Reducing Chemistry Casualties: Supporting Women Enrolled in General Chemistry I not During their First Term of College with Active Learning

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 overal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of chemical education 2022-09, Vol.99 (9), p.3089-3095
Main Authors: Bastyr, Charlie, Johnson, Charlee, Lakhan, Romesh, Wainman, Jacob W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Active learning
Casualties
Chemistry
College students
Colleges & universities
Educational activities
Elementary school students
Learning
STEM education
Students
Technical education
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Summary: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 Chemistry I students earning a D or F grade or withdrawing from the course (chemistry casualties) by 7%. Uniquely, this study examined which groups of students benefited from active learning based on how long they had been enrolled at the institution. Our results indicate that both male- and female-identifying students performed better in the active learning course, with experienced (i.e., non first-year) female-identifying students experiencing the greatest benefit in the new format. These results add to the existing literature in support of active learning implementation in introductory STEM courses, like General Chemistry I.
ISSN:0021-9584
1938-1328
DOI:10.1021/acs.jchemed.1c01279