Students' view of intelligence (i.e., their mindset beliefs) has been found to be related to their self-efficacy and goal orientations as well as to influence their course outcomes. Comparisons of students' chemistry mindset between different groups found that organic chemistry I students held more of a growth mindset than general chemistry I…

Historically, deaf and hard-of-hearing students (D/HH) who solely rely on an interpreter during organic chemistry lecture courses at the Rochester Institute of Technology consistently performed below the average in the class. A barrier attributed to this D/HH student performance is the lack of standardized methods in sign language to effectively…

This study explores the importance of general chemistry as a prerequisite for organic chemistry lecture courses. The students taking organic chemistry were categorized into three groups: (1) those who had finished the prerequisite before starting organic chemistry, (2) those who had not finished the prerequisite before starting organic chemistry,…

My thesis work is focused on conceptual and epistemic learning and characterizing the environments in which this learning takes place. Earlier studies conducted by the Stowe group explored how instructional practices, instructional emphasis, and assessment emphasis relate to student outcomes in general and organic chemistry courses. Student…

The use of video productions in chemistry courses, though pedagogically beneficial, is not sufficient in and of itself. Students must also be willing to engage with these productions, especially when the videos are meant to be viewed prior to a class. Accordingly, we describe herein the implementation of two simple but effective strategies to…

Lecture capture videos were explored as beyond the classroom course materials in upper-level descriptive inorganic chemistry courses during Fall 2017, Fall 2018, and Fall 2020 semesters. Page views data from the learning management system (LMS) Canvas site served as a proxy for course content usage materials such as lecture capture videos. There…

A teaching team composed of a faculty member (lecture) and a graduate teaching assistant (lab) endeavored to engage students enrolled in several sections of the same organic chemistry course through the use of social media. Students were encouraged to follow both instructors on Twitter and were asked to share aspects of the class using the social…

In this review article, formulae based on innovative mnemonics have been discussed to create interest and remove phobia of students in the field of chemical education. Educators can use these numerous mnemonics in their teaching style in the classroom lectures after discussing conventional methods to make chemistry intriguing. Here, I have tried…

Several active-learning pedagogies involve groups of students working together to construct their own understanding of course content. In these classrooms, the instructor serves as a facilitator of learning, by interacting with every group, engaging students in discussions, answering questions, and providing formative feedback. This type of…

This study compared the effects of Individualised Instructional Strategy (IIS) and Cooperative Learning Instructional Strategy (CLIS) on male and female senior secondary school students' academic achievement in Organic Chemistry. The study was guided by 2 research questions and 3 null hypotheses. The design was quasi-experimental. The population…

Calls to bring interdisciplinary content and examples into introductory science courses have increased, yet strategies that involve course restructuring often suffer from the need for a significant faculty commitment to motivate change. Minimizing the need for dramatic course reorganization, the structure, reactivity, and chemical biology…

Academic Motivation Scale-Chemistry (AMS-Chemistry), an instrument based on the self-determination theory, was used to evaluate students' motivation in two organic chemistry courses, where one course was primarily lecture-based and the other implemented flipped classroom and peer-led team learning (Flip-PLTL) pedagogies. Descriptive statistics…

Science and engineering educators and employers agree that students should graduate from college with expertise in their major subject area as well as the skills and competencies necessary for productive participation in diverse work environments. These competencies include problem-solving, communication, leadership, and collaboration, among…

Organic chemistry is very challenging to many students pursuing science careers. Flipping the classroom presents an opportunity to significantly improve student success by increasing active learning, which research shows is highly beneficial to student learning. However, flipping an entire course may seem too daunting or an instructor may simply…

An upper-division undergraduate polymer chemistry course was developed as a blended/hybrid course. The students met face-to-face once a week for 75 min with all other components being available online. Face-to-face meetings were used for class discussions/problem-based lectures, student presentations, hands-on activities, and examinations. Online…