Undergraduate Chemistry Courses Research Articles

Teaching Experimental Instrumental Analytical Chemistry Are we forming professionals, training operators or illuding students (and ourselves)?

The term “science” refers to “any system of knowledge that is concerned with the physical world and its phenomena and that entails unbiased observations and systematic experimentation”.1 Therefore, laboratory courses are almost universally considered an integral and mandatory part of instruction on science and technology,2 whatever the field or area of specialization. Consequently, undergraduate chemistry courses (and correlated specialties such as pharmaceutical sciences, biochemistry and some branches of engineering) always include practical disciplines, one of which is instrumental analytical chemistry. Despite being essential for these courses and part of the everyday routine of the faculty affiliated with analytical chemistry departments or programs, several aspects are far from being consensus among lecturers, students and the other people involved. Topics related to course syllabus, general approaches on the implementation and teaching of specific analytical techniques and experiments, their integration with other disciplines, and much more, are a matter of constant discussion and debate. One aspect to be considered is the considerable change in the profile of students that has occurred in recent years. The teaching tools and didactic approaches that university professors and instructors aged > 40 years experienced in their own training are generally not suitable for the present-day undergraduate audience. With former generations, the usual sources of information were printed books and similar materials available in libraries, whereas students today have a greater affinity for consulting online sources,3 which are not always reliable and often return a huge number of search results that require careful evaluation to select which information is relevant and/or reliable. Of course, the facility with which online sources of information are manipulated by our present pupils also has some important advantages: in particular, the near-instantaneous speed of information collection and the virtual accessibility to databases from anywhere on the planet. In addition, until the turn of the millennium, university students were more used to long lectures and experimental classes with relatively complex procedures that often took hours of careful manipulation and numerous laboratory operations (many of them repetitive and tedious). Specifically in the case of practical classes, many of today's students are relatively unaccustomed to experiments that require more than moderate manual skills (at least when compared to their colleagues of previous generations), which may also imply difficulty in organizing their time in the laboratory. Perhaps one of the biggest mistakes we make with our current students is that we consider them ill-prepared or less capable than our generation and attribute their difficulties to this simplistic, crude verdict – when perhaps the biggest problem is that, as educators, we are failing to cope with the rapid evolution in the characteristics and profiles of these young people. The type of change we need so that we can offer practical courses on instrumental analytical chemistry that are more appropriate and better suited for our students is not easy because, in addition to the demand that we change the vision of teaching and paradigms that we have considered as absolute since we entered our academic career, we are also confronted with practical reasons that make this type of change difficult. Laboratory classes demand a huge endeavor from technical and instructional staff and teaching assistants; furthermore, they are comparatively expensive, requiring space, fragile glassware, acquisition and maintenance of instruments, proper disposal of consumables and waste, as well as expenses on faculty salaries.4 The revision of curricula and experimental procedures would impose additional pressure on the workload of the personnel involved and also on the reduced budget availability typical of most public and private universities and colleges (whether in Brazil or anywhere else on the planet). Although there is no easy, direct and universal solution to the problems mentioned above, some alternatives can be tested and adopted with relative ease in most higher education courses on instrumental analytical chemistry. The workload of the experiments can be reduced, supplementing them or eventually even replacing some with practices carried out in virtual environments, which had an unexpected but necessary boost during the recent COVID-19 pandemic.5 Several paid or free-to-use tools have been described for this purpose. For instance, Shallice et al.6 describe a downloadable high-performance liquid chromatography simulator that emulates a basic automated liquid chromatography system capable of binary gradient operation. Similar software emulating other instrumental techniques exist, such as UV-Vis’s spectrometry, electroanalytical techniques, etc., as stand-alone applications, full online resources or even as Excel spreadsheets. In addition to simulated experiments using virtual analytical instruments, other resources that can be used as a supplement to practical instrumental analysis classes are online video libraries, which have also proliferated after the recent period of restriction on face-to-face activities. A well-known example is the collection of the Royal Chemical Society,7 which offers videos demonstrating basic principles and practical aspects of various instrumental techniques (from gas and liquid chromatography to nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy). In addition to possible inadequacies due to changes in the profile of typical students currently entering higher education courses in chemistry and related sciences, the evolution of analytical instrumentation, its scope of application and the practical demands imposed on analytical methods that future professionals will apply also pressure us to make changes in the programs of experimental disciplines of instrumental analytical chemistry and in the way we teach the associated techniques. Until the turn of the millennium, the typical program of experimental disciplines of instrumental analytical chemistry in most of the curricula in Brazil and many other countries comprised sequences of isolated experiments using analytical techniques such as gas or liquid chromatography, UV-Vis absorption spectrometry, atomic emission/emission spectrophotometry, etc., with samples and procedures that required relatively simple and quick preparation (usually only sample dissolution, decomposition or extraction). However, due to the natural evolution of analytical instrumentation, the equipment that future professionals will typically find in academic and industrial research laboratories after their impending graduation is very different from that previously employed in the teaching laboratories where their instructors learned analytical chemistry (typically, much simpler equipment that required careful attention and reasonable practical skills from users and operators). The contemporary analytical instruments are much less transparent to the user in their operation; however, as a rule, they incorporate extensive automation and/or mechanization resources, complete control of operation by software and greater operational robustness. From a didactic point of view, modern equipment certainly does not provide students with the same understanding and insight of the basic operational principles of the associated techniques as the instruments of previous generations. However, considering the typical profile of today's students, it possibly would not be advantageous to use those simpler analytical platforms exhaustively merely for didactic purposes. For example, until the turn of the millennium, one of the main demands for students in gas chromatography didactic experiments was to improve and master the manual injection of samples using micro syringes. Today, this didactic approach seems to be preposterous, considering that chromatographs without automatic sample injection are becoming increasingly rare in industrial and even in academic environments. The result is that students are sometimes subjected to tedious laboratory sessions and often completely lose their focus on what would be fundamental in that practical class. In addition, the present demand is increasingly for professionals to be trained to interpret data and propose solutions based on the information gained and not to act as mere operators of laboratory equipment. Thus, it seems to us that we should increasingly design experiments for undergraduate students that incorporate all stages of the analytical process, with particular attention to sampling and sample preparation (taking advantage of features of modern instruments that allow processing more samples in less time and whose operation is less dependent of user ability and manual dexterity) as well as the interpretation and understanding of the analytical data produced. Regarding the above-mentioned focus on the interpretation and understanding of analytical data, it is interesting to note that in 2004, when the Analytical Chemistry Division of the Federation of European Chemical Societies (FECS) established the curricular guidelines to be observed in the analytical chemistry disciplines taught in universities of the European Community (the so-called "Eurocurriculum II"),8 four basic pillars of education in analytical chemistry were defined: Spectroscopy; Chromatography; Chemical Sensors; and Chemometrics and Computer-Based Analytical Chemistry. Thus, it was recognized that in modern analytical chemistry the processing and interpretation of data, as well as its transformation into useful information about the chemical systems studied, is on a par with the three traditional subdivisions of analytical chemistry (spectroscopic and spectrometric techniques, chromatographic techniques and electroanalytical techniques). Although it is important to emphasize that these considerations apply to courses in the European Community, they can be contemplated in the training of chemists anywhere else on the world. Also, they reinforce the indication that the education of analytical chemists should place an increasing emphasis on aspects related to information generation/manipulation and interpretation and not merely on the direct operational aspects of analytical methods and protocols already established. The discussion so far does not pretend to cover all the relevant points whose evaluation would perhaps be necessary for a comprehensive and exhaustive debate of the current status of college/University courses on instrumental analytical chemistry, as well as the possible alternatives and paths to follow. In addition, this text of course echoes the author’s personal opinions and idiosyncrasies, without any pretense at being an absolute expression of the truth (if indeed one exists on this matter). In fact, any discussion of these topics is, by their nature, highly controversial and heavily influenced by the background and area of expertise of those involved. However, we have the firm conviction that the community needs to continuously discuss the education and professional development in analytical chemistry, with emphasis on areas where changes can occur very quickly, always keeping an open mind and a willingness to review supposedly untouchable concepts (and, of course, remembering that its focus should always be on the students).

The Importance of Teaching Metrology for Chemistry Undergraduate Courses

The Chemistry undergraduate courses, in general, aim to train professionals for research, teaching and activities in industry. In all these areas, the statistical treatment of data supported by metrology disciplines has been a decisive boost to consolidate conclusions in Analytical Chemistry. The main objective of this work was to stimulate the teaching of the metrology in the chemistry undergraduate courses in Brazil and Portugal. In this work we present some concepts and practical cases of metrology and statistics, which together guarantee the suitability of analytical measurement results for specific purposes. Knowledge of these concepts is essential for the chemist to act effectively and responsibly, avoiding some pitfalls when processing data in Analytical Chemistry. A supplementary material with Excel spreadsheets is available, containing the statistical treatment of some examples and complementing the discussions in this work. A survey is presented among the most important universities in Brazil and Portugal, from which we can see the lack of teaching these subjects in undergraduate chemistry courses. For this reason, this work recommends a syllabus for creating chemical metrology disciplines in undergraduate chemistry courses. To subsidize this syllabus, an extensive, but not exhaustive, bibliography is indicated.

The Importance of Teaching Metrology for Chemistry Undergraduate Courses - Supplementary Material

The supplementary material is an Excel spreadsheets containing the statistical treatment of some examples. The tabs "Data", "Var_x" and Var_y" in the Excel file are to be used to perform regressions using the CCC Software as explained by its "User manual (for Release 1.3)" available at the INRIM site. The tabs "Cd Expl A5 QUAM OLS" and "Cd Expl A5 QUAM WLS" are spreadsheets with the OLS and WLS regressions to fit a straight line on the calibration curve data for Cd determination. These spreadsheets can be used to fit straight lines on other calibration curves. The following four tabs with names stating "CCC" have the results from CCC Software V. 1.3 for OLS or WLS rectilinear or parabole fit and some calculations in grey cells for the adapted Example A5 QUAM for Cd determination. The final four tabs have data to be pasted on the first three tabs of the file to use the CCC Software to fit the calibration curves of Cd or sulfur determinations.

Leveraging undergraduate learning assistants when implementing new laboratory curricula

At University of California, Irvine, a large-enrollment research university, undergraduate chemistry courses for non-chemistry majors were delivered remotely during the 2020–2021 academic year, with a return to in-person instruction planned for January 2022. Because this return to in-person instruction coincided with the transition of second-year students from general chemistry to organic chemistry laboratory courses, the instructional staff recognized a need for remedial laboratory curricula for students with no prior in-person laboratory experience. Simultaneously, we desired to implement undergraduate Learning Assistants (LAs) in non-chemistry major organic chemistry laboratories for the first time at our university. In this paper, we describe our approach for leveraging undergraduate LAs to (1) test new laboratory curricula and (2) address feelings of comfort and safety for students with no prior in-person laboratory experience. Benefits of our LA program perceived by students include increased laboratory efficiency and improved student learning from near-peer instructors; benefits perceived by LAs include the development of professional skills and teamwork with graduate student teaching assistants. We provide an outline of resources and strategies to enable instructors to simultaneously implement undergraduate LAs and new laboratory curricula.

The Relationship Between Attitude Towards Chemistry and Academic Performance in Undergraduate Chemistry Courses

This paper examines the relationship between students' attitudes toward chemistry and their academic performance in undergraduate chemistry courses. A sample of 378 chemistry students of Arts and Science Colleges from Madurai Educational District completed the Chemistry Attitudes Scale and consented to the release of their chemistry course grades. Correlational analyses using Pearson's ‘r’ found moderate positive correlations between chemistry attitudes and course grades (r = .32, p < .001), indicating students with more favourable attitudes tended to achieve higher grades. The correlation was strongest for inorganic chemistry (r = .43, p < .001) and weakest for physical chemistry (r = .21, p = .02), though ANOVA results showed no significant differences by chemistry subdiscipline. The results support the hypothesis that favourable chemistry attitudes are associated with greater academic success. This highlights the importance of affective variables and the potential value of interventions targeting chemistry attitudes among undergraduates

Implementing an interactive online platform in a large undergraduate general chemistry course and its impact on student learning and perceptions

The rise of technology and online approaches has challenged the traditional learning and teaching model for first year chemistry of formal face-to-face lectures and in-person laboratory sessions. The COVID-19 pandemic since 2020 has created a rapidly changing environment in assessment and learning experiences for students and led to rapid adoption of online technology within chemistry courses. This study, during 2019–2021, examined the implementation of an active learning platform in a large undergraduate chemistry course. This study was informed by constructivist theories of learning and of relevance was the 5E framework, with learning phases of engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate. A combination of post-survey data and coursework data were analysed. Post-survey results indicated that students positively perceived that the interactive online platform helped them to learn. User statistics data for learning and self-assessment activities affirmed that students gave priority to the self-paced interactive online approach, in preference to conventional social learning activities. Modernization of delivery of the curriculum to replace unstructured independent private study with structured learning and revision activities was of greatest benefit to student learning for lower performing students that were typically mature age students, with significant differences observed for online quiz and final exam results for this cohort of students. Overall, student learning was supported with the introduction of digital technologies in the course. The findings revealed that the self-paced learning activities for chemistry, delivered with an interactive online platform, combined with conventional learning activities can be effective in creating a culture of learning in students and maintaining academic outcomes.

MODELOS E ELETRONEGATIVIDADE: UMA PROPOSTA DE SEQUÊNCIA DIDÁTICA PARA O ENSINO DE QUÍMICA

MODELS AND ELECTRONEGATIVITY: A PROPOSAL OF DIDACTIC SEQUENCE FOR CHEMISTRY TEACHING. Electronegativity is a useful chemical bonding property related to determining the polarity of molecules and formation of partial charges. In the 1930s, Linus Pauling studied the differences between theoretical and experimental binding energy values when he established that ionic contributions in covalent bonds were pertinent to elucidate these differences. The association of the nature of the elements present in the chemical bond with the discordance of results led to the quantitative determination of electronegativity, creating the first scale of this property. In addition, other scales were developed, such as by Robert Mulliken (1934), Albert Allred and Eugene Rochow (1958) and Leland Allen (1989). Although present in undergraduate Chemistry courses, the teaching of electronegativity is little explored in the literature and treated in a fragmented way in many materials. In this way, a didactic sequence is proposed for the approach of electronegativity and the scales designed by Pauling, Mulliken, Allred, Rochow and Allen directed to the first year of undergraduate in Chemistry. For a dynamic study of electronegativity models along with historical basement, modelling-based teaching is used so that students can assess scope, limitations and be able to participate in the creation of a model.

Factors associated with chemistry faculty members’ cooperative adoption of evidence-based instructional practices: results from a national survey

Despite institutional reform efforts to increase use of evidence-based instructional practices (EBIPs) in undergraduate chemistry and STEM courses, didactic lecture remains the predominant mode of instruction. Research to inform these initiatives routinely focuses on drivers and barriers to EBIP adoption, with recent work investigating factors associated with faculty members’ cooperative adoption of EBIPs from five STEM disciplines including chemistry. To understand the role of these specific factors within undergraduate chemistry education across a broad set of institutions, we conducted a national survey of chemistry faculty members (n = 1105) from the United States in Spring 2023. The survey targeted constructs that may underlie the cooperative adoption of EBIPs, including faculty members’ perception of (1) using EBIPs as mutually beneficial, (2) having their success and failure intertwined, and (3) institutional climate around teaching. The survey also included items targeting teaching-specific social interactions, another potential aspect of cooperative adoption. Results from multilevel modeling suggest that EBIP adoption is associated with chemistry faculty members’ perception of using EBIPs as mutually beneficial, aligning with prior findings on STEM faculty members’ cooperative adoption of these practices. However, there is no evidence of an association between EBIP adoption and chemistry faculty members’ perception of campus climate around teaching, where prior findings indicate an inverse association among STEM faculty members. Results further indicate that EBIP adoption is associated with the number of people with whom one specifically discusses pedagogy, instruction, and assessment. Collectively, our results demonstrate that differences exist between STEM disciplines and point toward the chemistry education research community's responsibility to further explore EBIP adoption from a disciplinary lens. Our investigation also provides insight into factors associated with the cooperative adoption of EBIPs among chemistry faculty members on a national level; we identify several implications for how chemistry faculty member change agents (e.g., course coordinators, department leaders) may effectively promote EBIP adoption across the undergraduate chemistry curriculum.

Facilitated Study Groups for Undergraduate Organic Chemistry: Experience from a Large Public Canadian University

Undergraduate organic chemistry courses have a reputation for being difficult among students in biological and physical sciences programs. Due to the extensive problem-solving, visualization, and depiction of chemical structures/reactions required, students may perceive learning such content as similar to learning a new language. Several interventions such as course-integrated tutorials or discussion sessions have aimed to assist students. Another effective approach that chemistry educators might consider is Supplemental Instruction (SI), a well-established program that emphasizes student-driven learning whereby student SI leaders facilitate discussions to help students arrive at solutions while also developing effective communication and study skills. A type of SI, Facilitated Study Groups (FSG), established by the Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) in 2009, were introduced regularly into organic chemistry courses in 2012. This program provides semester-long optional small-group peer learning sessions, each of which corresponds to a course lecture. The aim of this paper is to provide comprehensive coverage detailing the structure of the organic chemistry FSG program, peer facilitation strategies employed, quantitative/qualitative synthesis of student outcomes indicating program uptake. We consistently find significantly higher grades and significantly lower attrition rates for students who regularly attend FSG sessions in comparison to those who do not (n=16 semesters). Given the growing diversity of undergraduate classes in terms of approaches to learning, language, and cultural barriers (international students, English second-language learners, learning and psychosocial disabilities), our FSG sessions seek to foster inclusion amongst our heterogeneous pool of attendees. Here, we describe strategies that tailored FSG sessions to a diverse group of undergraduate students as suggested by a sizable percentage of the class availing themselves of this resource and by a narrative synthesis of end-of-term surveys. Together, we demonstrate successful adoption of an SI-based model for organic chemistry and present a practical framework that includes pedagogically informed session strategies and cost estimates to guide design of similar programs for post-secondary students at other institutions.

Learning Green Chemistry Principles by Comparing Three Synthetic Routes to a Copper-NHC (NHC = N-heterocyclic carbene) Complex

The implementation of a laboratory exercise in an undergraduate chemistry course, where students perform a comparison of three different synthetic methods toward [Cu(Cl)(IPr)]-complexes (IPr = N,N′-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene), is described. The students are introduced to the continuous improvement of reactions in terms of green chemistry and are provided a taste of mechanochemistry as a synthetic methodology. The direct comparison of three methods leading to the copper complexes provides an opportunity to teach green chemistry metrics including atom economy, environmental factor, mass intensity, reaction mass efficiency, and optimum efficiency, as well as Green Star; and challenges them to question the use of solvents in chemical syntheses.

An Intersectional Application of Expectancy-Value Theory in an Undergraduate Chemistry Course

The underrepresentation of women and Black, Latinx, and Native Americans within the United States scientific workforce is a persistent and multifaceted problem warranting an intersectional approach. Applying intersectionality to the expectancy-value theory of motivation, we examined initial motivation and subsequent achievement among a sample of undergraduate students ( N = 687) enrolled in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) gateway course of introductory chemistry at a diverse 4-year university. We found no racial/ethnic group differences in initial motivation, but small ( d = .30) group differences in achievement. Results revealed a pattern of gender differences across both underrepresented (i.e., Black, Latinx, and Native American) and well-represented (i.e., White, Asian American) racial/ethnic groups such that, relative to men, women began the class with lower levels of confidence about their performance, but greater utility value and attainment value in learning chemistry. Consistent with expectancy-value theory, motivation at the beginning of the semester positively predicted final exam scores across gender and racial/ethnic intersectional groups. For Black, Latinx, and Native American students, attainment value was an especially strong predictor of subsequent achievement. Our findings point to the need to cultivate social contexts within undergraduate STEM education that promotes all aspects of science motivation among students from underrepresented groups. Online slides for instructors who want to use this article for teaching are available on PWQ's website at http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/suppl/10.1177/03616843231153390 .

Physical Chemistry in Context: Using Quantum Mechanics to Understand the Greenhouse Effect

The concepts taught in an undergraduate physical chemistry course are directly related to the molecular processes governing climate change, yet the connections between quantum mechanical molecular properties and global warming are rarely made explicit. To improve student knowledge about climate change, we developed a three-part activity that computationally and experimentally explores blackbody radiation, the greenhouse effect, and the relationship between IR absorption properties and global warming potentials for the anthropogenic greenhouse gases defined in the Paris Agreement. The activities addressed the traditional learning objectives of a quantum-focused physical chemistry course by exploring topics such as the quantized nature of energy in Planck’s Law, the selection rules for rovibrational transitions, and discrepancies between theoretical models and observed experimental results. However, our approach was unique in that each concept was addressed within the context of the atmospheric phenomena related to climate change. A previously published climate science survey instrument was administered pre- and postactivity to assess student learning gains. The average percent of correct responses on this survey increased from 44% to 68% as a result of completing the activities.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Chemistry Student and Staff Perceptions of their Learning/Teaching Experience.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Leicester introduced a blended teaching model to continue delivery of their undergraduate Chemistry courses in 2020/21. The transition from in-person to blended provided a good opportunity to investigate student engagement in the blended environment, along with the attitudes of faculty members adapting to this mode of delivery. Data from 94 undergraduate students and 13 staff members was collected using surveys, focus groups, and interviews and analyzed using the community of inquiry framework. Analysis of the collected data found that, while some students felt unable to always engage and focus with the remote material, they were pleased with the University's response to the pandemic. Staff members commented on the challenges of gauging student engagement and understanding in synchronous contact sessions because students did not make use of cameras or microphones but praised the array of digital tools available that helped to facilitate some degree of student interaction. This study suggests there is scope for continuation and wider implementation of blended learning environments to provide additional contingency for further disruption to on-campus teaching and to provide new teaching opportunities, and it also presents recommendations as to how to reinforce the community of inquiry presences in blended learning.

Problem-Based Learning in Graduate and Undergraduate Chemistry Courses: Face-to-Face and Online Experiences

The problem-based learning (PBL) methodology has been applied in a set of chemistry courses at the University of Barcelona to determine the main factors that are relevant to a satisfactory application of this educational approach in different contexts (from undergraduate to master subjects). The exceptional situation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has also forced us to adapt this methodology from the traditional face-to-face modality to an online version. Thus, the resulting comparative study has allowed us to identify the main aspects of each subject, student background, and modality used, which are relevant to a satisfactory application of PBL. In general, the application of the PBL methodology using Moodle and BBCollaborate as live teaching platforms has a positive impact on student learning and satisfaction. Interestingly, although the face-to-face implementation is preferred to the online modality, students evaluate positively the application of online PBL with respect to the traditional online teaching. Thus, the intrinsic characteristics of PBL, which enhance the learning motivation with suitable problems to be solved in groups, makes this required collaborative work a key point to facilitate student learning.

Revisiting faculty members’ goals for the undergraduate chemistry laboratory

Over a decade has passed since faculty members’ goals for the undergraduate chemistry instructional laboratory were first investigated on a large, national scale in the United States. This study revisits these goals, using data from a 2022 national survey of chemistry faculty members in the United States (n = 521) to investigate current objectives, including how those goals vary with course, institutional context, and receipt of funding for improving undergraduate chemistry courses. A modified version of the Faculty Goals for Undergraduate Chemistry Laboratory Instrument was used to measure goals, with psychometric evidence providing support for its use across the studied contexts, with the exception of the general chemistry laboratory. Goals were associated with course and receipt of funding but not institution type, both with regard to institutions’ highest chemistry degree awarded and approval from the American Chemical Society to award certified bachelor's chemistry degrees. Results suggest that faculty members may adopt a distinct set of goals not immediately associated with the practice of chemistry in the general chemistry laboratory. Further, goals increasingly focus on providing research experience and cultivating disciplinary knowledge and skills with progression through the chemistry curriculum; this focus increases more abruptly when moving from large-enrollment lower-level courses to small-enrollment upper-level courses. Findings imply a need for increased efforts focused on (1) evaluating goals for the general chemistry laboratory, including whether those goals contribute to overarching curricular objectives, (2) promoting adoption of evidence-based pedagogies in large-enrollment contexts to better align instruction with the practice of chemistry, (3) supporting faculty members in procuring funding to improve courses, and (4) refining professional societies’ evaluation criteria for undergraduate chemistry programs.

Enhancing academic performance and student success through learning analytics-based personalised feedback emails in first-year chemistry

Recent developments in digital technologies, including learning analytics are changing educational practices due to the wealth of information available and its utility to inform academic interventions for students. This study investigates the impact of personalised feedback emails on students’ academic performance and student success in large first-year undergraduate chemistry courses. Learning analytics was used to inform and generate feedback emails to students at various timepoints during the semester. The feedback emails to students included an evaluation of their current performance, and advice of support systems and resources to support their learning. We analysed the marks of 6334 students at three timepoints during the semester in addition to their final course grade, and compared academic performance across three years of course offerings (2019–2021). We compared students that did not receive feedback (2019 control groups, n = 2391) with students that did receive feedback (2020–2021 experimental groups, n = 3943). Our findings suggest that students receiving personalised emails during the semester were more likely to pass their first-year chemistry course. Furthermore, our data showed that sending personalised feedback emails fostered higher student success among a greater number of students within the cohort, as well as students' appraisal of the personalised feedback.

Characterizing and identifying influences on undergraduates’ attitudes towards organic chemistry

Despite the important role organic chemistry plays in a wide range of industries, the undergraduate organic chemistry course sequence is considered to be difficult for and feared by students. Although work has been done to identify and address student difficulties within the cognitive and psychomotor domains, little work has focused on investigating student affect towards organic chemistry. Identifying student emotions towards the course and how these emotions impact students’ learning experiences is a key component in addressing student success in organic chemistry. In general chemistry studies, attitudes have been linked to persistence and performance in the class, but little work has been done to determine what role attitude plays in organic chemistry students’ experiences. In this qualitative study, student attitudes towards organic chemistry and the influences that shape those attitudes were explored. Students displayed a wide range of attitudes towards organic chemistry, including positive, negative, neutral, and blended attitudes. Five major influences were shown to have shaped these attitudes including the reputation of the course, students’ educators, experiences with organic chemistry, experiences with introductory chemistry, and individual experiences. Findings also indicated that many student attitudes towards organic chemistry are in place before they have begun the course, but that students’ attitudes may change after interacting with the course material. Limitations of this investigation, as well as implications for research and practitioners, are discussed.

Empowering Peer Leaders: Designing Dynamic PLTL Training in the United Kingdom

In the academic year 2021-2022, Queen Mary University of London (UK) launched its successful pilot of Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) within undergraduate chemistry and economics courses. This year (2022-2023), the program expanded, with PLTL also introducing courses within biological sciences and business studies. Over 900 students are now enrolled in our PLTL program facilitated by approximately 80 Peer Leaders. Building on this success and inspired by colleagues from the University of Rochester on Peer Leader training materials, we sought to develop our own bespoke training materials for QMUL Peer Leaders. Working with our Peer Leaders, content was co-created to develop a feedback-orientated program for future cohorts. The current cohort of Peer Leaders was surveyed to identify gaps in the previous training program and suggest ideas to be prioritized. The enhanced training program emerged as an immersive online ‘course page’ comprising of written documents, videos, and interactive activities. This material will be consolidated and reinforced through an in-person training day to be held in late September during “Welcome Week” culminating in a final online assessment. This paper explores the intricacies of the decision-making process involved in crafting the training materials and serves as a template for other UK Universities adopting PLTL.

Using social influence models to characterize student interest in a general chemistry peer-led team learning setting

Motivation helps drive students to success in general chemistry, and active learning environments with social interactions has consistently shown to improve motivation. However, analyzing student outcomes in an interactive environment is best done by considering students not as isolated units but as working together and influencing each other. Therefore, we used social network analysis with self-determination theory as a framework for understanding motivation and social comparison theory as a framework for understanding how students influence each other. When analyzing an undergraduate general chemistry course that has incorporated peer-led team learning using data from the Learning Climate Questionnaire and Intrinsic Motivation Inventory, a series of progressively sophisticated statistical models with data gathered from 270 students shows that perceived competence and relatedness predict student interest in the activities with their peer-led sessions. However, we also found evidence that students tend to become polarized in their interest toward peer-led team learning activities, which is one possible outcome of social comparisons with their peers. In addition to these findings, this project demonstrates how social network analysis can expand how chemistry education researchers consider relational data and the effects of non-independent data on statistical analysis.

Ten Minutes a Semester: Evaluation of a Short Wellness Intervention for Undergraduate Chemistry and Biology Courses

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted many challenges undergraduate students face including their ability to manage stress. Poor stress management can contribute to poor academic performance and health outcomes; better wellness habits and stress reduction go hand-in-hand, as improved wellness habits reduce overall stress and expand positive stress management strategies. This article describes the design of a short wellness intervention for STEM classes and its evaluation after implementation in five chemistry and biology courses that span the four years of a biochemistry degree. This intervention, composed of a short, in-class presentation and an associated supplemental resource handout, presents students with information on five wellness areas: sleep, nutrition, water intake, exercise, and meditation and mindfulness. Students were surveyed at three points (once preintervention and twice postintervention) in one semester and asked to report their perceived stress, current wellness habits, and overall perception of the intervention. Notably, the majority of students (89%) thought the intervention should be included in other courses. The importance of completing the intervention in class was underscored by the small number of students (19%) who reported accessing the additional resources provided outside of class. Student wellness habits did not dramatically shift postintervention, but this study garnered insights into the barriers students face when attempting to change their wellness behavior. Overwhelmingly students reported that academic workload was the dominant factor hindering positive wellness change. The intervention materials, including a suggested script, are shared, and data-supported recommendations for implementation in other courses and institutions are provided.