Nonmajors Chemistry Course Research Articles

Examining How Supplemental Instruction Impacts Students’ Motivation in Organic Chemistry

This study investigates the effect of Supplemental Instruction (SI) on students’ motivation and learning outcomes in an introductory Organic Chemistry course for non-majors. SI, conducted by experienced facilitators, offers a range of academic support for students that may include reviewing challenging concepts, working through practice problems, and answering student questions. To assess the impact of SI in this Organic Chemistry course, we measured several parameters: student engagement during SI sessions, exam scores and final course grades, as well as self-reported motivation levels at both the beginning and end of the semester. We performed a linear regression analysis and observed a positive correlation between SI participation and improved performance on certain exams for SI participants. Further analysis showed that student motivation alone could be driving these improvements. These results suggest that while SI may be beneficial for some students, greater emphasis should be placed on ensuring that students are motivated to learn difficult concepts.

Students’ Experience of a ChatGPT Enabled Final Exam in a Non-Majors Chemistry Course

Students’ Experience of a ChatGPT Enabled Final Exam in a Non-Majors Chemistry Course

Using Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Course Content to Improve Outcomes in a Chemistry Course for Nonmajors

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices are a hallmark of high-impact pedagogy. Such practices are common in discussions regarding the retention of all students in STEM, but especially those with identities such as Black, Indigenous, persons of color, female, and LGBTQIA+. However, the extent to which DEI-framed content improves alignment to course learning outcomes in courses designed for students who are not science and engineering majors is not thoroughly understood. DEI-inspired course content, including de-emphasizing Eurocentric representations of science and case studies connecting science to society, were leveraged in a course entitled Chemistry in Society: How Drugs Work. These techniques resulted in improvement in student alignment to course outcomes for both science and engineering majors and nonmajors, as assessed by an instrument probing the relevance of science to everyday life, the understandability of science, and specific course-related outcomes.

Service-Learning for a Multiple Learning Modality Environment

Chemistry curricula have been severely impacted by social distancing, the need for hybrid and remote learning, and the reduction of resources that many institutions have encountered since the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak. Educators have had to be extremely creative and innovative with their pedagogical approaches in order to offer a quality learning experience. Instructors have used a plethora of interventions to convey course material or aspects of a class that typically would have been carried out in-person, such as live streaming laboratories, virtual simulations, and Zoom classes. Herein, we have identified a service-learning project as a means to engage students in chemistry, complement laboratory activities, and enhance students’ soft skills. During the project, students in a nonmajors chemistry course and upper level majors course presented a science activity to elementary students using Google Meet. Herein, we present the results and benefits of the interactive virtual service-learning project.

Developing Engaging Remote Laboratory Activities for a Nonmajors Chemistry Course During COVID-19

The global COVID-19 pandemic required science educators to rapidly redesign their courses to instruct, support, and motivate students in a new remote learning environment. This adjustment was particularly challenging for courses with a laboratory component, where beakers and pipettes were exchanged for computer screens and keyboards. We present our experiences with developing and teaching remote laboratory activities for a nonmajors chemistry course with an emphasis on biological molecules. Our strategies for engaging student connection and interest during remote instruction focused on both the scientific content and instructional design of the laboratory exercises. After transforming four in-person experiments into remote exercises, we developed two new virus-themed activities that were directly relevant to students’ experiences with the global pandemic. Instructional methods for teaching remote laboratories sustained students’ participation in a collaborative learning community during a time of educational disruption and personal separation. Evidence regarding student learning is provided by an anonymous end-of-semester survey, which reveals that students particularly valued the laboratory activities that connected their learning to COVID-19.

Using Continuous Student Feedback to Course-Correct during COVID-19 for a Nonmajors Chemistry Course

The two major impetuses to improve STEM education are the shift to online learning and increasing active learning and engagement. Although the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a rapid shift to online learning, this shift came at the cost of losing on-ground active learning strategies. This study provides descriptive analytical information on the impact of COVID-19 as it relates to student engagement, attendance, and viewership of video-recorded lectures for a nonmajors chemistry course. After the shift online, lecture video views significantly increased and weekly attendance significantly decreased. Prior to the pandemic, on-ground engagement via an active learning activity (i.e., Plickers) was significantly associated with on-ground achievement (i.e., exam 1). However, no significant association was found between online engagement (i.e., written responses/feedback submitted via a learning management system, referred to as LMS student feedback) and online achievement (i.e., final exam), potentially because the engagement resembled a formative assessment more than an active learning activity. Nonetheless, there was tremendous value in soliciting LMS student feedback for directing the course. Throughout the online period, there was an average of 112 responses per assignment, for a total of 1,344 responses, representing roughly a third of the students. Finally, analyses revealed no significant association of on-ground and online engagement, which suggests a different subset of students engaged while on-ground vs online. Instructors should highly consider soliciting weekly feedback through low-stakes assignments to gauge student learning and improve their courses while online.

Ethics and Systems Thinking in Biochemistry: A CRISPR-Based Activity for Undergraduate Students

This inquiry-based activity introduces students to the CRISPR method of genetic engineering and recent applications of CRISPR-editing. This activity was implemented in a nonmajors chemistry course for first-year students, during a 1 h 50 min laboratory period. However, the activity could easily be adapted, and it is useful for meeting scientific literacy learning goals of a college chemistry course for majors, an introductory college biochemistry course, or an advanced high school chemistry or biology course. For the activity, students self-selected into small groups and then researched a particular topic concerning CRISPR using a series of questions designed to guide their discovery work. Subtopics included both biochemical and application details of CRISPR, as well as social and ethical considerations concerning the genetic engineering of humans. The activity was designed to introduce students to this rapidly burgeoning biochemical method using a systems-based analysis in which social and ethical considerations are considered along with technical details. Groups prepared a short written and oral summary of their findings, and the instructor facilitated a class discussion on the topic following group oral presentations. Pre- and postactivity survey analysis indicated that students found the activity worthwhile and were able to reflect on the potential broader social and ethical implications of CRISPR-editing due to the research and discussions facilitated by the activity.

Covariational reasoning and mathematical narratives: investigating students’ understanding of graphs in chemical kinetics

Graphical representations are an important tool used to model abstract processes in fields such as chemistry. Successful interpretation of a graph involves a combination of mathematical expertise and discipline-specific content to reason about the relationship between the variables and to describe the phenomena represented. In this work, we studied students’ graphical reasoning as they responded to a chemical kinetics prompt. Qualitative data was collected and analyzed for a sample of 70 students through the use of an assessment involving short-answer test items administered in a first-year, non-majors chemistry course at a Swedish university. The student responses were translated from Swedish to English and subsequently coded to analyze the chemical and mathematical ideas students attributed to the graph. Mathematical reasoning and ideas related to covariation were analyzed using graphical forms and the shape thinking perspective of graphical reasoning. Student responses were further analyzed by focusing on the extent to which they integrated chemistry and mathematics. This was accomplished by conceptualizing modeling as discussing mathematical narratives, characterizing how students described the “story” communicated by the graph. Analysis provided insight into students’ understanding of mathematical models of chemical processes.

Using a Deliberation of Energy Policy as an Educational Tool in a Nonmajors Chemistry Course

A central goal of nonmajors chemistry courses is to instill within students the sense that chemistry does not occur in a vacuum but rather permeates everyday life. To encourage students to consider chemistry within the broader context of society and public policy, a week-long module in a survey course for nonmajors was designed to connect scientific principles and energy policy. This module featured a deliberative discussion to facilitate students’ evaluation and consideration of multiple viewpoints, rigorously examining different perspectives, trade-offs, benefits, and values represented in multiple alternatives. Our results demonstrate that this approach was highly impactful, resulting in several significant positive outcomes, including a deeper awareness of the connection between chemistry and other disciplines, an increased level of understanding and confidence in their knowledge, and a greater sense of urgency regarding energy policy.

Impact of General Chemistry on Student Achievement and Progression to Subsequent Chemistry Courses: A Regression Discontinuity Analysis

General chemistry is a gateway course that impacts the STEM trajectory of tens of thousands of students each year, and its role in the introductory curriculum as well as its pedagogical design are the center of an ongoing debate. To investigate the role of general chemistry in the curriculum, we report the results of a posthoc analysis of 10 years of archived student data (ca. 12,000 students) aimed at discovering whether taking college-level general chemistry has an impact on student performance in and progression to subsequent chemistry courses. We introduce regression discontinuity; a quasi-experimental method that originated in educational psychology and can be used to estimate causal impacts of educational treatment when ex ante randomization is not feasible. Using regression discontinuity, we estimated a positive impact of prior general chemistry coursework of about one-fourth of a letter grade in two subsequent courses, Organic Chemistry I and a physical general chemistry course for nonmajors. We a...

Using Computational Chemistry Activities To Promote Learning and Retention in a Secondary School General Chemistry Setting

This article describes the results of using state-of-the-art, research-quality software as a learning tool in a general chemistry secondary school classroom setting. I present three activities designed to introduce fundamental chemical concepts regarding molecular shape and atomic orbitals to students with little background in chemistry, such as one might find in a secondary school or first-year college chemistry course for nonmajors. Pilot studies employing the Shapes of Molecules and Atomic Orbitals activities demonstrate that students learn and retain key concepts.

Dressing for (Chemical) Success

In response to the question What is your favorite element? this article relates an activity in which students in a nonmajors chemistry course research an element and make a presentation dressed as that element.

Attitude toward Chemistry: A Semantic Differential Instrument for Assessing Curriculum Impacts

The development of a 20-item semantic differential assessment instrument for measuring student attitudes toward the subject of chemistry is described (Attitude toward the Subject of Chemistry Inventory—ASCI). Instrument subscales and survey items pertain to interest and utility, anxiety, intellectual accessibility, emotional satisfaction, and fear. Detailed information on validity is provided by means of exploratory factor analysis, comparisons between different populations of students (general chemistry, peer leaders, chemistry majors), and comparisons with course performance. Reliability is established by estimation of internal consistency of subscales and retesting correlation. The instrument is useful for assessing student attitude for any curriculum setting for longitudinal change or intercomparison of groups. Specific application in an inquiry-based, nonmajors chemistry course is described.

Mentos and the Scientific Method: A Sweet Combination

We describe an inquiry-driven exercise conducted in both the lecture and laboratory components of a college introductory chemistry course for nonmajors. The exercise involved using the scientific method to investigate the cause of the fountain effect observed when Mentos candies are added to Diet Coke. Collaborative group discussion was used to create hypotheses and design the corresponding experiments, and the results from the inquiry-driven laboratory exercises are summarized, along with the results from a postlab student reflection survey. This exercise effectively integrated activities in the lecture and laboratory, fostered student interest in chemistry, and immersed the students in the process of scientific inquiry.

Interactive Demonstrations for Mole Ratios and Limiting Reagents

The objective of this study was to develop interactive lecture demonstrations (ILD) based on conceptual-change learning theory. Experimental instruction was designed for an introductory chemistry course for nonmajors to address misconceptions related to mole ratios and limiting reagents. Students were asked a series of questions related to two chemical demonstrations via an electronic keypad system. Questions asked during the demonstrations included conceptual items, particulate items, and traditional textbook-style calculations. Results indicate that use of the ILDs decreased students' misconceptions and that they were a positive addition to the course. Students' understanding was determined via a pretest and posttest that included multiple-choice and free-response questions. Students showed significant improvement on the multiple-choice items after instruction. Evaluation of free-response items via a rubric indicated that participants understanding of stoichiometry increased. A large majority of student...

Rapid Determination of Mercury in Seafood in an Introductory Environmental Science Class

Environmental mercury has been a media topic over the past decade, with particular concern over its bioaccumulation in seafood. However routine analysis in the undergraduate laboratory is lacking owing to experimental challenges with traditional methods. Modern instrumentation alleviates these challenges and makes it possible to bring this relevant topic to the undergraduate laboratory, even for nonmajor students. We present the results for mercury content in various seafood samples obtained by students in an entry-level nonmajors chemistry course via direct mercury analysis and demonstrate how this important environmental contaminant can be easily determined in a meaningful laboratory experience.

Mass Spectrometry for the Masses

Students in an introductory or nonmajors chemistry course have little to no background in scientific instrumentation. However, advanced instrumentation can be employed to further students' understanding of basic chemistry and scientific methods. In this article, we describe an experiment for an introductory chemistry course that incorporates the use of mass spectrometry for sample analysis. Several different air samples are collected that represent various chemical processes, and the composition of the air sample is predicted on the basis of known chemical principles. A gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer is used to analyze these samples, and the relative quantities of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, water, and argon are calculated. On the basis of the data, the hypothesized sample composition is validated.

Radioactivity, Radiation, and the Chemistry of Nuclear Waste

A chemistry course for nonmajors, which centers on the chemistry of nuclear waste, has as a prerequisite at least two semesters of general chemistry. The initial part of the course introduces a number of topics necessary to discuss the construction and operation of nuclear reactors. The focus is on isotope production, primarily, plutonium. In the second section, radiation chemistry is introduced, emphasizing the generation of primary radicals from the interaction of molecules with charged particles and the subsequent chemical reactions of these primary radicals. The final section of the course is devoted to the treatment of nuclear waste by vitrification and applications based on nuclear or radiation chemistry. Throughout, the course presents historical material related to nuclear sites operated by the U.S. government, particularly those that were involved in plutonium production. It deals with the high-level nuclear waste generated by the production process, the methods used to store the waste in the pas...

Relationships Between Achievement and Selective Variables in a Chemistry Course for Nonmajors

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between students' approaches to studying, prior knowledge, logical thinking ability, and gender and their performance in a nonmajors' college freshman chemistry course. Subjects for this study were 220 students (128 females and 92 males) enrolled in the second semester of a freshman chemistry course for nonmajors at a private university in New York State. Instruments used in this study included seven subscales of the Approaches to Studying Inventory and the Test of Logical Thinking (TOLT). The students' grades on an hour‐long exam early in the semester were used as measures of the students' prior knowledge, while the semester cumulative final examination scores were used as measures of achievement in chemistry. Students in this study had slightly higher scores on reproducing orientation than on meaning orientation, a pattern that confirms Entwistle and Ramsden's (1983) findings with a similar group of nonmajors. The results of a stepwise multiple regression showed that prior knowledge, TOLT scores, and meaning orientation accounted for 32% of the variance on the final examination scores.

Chemistry and civilization. Origin, status, and future of a chemistry course for nonmajors

Justification, outline, and teaching methods for a course entitled Chemistry and Civilization for nonmajors.