior emphasis on significant figures. The content was reduced and new assessment questions were written to target and test a single topic at a time. Graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants facilitated in-class problem-solving using both Socrative and Chem101 online platforms. We report on initial prep chem class data in the preparatory chemistry course and student success in the subsequent first-semester general chemistry course.

Influence of Environmental Factors on the Success of At-Risk Hispanic Students in First-Semester General Chemistry

Influence of Environmental Factors on the Success of At-Risk Hispanic Students in First-Semester General Chemistry

Exploring Sustainability Metrics in General Chemistry Using Intensive and Extensive Properties of Matter

As introductory chemistry courses expose students to many distinctive properties of matter, it is helpful to systematically evaluate and relate different measures such as mass, moles, and molarity, or specific heat capacity and heat capacity. Intensive and extensive designations help distinguish intrinsic and component properties of a system and are often introduced to students, but they are infrequently explored or exploited beyond introductory chapters. Intensive metrics used to address green chemistry principles include process mass efficiency, median lethal dose, and radiative forcing. These sustainability metrics build on fundamental measures introduced in general chemistry such as yield, concentration, and energy by collecting extensive components of a system with complementary intensive measures. As interdisciplinary sustainability metrics bridge scales and systems and connect chemical, environmental, and engineering concerns, they can be used to help further explain and employ concepts currently taught in a general chemistry course. This commentary serves to examine the extensive and intensive nature of measures found in a first-semester general chemistry course and classify them alongside relevant sustainability metrics. While general chemistry is not necessarily an outlet to fully explore these metrics, the introduction and exploration of these metrics, such as process mass efficiency in relation to yield, may better allow them to practice general chemistry learning objectives both inside and outside the classroom.

The Relationship Between a Student’s Success in First-Semester General Chemistry and Their Mathematics Fluency, Profile, and Performance on Common Questions

The Relationship Between a Student’s Success in First-Semester General Chemistry and Their Mathematics Fluency, Profile, and Performance on Common Questions

Implementing an Iterative and Collaborative Approach to Inclusive First-Semester General Chemistry Laboratory Redesign

General chemistry laboratory curriculum reform is underway at a midsized state university through a collaborative, inclusive, and iterative approach. Using a backward design approach, faculty collaborated to actualize a shared vision, define laboratory learning objectives, and outline considerations for inclusivity during summer workshops that guided the process of curriculum design. With support from an instructional designer from the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, as well as faculty development support through an HHMI Inclusive Excellence grant, the faculty have designed and implemented the new curriculum, assessed the implementation, and continue to make iterative change based on student data and reflection. The goal of this report is not to provide a new set of chemistry laboratories, rather, we share our framework to provide an example of how to implement a collaborative and inclusive laboratory redesign.

How Does a Math Review Impact a Student’s Arithmetic Skills and Performance in First-Semester General Chemistry?

Arithmetic skills are without a doubt integral to a student’s success or failure in first-semester general chemistry. The MUST (Math-Up Skills Test) is a powerful tool for assessing a student’s arithmetic logic and therefore serves as a great predictor for at-risk students. Early math reviews at the start of the semester are thought to help students develop or refresh the necessary skills needed for success in general chemistry. However, the improvement that students gain from such math reviews is yet to be quantitatively assessed. In this study, a math intervention was given to students in the second week of the fall semester. The MUST was administered to the students before and after the 1-week intervention to determine if the students have indeed improved their arithmetic skills. A control group had a similar design except their intervention which was a general chemistry review. The math intervention group had a significant gain in the MUST scores over the gain for students whose intervention was the chemistry review. Students were grouped by their reasoning ability, as measured by the Test of Logical Thinking (TOLT). Students with high or low reasoning abilities did not differ in their MUST gain by intervention; however, students of average logic abilities who also had the math intervention had significantly higher gains than those in the chemistry intervention. Although 33% of a student’s final course average could be accounted for by his/her score on the second administration of the MUST, it was not possible to expect any significant difference in final course averages by intervention, since all subjects were allowed to do both reviews after the study data was collected.

Impact of basic arithmetic skills on success in first-semester general chemistry

First-semester general chemistry is a known “gatekeeper” course due to its high failure rate. These higher education courses are taken by students who for the most part are regularly admitted freshmen, yet many struggle to succeed. In this investigation researchers from six higher-education institutions of varied sizes with student bodies of different ethnic composition teamed up to investigate the Math-Up Skills Test (MUST) as a potential tool to identify at-risk students in first-semester general chemistry (Chem I). A large population (N = 1073) was given the MUST at the beginning of the semester. The MUST had good internal consistency with the sample (Cronbach's alpha = 0.856). The MUST offers a quick 15 minute assessment of basic mathematics ability without a calculator. Instructors may find it easier than other documented predictors, which may take more time or involve obtaining student records (e.g., Math SAT). Results from the MUST support prior findings that mathematics skills correlate with course grades in chemistry. Poor arithmetic automaticity may be an underlying factor in lower performance by many students. With statistical modeling, the MUST, along with other demographic variables, was able to identify students who would go on to make a 69.5% or better in Chem I with a high percent of accuracy. The MUST, in tandem with other demographic variables, should be considered a potential tool for early identification of students at-risk for failing the class.

Transitioning to ebooks: Using Interaction Theory as a Lens To Characterize General Chemistry Students’ Use of Course Resources

This 21-item survey administered at the end of first-semester General Chemistry asked students to estimate their average weekly use of course resources and rate how helpful they find various textbook and online homework features of their current textbook. During data collection, the General Chemistry textbook changed from a print version to one that is primarily electronic. A comparison of previous results of a print textbook semester to a semester using an ebook provided insight into how the equivalent features are utilized in different mediums. In the first three semesters’ worth of data analyzed, General Chemistry I students report relying on their textbook for approximately 5 h of studying per week, regardless of textbook medium; when the ebook was adopted, the homework resource was more frequently used. A comparison of equivalent textbook features between formats revealed that the helpfulness ratings of reading outline and animations increased significantly, whereas worked-examples and end-of-chapter questions decreased significantly. In addition to mathemagenic features, ebook features that help students stay on-task or visualize reactions are significantly highly rated.

Development of the Quantization and Probability Representations Inventory as a Measure of Students’ Understandings of Particulate and Symbolic Representations of Electron Structure

This article describes the development of the Quantization and Probability Representations Inventory (QuPRI) as a measure of student understanding of the electron structure of the atom. The QuPRI was created using a mixed-method sequential design such that the items and distractors were generated on the basis of the analysis of semi-structured interviews in which students were asked to interpret multiple representations of the electron structure of hydrogen, helium, and carbon atoms. The QuPRI was administered to first-semester general chemistry students (N = 655) and physical chemistry/biophysical chemistry students (N = 38). Descriptive statistics and item function are presented for each sample, including evidence for the reliability and validity of the data generated by the QuPRI. Students’ confidence in their responses and reasoning about the electron structure of atoms is discussed.

Timing of Homework Completion vs. Performance in General Chemistry

The goal of this study was to investigate the timing of online homework completion and its effects on student performance. Data was collected from two large, first-semester general chemistry sections at a southwestern university. Specifically, this study aims to explore the link between when students complete their homework relative to the date the material was covered in lecture and student performance in that class. Topics covered in the study included VSEPR, Lewis structures, and molecular geometry. Performance was measured by different variables, namely in-class clicker scores (short-term) and exam grade (long-term). Students were divided into three groups: students who completed the relevant homework within 2 days after the lecture (before the next lecture), those who completed the homework 2 to 4 days after the lecture, and students who completed the homework more than 4 days after the material was covered in lecture. The study also took into consideration student reasoning abilities, as measured by the Test of Logical Thinking (TOLT), with a focus on at-risk students (low TOLT students). Results showed promising findings for low TOLT students. Instructors can employ results from this study to help their students better utilize the online homework resources.

Decision-Based Learning: ″If I Just Knew Which Equation To Use, I Know I Could Solve This Problem!″

Heat and enthalpy are challenging topics for general chemistry students because they are conceptually complex and require avariety of quantitative problem-solving approaches. Expert chemists draw on conditional knowledge, deciding when and under what conditions a certain problem-solving approach should be used. Decision-based learning (DBL) explicitly teaches conditional knowledge, helping students decide the most appropriate strategy for each type of problem as they learn key concepts. In this study, we created a DBL model for heat and enthalpy problems and introduced it to students enrolled in first-semester general chemistry. We compared performance on test items related to heat and enthalpy with students not using the DBL model, from the previous cohort. Students engaging with the model outside of class, using it to work through five to ten problems related to heat and enthalpy, performed statistically significantly better than students in the comparison group. Students only using the model in class o...

An explanative basis for the differential performance of students with low math aptitude in general chemistry

Students who score within the bottom quartile on cognitive measures of math aptitude have been identified as at-risk for low performance in chemistry courses, with less attention as to why such differential performance persists. At-risk students struggle most differentially on assessment items related to the mole concept and stoichiometry. An exploration as to the nature of the differential performance observed became of great interest as the assessment of these topics rarely progresses beyond multiplication or division, and at-risk students who achieved proficiency with the mole concept and stoichiometry had no noticeable gaps in academic chemistry performance when compared to students scoring in the top three quartiles of math aptitude. Thus, students in first-semester general chemistry were surveyed to describe their solution processes toward assessment items involving the mole concept and stoichiometry. Three hundred and forty-eight students responded to all survey prompts with 101 identified as at-risk. Findings suggest that while all students were observed to struggle in the conceptualization of the algorithms by which they execute solution processes, not-at-risk chemistry students were more likely to achieve correct answers via chemically implausible solution pathways. Rather than suggest the removal of assessment practices involving algorithmic, multiple-choice assessment on these topics, the implications include practical suggestions and opportunities for further research toward improving the equitability of measures used to assess proficiency with stoichiometry.

Investigating the Influence of Gender on Student Perceptions of the Clicker in a Small Undergraduate General Chemistry Course

The use of electronic response pads or “clickers” is a popular way to engage students and create an active-learning environment, especially within large chemistry courses. We examined students’ perceptions of how the clicker affected their learning, participation, and engagement in the classroom, as well as their overall experience within a first-semester general chemistry course at a liberal arts institution. Overall, students perceived that clickers provided a significant enhancement to their learning, with women valuing the technology to a greater extent.

Improving General Chemistry Course Performance through Online Homework-Based Metacognitive Training

In a first-semester general chemistry course, metacognitive training was implemented as part of an online homework system. Students completed weekly quizzes and multiple practice tests to regularly assess their abilities on the chemistry principles. Before taking these assessments, students predicted their score, receiving feedback after completing the assessment on their prediction accuracy. They also received detailed information regarding their ability for each assessment topic and used this information to create a future study plan. During this study plan, students indicated their general ability by chemistry topic and selected areas they would focus their studying upon. A control section completed the same assessments and received the same feedback of ability by topic, but students did not predict scores or create study plans. Results indicate identical initial assessment performance between the two chemistry course sections. However, metacognitive training resulted in improved assessment performance...

Comparing Student Performance Using Computer and Paper-Based Tests: Results from Two Studies in General Chemistry

Taking a test online rather than on paper is becoming increasingly common. However, there has been little research directly addressing the testing mode (taking a test on paper or online) in chemistry courses, particularly when students take multiple practice tests before an exam. Two studies were conducted to investigate student performance on two proctored general chemistry practice tests as a function of the testing mode. Data were collected in 2013 (Study 1) and again in 2015 (Study 2). The participants were 422 undergraduate students (Study 1 N = 207 and Study 2 N = 215) from a first-semester general chemistry course at a midwestern university. In each study students took two practice tests. Each test included 17 algorithmic, 5 conceptual, and 2 definition questions and was administered on computer or paper. The mode combination of Test 1–Test 2 identified the four conditions: Computer–Computer, Computer–Paper, Paper–Computer, and Paper–Paper. The results show minor differences between online and pape...

A Learner-Centered Grading Method Focused on Reaching Proficiency with Course Learning Outcomes

Getting students to use grading feedback as a tool for learning is a continual challenge for educators. This work proposes a method for evaluating student performance that provides feedback to students based on standards of learning dictated by clearly delineated course learning outcomes. This method combines elements of standards-based grading into a framework that uses Marzano’s Taxonomy of Learning to guide the writing of clearly defined and scaffolded learning outcomes. By means of this methodology, students are equipped with increased levels of information obtained from assessments, both formative and summative. Students and faculty alike can more accurately diagnose strengths and weaknesses in learning down to the level of the concept(s). Early observations from a first-semester general chemistry course suggest that setting transparent standards for grading can serve as a valuable learning tool for students to allow them to focus on content proficiency rather than grades alone.