Building Capacity: Improving the Undergraduate Chemistry Experience by Green Chemistry, Active-learning, and Peer-led Experiences

University Of California - Merced, Merced CA

Investigators

Abstract

The Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program (HSI Program) aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI program will also generate new knowledge about how to achieve these aims. This project at the University of California, Merced, will advance the aims of the HSI Program by increasing undergraduate student interest and success in chemistry. The project will redesign laboratory courses to use student-guided inquiry and green chemistry, develop a peer-learning environment that builds a sense of community, and develop short videos to complement lower-division chemistry courses. These videos will feature diverse STEM professionals who will connect chemistry concepts learned in the course to how they use these concepts in their current STEM career. Because many students take chemistry courses, this project can contribute to ensuring that a diverse population of students pursue STEM careers. The project aims to increase student interest, success, and connection to faculty and peers. The project will redesign laboratory courses to enhance student understanding of chemistry content, knowledge of chemistry research, and connection to peers and the broader campus community. The labs will emphasize the environmental implications of chemistry research. Videos that accompany the redesigned labs are expected to increase student knowledge of career paths in chemistry, motivation for chemistry, and student learning and persistence. The videos will be available in English and in the speaker's native language, to foster the development of student STEM identity, in particular for diverse students. Analytics tools available in the learning management system will be used to measure the use of the videos by students. Finally, peer-led team-learning is expected to improve students' conceptual understanding, grades, attitudes, and retention. Student learning outcomes will be assessed by student grades, pre-post surveys, retention in the major, graduation rates, and by observation of classroom and lab interactions. The duration and frequency of student use of the peer-led opportunities will also be tracked and correlated with surveys of student attitudes. The project videos will be freely available to the broader community, with the goal of disseminating these tools to enhance learning of undergraduate chemistry. This project seeks to advance understanding of how to support diverse students' success in chemistry and to connect students with STEM careers. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.