In our previous work, we piloted a specifications grading system in an organic chemistry laboratory course with 37 students. Our current work describes the scale up of that specifications grading system to a course with over 1,000 students. Strategies used for keeping the system manageable and mitigating the time commitment required to do so are…

General chemistry II is often a challenging course for first-year STEM students, and many students rely on partial credit to achieve success in the course. However, assigning liberal partial credit to students' work can also disincentivize developing proficiency with the material. Here, we present an alternative specifications-based grading scheme…

This paper describes an innovative method to evaluate students' learning after teaching the topic of stereochemistry using molecular models in an organic chemistry course for second-year pharmacy students at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University. This method is practical and relevant and directly measures the intended learning skills. It is…

The goal of this study was to assess student's laboratory technique learning during online laboratories in response to the transition online caused by COVID-19. From Summer 2020 through Fall 2021 our General Chemistry 1 laboratories were completely online using at-home lab kits and 3 h weekly web conference sessions. Starting Spring 2021 select…

The disadvantages of the usual linear least-squares analysis of first- and second-order kinetic data are described, and nonlinear least-squares fitting is recommended as an alternative.

For the last seven years, an interdisciplinary course known as "Greener Solutions", offered by the University of California, Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry, has brought together graduate students in chemistry, environmental health, and engineering to understand each other's disciplines, and to work together to develop safer…

Numerous options exist to assess student performance using standardized, multiple-choice exams at the course and department levels. This paper describes the development and implementation of an alternative department-level assessment for graduating chemistry majors. The assessment detailed here evaluates students' ability to transfer chemical…

This article describes a university chemistry course for nonscience majors that provides a comprehensive understanding of energy by coupling traditional chemical concepts and scientific technologies with appropriate economic, political, and legal mechanisms for monitoring and regulating energy both domestically and internationally. The scientific…

Describes one teacher's implementation of portfolio assessment in high school chemistry classrooms in an effort to hold students accountable for more than mere factual recall and to involve students proactively in the assessment process. Discusses the setting, the portfolio, evaluation, and outcomes. (JRH)

Discusses how a chemistry curriculum can be designed using traditional classroom activities and assessments along with alternative and authentic approaches. Presents a variety of assessment and learning experiences for a first-year course in chemistry. (JRH)

Explains how to use posters as an alternative assessment method in place of traditional written exams in an integrated chemistry, physics, and mathematics course. Investigates the effectiveness of poster exams on student learning. (YDS)

Presents observations of students' self-assessment capabilities. Describes the use of a new interactive question type that looks directly at self-assessment and its relationship to success on content questions. (DDR)

Presents a technique used in a biochemistry course in which students present a poster session at the end of the course. Results indicate that students exhibit enthusiasm for their topic and that this technique can be used as an alternative assessment method. (DDR)

Considers the possible relations among instruction, content, and assessment. Presents a rationale for and examples of demonstration-based testing activities. Highlights student performance and reaction to these assessment methods. Contains 13 references. (JRH)