Creating an Interdisciplinary Introductory Chemistry Course <i>without</i> Time-Intensive Curriculum Changes

Taylor, Elizabeth Vogel; Mitchell, Rudolph; Drennan, Catherine L.

doi:10.1021/cb9002927

Cited by 12 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 5 publications

(9 reference statements)

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“…Both students' interest and perceived relevance can be increased by changing teaching. For example, a set of semester-long "connections" between basic chemistry content and various health topics increases students' perceptions of the relevance of introductory chemistry content, with positive effects on interest (Vogel Taylor, Mitchell, & Drennan, 2009). A different relevance-enhancing technique (Hulleman & Harackiewicz, 2009) asks students to write brief reflection papers on the relevance of an introductory biology course to their careers, with positive effects on students' interest in biology.…”

Section: Supporting Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Undergraduate STEM Achievement and Retention

Cromley

Perez

Kaplan

2015

Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences

111

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Student cognition and motivation, as well as institutional policies, determine student course grades and retention in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors. Regarding cognition, study skills relate to course grades, and grades relate to retention in STEM. Several aspects of motivation are related to both grades and retention in STEM: self-efficacy (self-confidence for completing assignments), continuing interest in learning more about the subject, and effort control (remaining focused on classes and studying). Students’ cognition and motivation are interdependent, and, furthermore, they play out in the context of multiple institutional policies, such as academic support centers, career counseling, financial aid policies, forced curving of course grades, course timing, and course registration policies. All of these interdependent factors can improve with targeted programs that complement each other. Some challenges for reform include instructor resistance to changing teaching and a lack of coordination, or even competing emphases, among university policies and resources, such as course scheduling, academic support, advising, career counseling, and financial aid.

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Section: Supporting Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Undergraduate STEM Achievement and Retention

Cromley

Perez

Kaplan

2015

Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences

111

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Taken in total, these results argue that ES course instructors can elevate student performance by employing teaching practices targeted at increasing student interest. These practices could include linking the relevancy of course material to students’ personal lives (Hulleman et al 2010; Hulleman and Harackiewicz 2009), connecting course content to student interests (Taylor, Mitchell, and Drennan 2009), and transforming course structure from content-centered to learner-centered (Russell et al 2016). As an example, Russell et al (2016) successfully used active learning approaches to increase student interest in an introductory college ES course such that students earned final grades that were 0.75 letter grades higher than students in the traditional lecture-based course.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of childhood setting and interaction with nature on academic performance in introductory college-level courses in the environmental sciences

Spero

Balster

Bajcz

2018

Environmental Education Research

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This study explored the relationships between student background and academic performance in college introductory environmental science (ES) courses at a large U.S. research university with the premise that this analysis may inform teaching practices, curricula, and efforts to increase retention. We surveyed over 700 students across eleven introductory ES courses and used multiple linear mixed-effects regressions to model the data. We found that students who grew up in rural settings or who had frequent childhood interactions with natural environments earned higher grades, on average, than students from urban settings or with fewer childhood interactions with natural environments. Our results indicate that students reporting frequent childhood interactions with forests, for example, were projected to earn grades up to 1.5 letter grades higher in these courses than students with no such interactions. In addition, students with frequent childhood interactions with nature were likelier to report that such interactions helped them in their ES course, suggesting that these students may recognize the value of these experiences. Greater interest in the subject matter also correlated with higher ES course grades, whereas amount of prior ES coursework did not. We discuss the possible implications of these correlations for ES academic performance and educational practice.

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“…[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Accordingly, the number of STEM courses and laboratory experiments designed to integrate multiple disciplines is increasing. [15][16][17][18][19][20][21] For example, the fields of biochemistry and molecular biophysics are inherently interdisciplinary in nature, and their principles encompass many concepts from biology, chemistry, and physics. 22 In this paper, we present an upper level interdisciplinary undergraduate biochemistry and molecular biophysics experiment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural determination of model phospholipid membranes by Raman spectroscopy: Laboratory experiment

Giancaspro

Scollan

Rosario

et al. 2022

Biochem Molecular Bio Educ

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In an upper-division interdisciplinary laboratory experiment, students use Raman spectroscopy to highlight how the overall structure and conformational order of lipid bilayers can be influenced by their individual phospholipid composition. Students prepare a supported lipid bilayer, as a model cell membrane, by spreading liposomes made of various phospholipids on a solid support. The characterization of phospholipid bilayers, a major component of cellular membranes, can advance our fundamental understanding of important biological phenomena, with significant implications in various fields including drug delivery and development. We use Raman spectroscopy as an analytical tool to investigate the structural and packing properties of model cell membranes.The spectral frequency, intensity, and line-width of lipid Raman bands are extremely sensitive to structural alterations. This experimental module effectively exposes students to the fundamentals of Raman spectroscopy and teaches students the importance of interdisciplinary education as they integrate concepts from chemical structure, molecular interactions, and analytical spectroscopic techniques to gain a more holistic understanding of biological membrane properties.

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Creating an Interdisciplinary Introductory Chemistry Course without Time-Intensive Curriculum Changes

Cited by 12 publications

References 5 publications

Undergraduate STEM Achievement and Retention

Undergraduate STEM Achievement and Retention

Effects of childhood setting and interaction with nature on academic performance in introductory college-level courses in the environmental sciences

Structural determination of model phospholipid membranes by Raman spectroscopy: Laboratory experiment

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