A well-established literature base identifies a portion of students enrolled in post-secondary General Chemistry as at-risk of failing the course based on incoming metrics. Learning about the experiences and factors that lead to this higher failure rate is essential toward improving retention in this course. This study examines the relationship between study habits and academic performance for at-risk students in General Chemistry. Students who were in the bottom quartile of SAT math scores were identified as at-risk students. The study habits of General Chemistry students, both those identified as at-risk and those not identified were measured by text message inquiries. The text message asked ‘‘Have you studied for General Chemistry I in the past 48 hours? If so, how did you study?” twice a week throughout a semester. Student responses to the messages were used to calculate the frequency of studying throughout the term. The results from a multiple regression analysis showed that high frequency of studying could mitigate the difference between at-risk and non-at-risk students on final exam scores. Additionally, the quality of studying for six at-risk students was analyzed by student interviews in concert with their text message responses. The results indicated that the quality of studying is not necessarily linked to frequency of studying and both quality and frequency can play a role in at-risk students' academic performance. The results presented offer a path for at-risk students to succeed in General Chemistry and the methodology presented offers a potential avenue for evaluating future efforts to improve student success.
The research-based pedagogical strategy of flipped classes has been shown to be effective for increasing student achievement and retention in postsecondary chemistry classes. The purpose of flipped classes is to move content delivery (e.g., lecture) outside of the classroom, freeing more face-to-face time for active learning strategies. The opportunity to engage in active learning with students can be a challenge for instructors of large classes (more than 100 students). Furthermore, there has been little discussion in the chemical education literature to provide instructors with detailed descriptions of successful implementations of flipped classes combined with active learning in large classes. To this end, this report provides a comprehensive description and evaluation of a coordinated implementation of flipped classes with peer-led team learning (PLTL) for second-semester general chemistry with class sizes greater than 200 students. This approach is described as "Flipped PLTL". This report includes details about creation of videos for flipped instruction, class structure, and the recruiting and training of peer leaders. The purpose of this paper is to provide an example of flipped classes with PLTL that can guide other instructors who wish to implement these pedagogies in large classes.
The links students make among chemistry content is considered essential for a robust, enduring understanding in multiple learning theories. This article describes the development and implementation of an assessment technique, termed a Measure of Linked Concepts, designed to inform instructors on students' understanding of linking content throughout General Chemistry. Student performance on the assessment technique has provided unique insights relevant for instruction. For example, a substantial proportion of students could not identify when a model was used beyond its intended limit or show proficiency in tasks that the course assumed was prior knowledge. The use of these assessments also provides a means for instruction to show the relevance for topics such as periodic trends or ionic/molecular classification in a variety of subsequent topics throughout the course.
This study used a series of text message inquiries sent to General Chemistry students asking: ''Have you studied for General Chemistry I in the past 48 hours? If so, how did you study?'' This method for collecting data is novel to chemistry education research so the first research goals were to investigate the feasibility of the technique and the evidence for validity of the data collected. The results showed that text messages provide ample data on students' study habits though initial participant recruitment may pose a challenge. This study also explored evidence for validity and found that the percent of students reporting studying peaked with each exam date matching the expected trend (content validity) and participants in the study had only small departures from the population of students at the setting (generalizable validity). Second, students' study habits were characterized using cluster analysis finding three clusters: students that knowingly do not study, students who describe mandatory course components as studying and students who study in addition to the mandatory course components.These student groups were compared on a common exam in the course with the last group outperforming those who knowingly do not study. Finally, student study habits were charted across the semester and show signs of adapting, possibly as a result of course expectations or course content.
Evaluating the impact of Chemistry
Education Research articles
has historically centered on the impact factor of the publishing journal.
With the advent of electronic journal indices, it is possible to determine
the impact of individual research articles by the number of citations
it has received. However, in a relatively new discipline, such as
Chemistry Education Research, it is necessary to provide context for
the citation counts, particularly because Chemistry Education Research
faculty are likely evaluated by chemistry faculty in more established
subdisciplines. This study seeks to provide context by reviewing the
citation counts for a sample of 749 Chemistry Education Research articles
published in chemistry education or science education journals from
2007 through 2013. The number of citations was found to follow a non-normal
distribution and, thus, results are presented using quartiles to describe
the range of citations. The results are delineated by metric of citations
(Web of Science and Google Scholar), year published, and in terms
of established authors.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.