A Drug Synthesis Reaction (DSR) course is required for undergraduates majoring in pharmacy, pharmaceutical engineering, and related majors. It aims to systematically teach students the theoretical knowledge and experimental skills of drug synthesis so that they can better adapt to drug synthesis related work after graduation. Given the…

This study seeks to examine the effectiveness of peer-led team learning (PLTL) pedagogy when it is implemented in an entirely online environment. Past evaluations of PLTL have demonstrated the effectiveness of this approach when used with in-person teaching, but an online environment is expected to pose unique challenges to students, and…

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…

The chemical experiment is designed for undergraduates majoring in chemistry, energy, and environment. The intended purpose is that the students will comprehend the reaction mechanism of photocatalytic reduction of CO[subscript 2] through hands-on experiments and deepen their understanding of sustainable energy technologies. More importantly, the…

Mindset theory describes a context-dependent belief system on the degree that intelligence can change with effort. Students' chemistry mindsets may predict students' behavioral responses to challenges they experience within a chemistry course. This study was designed to investigate whether challenges mediate the relationship between chemistry…

Active learning is known to improve student outcomes in many STEM courses. Here, we present strategies for incorporating active learning into a large enrollment General Chemistry I course using small group activities during class time. This approach was found to mitigate gender disparities in overall course grades and reduced the number of General…

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…

In this study, a new competency assessment system was developed for the blended learning course "Organic Chemistry Laboratory". The system utilized a mastery transcript evaluation model and incorporated the Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy and Primary Trait Analysis (PTA) scale method. With this system, students…

Second-term general chemistry is a key gateway course at our institution for a variety of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) majors. Herein, we examine data on DFW% (i.e., % of D and F grades and withdrawals) in our general chemistry courses over roughly a quarter-century period, focusing on sections taught by the authors.…

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…

As part of COVID-19 preparedness, a student-developed, Android-based app was used as a pre-laboratory learning aid for a molecular modeling laboratory in a first-year general chemistry course. A worksheet activity with trigger codes and questions related to spatial features of transition metal complexes was designed. Using the Transition Metal…

COVID-19 posed new challenges to undergraduate medical biochemistry instructors, providing an opportunity of exploring novel approaches online through methods such as case-based learning curriculum. In this study, an entire curriculum was created for medical biochemistry teaching online using case-based learning including the standards, time for…

Two-stage quizzes and exams were implemented for both in-class quizzes and term tests in three sections of first-year General (Introductory) Chemistry. In the first stage, students completed the exam individually and submitted their papers. In the second stage, students collaborated with peers to complete a subset of the exam questions. The aim of…

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 study reports quantitative evaluation of changes in students' study approaches during the first semester of organic chemistry. Students were surveyed by a modified M-ASSIST (OCH-adjusted M-ASSIST) instrument adjusted to the specific student population. The validity of the data-model fit was assessed by confirmatory factor analysis. Students…