A national survey on chemistry instructional laboratories was administered to faculty members at four-year postsecondary institutions in the United States for the purpose of exploring levels of inquiry-based instruction implemented in laboratory courses. Respondents were asked to rate the level of choice their students had in deciding six key…

General chemistry is often the first course taken by students interested in careers in STEM and health fields, and therefore, is considered an essential course for the success and retention of students in these fields. Prior studies have shown study habits and skills to be related to student performance in college-level courses, including STEM…

Mixed results have been reported on the correlation between clickers and performance. This study investigates the usage of clickers in a voluntary context to answer in-class questions in a General Chemistry class. Scores on an internal chemistry placement exam were used to estimate cognitive ability, as a factor that students can no longer…

This study examines how pre-service science teachers integrate technology into the design of learning activities, paying particular attention to types of technology integration, cognitive demand, scientific research skills, and TPACK. A mixed methods approach was used to analyze 49 learning activities designed by pre-service physics, chemistry,…

The pharmaceutical industry relies heavily on analytical techniques for identifying and characterizing drug compounds. In this experiment, undergraduate pharmacy students explored the applications of near-infrared spectroscopy for pharmaceutical analysis and its potential for identifying patterns and relationships among pharmaceutical samples. In…

Introductory courses are often designed to cover a range of topics with the intent to offer students exposure to the given discipline as preparation to further their study in the same or related disciplines. Unfortunately, students in these courses are often presented with an overwhelming amount of information that may not support their formation…

This study aims to investigate the relationship between written and oral reasoning in an undergraduate chemistry laboratory course as part of an argument-based inquiry approach, which is also a generative learning environment, known as the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH). The study employed the data-transformation variant of convergent design of…

Student evaluations of teaching (SETs) are commonly used in performance evaluations of university faculty. However, evidence regarding the association of SETs to student learning has been inconsistent. One way to assess the connection between SETs and actual learning is to compare SETs in the first course in a sequence to student performance in…

Background: Learning assistants (LAs) in undergraduate STEM lectures facilitate discussions between students in small groups. In this research study, we investigate the impact of LA facilitation on student learning as it occurs during LA-student interactions. To do so, our work builds on two sociocultural frameworks focused on LA facilitation and…

Organic chemistry presents a significant obstacle for students seeking entry into health-related professions. Students' ability to develop effective study approaches is an important predictor of success in the course. Herein, we report an investigation utilizing an OCH-adjusted M-ASSIST instrument to assess possible changes in students' study…

Reaction mechanisms are a core component of organic chemistry. Being able to handle these mechanisms is a central skill for students in this discipline. Diagnosing and fostering mechanistic reasoning is hence an important branch of chemistry education research. When it comes to reasoning about mechanisms, students often experience difficulties…

The relationship between chemical structure and physical and chemical properties is essential to chemistry. Studies have shown that students have difficulty using structural representations to predict properties, which is not surprising because of the sequence of inferences that are required for sense-making. However, obtaining a nuanced model of…

In an effort to investigate the factors that lead to success in general chemistry, the Math-Up Skills Test (MUST) and common questions were used along with a student characteristic questionnaire. The MUST is a 20-item instrument to measure mathematics fluency, which is done without a calculator with a 15-min time limit. It has been shown as a…

Throughout the years, scientific research has increasingly aimed to identify students' misconceptions and alternative views regarding fundamental concepts and principles of chemistry. Valuable international bibliographic information was created, including details on teaching density and gaining respondent acceptance. The study aimed to explore…

Faculty members in STEM report numerous motivators and barriers to adopting evidence-based instructional practices (EBIPs), yet the degree to which these factors are associated with EBIP adoption in postsecondary chemistry courses is unclear. The role of departmental climate around teaching in driving or hindering EBIP adoption is particularly…