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.
This report summarizes one of the
invited papers to the ConfChem
online conference on Mathematics in Undergraduate Chemistry Instruction,
held from October 23 to November 27, 2017, and hosted by the ACS DivCHED
Committee on Computers in Chemical Education (CCCE). Combining data
collected by a team of nine instructors from six Texas institutions
for an IRB-approved investigation, this research correlated the arithmetic
skills of first-year general chemistry students (n = 2127) to final course grades. The validated, highly reliable (KR-21
= 0.821) instrument, named the Math-Up Skills Test (MUST), evaluated
the following topics using 16 questions: multiplication, division,
fractions, scientific notation, exponential notation, logarithms,
square roots, and balancing chemical equations. The MUST was given
twice to each student: first without the use of a calculator followed
by a similar, modified version with the use of a calculator. Outcomes
suggest that general chemistry students’ arithmetic skills
are more correlated with course grades when calculators are not used
than when calculators are used. Perhaps more emphasis should be placed
on improving students’ mathematics automaticity.
The Math-Up Skills Tests (MUST) has
been used in multiple research
projects conducted by the Networking for Science Advancement (NSA)
team to determine how automaticity skills (what can be done without
a calculator) in arithmetic can be used to predict if students will
be successful (course average = 69.5%+) in general chemistry. This
study expands our investigations to include how students’ quantitative
literacy/quantitative reasoning (QL/QR) abilities influence their
success. The NSA team studied multiple classes at eight universities
(n = 1,915) within a broad geographic setting in
one large, majority-minority southwestern US state. In a short amount
of required classroom time, it is possible to identify students at
the beginning of the semester who will struggle in first- and second-semester
general chemistry (Chem I and Chem II). Results show a strong correlation
between students’ automaticity MUST skills and their QL/QR
ability (r = 0.60) and indicate that when taking
both diagnostic assessments into consideration, convincing signals
appear allowing for the identification of almost 50% of the Chem I
students and about 45% of the Chem II students who will not succeed.
With the addition of the QL/QR to the first-week assessments, about
9% more students who enter the courses underprepared were identified
than when only the MUST was administered. Outcomes indicate that students
with at least average arithmetic and QL/QR automaticity abilities
are those who are better prepared for these courses. For on-sequence
students with at least one average or above diagnostic score, 88.3%
Chem I and 90.5% Chem II were successful.
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