An official website of the United States government
This investigation sought to elucidate the influence of students' academic legacy on their prior knowledge and course outcomes providing crucial insights for educators who teach general chemistry. This six-semester analysis involved 6,914 students enrolled in classes across nine Texas universities. Explored were personal circumstances associated with students' successes and failures that influenced performance in on- and off-sequence, first- and second-semester general chemistry (Chem 1 and Chem 2). Students' academic legacy based on their categorization as first generation (neither grandparent nor parent/guardian with a 4-year bachelor's degree), second generation (at least one grandparent or parent/guardian with a bachelor's degree), or third generation (at least one grandparent and at least one parent/guardian hold a bachelor's degree) was investigated. Of the students in the dataset 33.8% (n = 2,340) self-identified as Hispanic. Results for Hispanic and non-Hispanic students indicated that first-generation students struggled more with Chem 1 and Chem 2 than students in the other two legacy groups. As students' academic legacy extended, they were more apt to succeed in general chemistry. Second- and third-generation students demonstrated stronger prior high-school chemistry backgrounds and were enrolled in more advanced mathematics courses. As expected, students with stronger academic backgrounds in chemistry and mathematics scored higher on the diagnostic MUST (Math-Up Skills Test), had greater self-efficacy relative to their preparation to succeed, and reported fewer paid work hours. First-generation students on the average entered with lower diagnostic MUST scores, felt less prepared to succeed, and disclosed a greater need to be employed.
more »
« less
Personal Characteristics Influencing College Readiness of Hispanic Students in a STEM Gateway Course, First-Semester General Chemistry
This study is an exploratory comparison of 69 Hispanic students enrolled in first-semester general chemistry (Chem I) who attended either a Hispanic-Serving or emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution and were not successful in Chem I. Students’ automaticity skills (what can be done without the aid of a calculator) in arithmetic and quantitative reasoning were analyzed based on students’ personal characteristics such as gender, prior knowledge in chemistry and mathematics, entry college (i.e., STEM or not), and parents’ academic background. Findings indicate that without basic automaticity skills, students enter Chem I at a deficit, but these at-risk students can be identified early in the semester to help them succeed. Results also indicate that arithmetic automaticity is more influential than quantitative reasoning in predicting academic success. A suggested high-impact practice is presented as a possible correction for these deficits.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 1725674
- PAR ID:
- 10352618
- Editor(s):
- Wendy Rubin
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of college science teaching
- Volume:
- 51
- Issue:
- 5
- ISSN:
- 0047-231X
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 31-41
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
McFarland, Jenny (Ed.)Many science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) community college students do not complete their degree, and these students are more likely to be women or in historically excluded racial or ethnic groups. In introductory courses, low grades can trigger this exodus. Implementation of high-impact study strategies could lead to increased academic performance and retention. The examination of study strategies rarely occurs at the community college level, even though community colleges educate approximately half of all STEM students in the United States who earn a bachelor’s degree. To fill this research gap, we studied students in two biology courses at a Hispanic-serving community college. Students were asked their most commonly used study strategies at the start and end of the semester. They were given a presentation on study skills toward the beginning of the semester and asked to self-assess their study strategies for each exam. We observed a significantly higher course grade for students who reported spacing their studying and creating drawings when controlling for demographic factors, and usage of these strategies increased by the end of the semester. We conclude that high-impact study strategies can be taught to students in community college biology courses and result in higher course performance.more » « less
-
Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences or CUREs promote student-centered learning through infusion of research principles within an undergraduate course. This is an ideal pedagogy for use in General Chemistry. CUREs provide access to research experience to a broader audience, which increases engagement and success. A CURE model was implemented in a second semester General Chemistry course at Pasadena City College, a Hispanic serving institution (HSI) community college. Student success rate in the CURE chemistry classroom increased by over 20% and students’ completion rates increased over 5%. In addition, success, and completion rates of Hispanic students in the class showed no achievement gap and an over 10% higher completion rate compared to students that took the non-CURE chemistry course. CUREs also had the added benefit of providing more populous groups of undergraduates with opportunities to get a taste of real-world working scenarios that would normally be reserved for upper-level graduate students. Adopting CUREs as an integral part of an institutions’ learning strategies promotes student engagement that will bridge the gaps in traditional learning, but also facilitate development of the essential soft skills required in the collaborative environment that is commonplace in working professional settings. The potential role and relationship of CUREs implementation regarding the revival and cultivation of polymathy among future students as well as its implications on the future of academic instruction based on connections made from historical and interdisciplinary observations are also explores.more » « less
-
null (Ed.)This work in progress discusses an NSF sponsored project that explores the leadership beliefs, experiences, and knowledge/skills of undergraduate engineering students who have self-identified as having leadership experience at a Research I minority serving institution (MSI) for Asian Americans and Native Americans, as well as a Hispanic Serving Institution. Thirty-two undergraduate engineering students with self-identified leadership experience were recruited from the College of Engineering at the MSI across the various majors. In this paper, the perspective of how students described their self-identities and the emerging categories of negative leadership experiences is presented and discussed. The research illustrates how nuances need to be explored to understand how intersectionality increases the complexity of creating an inclusive logic model that can be incorporated into a theory of change that increases academic and professional success of engineers as future leaders within an organization.more » « less
-
null (Ed.)This project explores the leadership beliefs, experiences, and knowledge/skills of undergraduate engineering students who have self-identified as having leadership experience at a Research I minority serving institution for Asian Americans and Native Americans, as well as a Hispanic Serving Institution. Thirty-two undergraduate engineering students with self-identified leadership experience were recruited from the College of Engineering across the various majors. In this paper, the perspective of how students described their self-identities and the emerging categories of negative leadership experiences that act as external stressors is presented and discussed specifically for the students that identified as belonging to an underrepresented minority group, including those that were multiracial. The research illustrates how nuances need to be explored to understand how intersectionality of critical race theory with feminist theory increases the complexity of creating an inclusive logic model that can be incorporated into a theory of change that increases academic and professional success of engineers as future leaders within an organization.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- The DOI is not currently available.
