The ability to collaborate with culturally diverse groups is essential, not only to further scientific knowledge but also to solve complex global problems. However, not all students have opportunities to develop intercultural competencies through study abroad programs, due to various issues such as cost, rigid curriculum, and unrelated field of…

In 1996, the Chemistry Department at Norwich University converted its two-semester General Chemistry course from a traditional lecture to a Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) classroom. The change to POGIL teaching in Norwich General Chemistry classes was brought about by a steady decline in student performance, as demonstrated by…

Several concept inventories have been developed to elicit students' alternative conceptions in chemistry. It is suggested that heuristic reasoning may bias students' answers in these types of assessments toward intuitively appealing choices. If this is the case, one could expect students to improve their performance by engaging in more analytical…

A meta-analysis of recent quantitative studies that examine the effects of cooperative learning (CL) on achievement outcomes in chemistry is presented. Findings from 25 chemical education studies involving 3985 participants (N[subscript treatment] = 1,845; N[subscript control] = 2,140) and published since 2001 show positive association between…

In the Community-Based Inquiry (CBI) instructional method, cooperative student groups complete case study activities based on scientific literature and conduct their own laboratory investigations that address authentic community needs. This study compared critical thinking and content knowledge outcomes between traditional Introduction to…

Building on previous success with a digital pipet badge, an evidence-centered design approach was used to develop new digital badges for measuring the volume of liquids with a buret and making a solution in a volumetric flask. These badges were implemented and assessed in two general chemistry courses. To earn the badges, students created videos…

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…

Academic programs generally work to make their laboratory curriculum both as instrumentation rich and up to date as possible. However, little is known about the relationship between the use of instrumentation in the curriculum and student learning. As part of our department's ongoing assessment efforts, a project was designed to probe this…

Motivating students in analytical chemistry can be challenging, in part because of the complexity and breadth of topics involved. Some methods that help encourage students and convey real-world relevancy of the material include incorporating environmental issues, research-based lab experiments, and service learning projects. In this paper, we…

This paper examines the impact of supplemental instruction (SI)--nonremedial workshops that support regularly scheduled courses--on four different chemistry courses: General Chemistry I and II, and Organic Chemistry I and II. Differences in how SI impacts student performance in these courses are discussed, particularly in terms of whether students…

The education of doctoral chemists contributes to the chemical research enterprise and thus to innovation as an engine of the economy. This quantitative analysis describes trends in the production and diversity of chemistry Ph.D. degrees in the top-50 U.S. Ph.D.-granting departments in the past two decades. Time series data for individual…

This study focuses on the effect of using a computer-based competitive learning system called LearnStar, as supplementary instruction in introductory chemistry courses. The outcomes evaluated were of student performance on classroom exams, the cumulative final, overall course grade, overall DFW rate (the percentage of student receiving a D, F, or…