Assessment of student learning within a degree program is an important but challenging endeavor. One goal of a programmatic assessment is to systematically collect evidence for chemistry majors' knowledge and understanding and to use the results to improve curriculum and instruction. Recently, the chemistry department at the United States Naval…

In-person interactions between faculty and students personalize the learning experience and are the hallmark of primarily undergraduate institutions. These invaluable student--faculty interactions were disrupted during the 2019 SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic and led to a rapid, unprecedented shift to distance-learning. Within the space of virtual…

Success in chemistry in the 21st century requires not only a mastery of important chemical concepts, but also the skills to apply this knowledge to important societal issues and the ability to effectively convey scientific information using a range of media. In response to this challenge we have developed an innovative four-credit seminar that…

This article examines the ways that a shared faculty experience across five partner institutions led to a deep awareness of the curriculum and pedagogy of general chemistry coursework, and ultimately, to a collaborative action plan for student success. The team identified key differences and similarities in course content and instructional…

Students with an insufficient amount of time to study are becoming more prevalent in the general college population as many who enroll in college have competing responsibilities (full-time jobs, childcare, etc.). Such students are likely to choose study resources that they consider to be both effective and efficient. Students at the U.S. Naval…

This study examined similarities and differences in study approaches reported by general chemistry students performing at different achievement levels. The study population consisted of freshmen enrolled in a required year-long general chemistry course at the U.S. Naval Academy. Students in the first and second semesters of the course were…

Chemistry majors at Goucher College are now required to take a 1-credit course in their sophomore year entitled Chemical Information Literacy. Students in the course learn the structure and organization of the chemical literature, and how to carry out searches of various databases for topic, author, chemical compound, or structure. They learn…

The blended model for information literacy instruction described in this article introduces students not only to efficient techniques for finding scientific literature and properties of chemical compounds, but also to managing this information with a bibliographic management program (EndNote Online). The model blends face-to-face instruction with…

A laboratory experiment is described that introduces second-year undergraduate organic chemistry students to organic electronic materials. The discovery of metallic conductivity in the charge transfer salt tetrathiafulvalene tetracyanoquinodimethane (TTF-TCNQ) is a landmark result in the history of organic electronics. The charge transfer…

Multiple-choice exams, while widely used, are necessarily imprecise due to the contribution of the final student score due to guessing. This past year at the United States Naval Academy the construction and grading scheme for the department-wide general chemistry multiple-choice exams were revised with the goal of decreasing the contribution of…

For many years, the U.S. has underutilized its human resources, as evidenced by the pervasive underrepresentation of several racial and ethnic groups within academia in general and the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, in particular. To address this underutilization, academic departments within U.S. universities…

An elective course, "Toward the Greening of Our Minds": Green and Sustainable Chemistry, has been offered at Washington College since 2005. This new course without laboratory is designed for chemistry and biology majors and minors who have previously taken two semesters of general chemistry and organic chemistry. Due to the popularity of…

The 2011 National Federation of the Blind Youth Slam event at Towson University enabled a large group of blind youth to participate in a five day long science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) academy. Enrichment experiences such as this one may generate interest in STEM subjects for students with visual impairments. For decades,…