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 surveyed using a modified version of the published Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) referred to as the M-ASSIST (Modified Approaches and Study Skills Inventory). Responses to items associated with using deep or surface approaches to studying were examined for students of three achievement levels (A/B, C, and D/F course grades) using both ANOVA and Structured Means Modeling to look for differences in study approaches between achievement levels. Results show that, with only 12 items, the M-ASSIST can be used to measure differences in reported use of deep and surface approaches by students in different achievement groups; that Structured Means Modeling can uncover significant differences that are not apparent with an ANOVA analysis of the same data; and that A/B and D/F students can be classified as reporting using either using primarily deep (A/B students) or primarily surface (D/F) study approaches. C students reported study approaches characteristic of both the A/B and D/F groups, leading to the interpretation that C students may be in an intermediate and possibly transitional state between the higher- and lower-grade groups. These results suggest a new understanding of C students as those who may not fully implement deep approaches to studying but, in general, demonstrate less reliance on surface approaches than lower-achieving students.

13C NMR Substituent chemical shift (SCS) increments have been determined for the carbonyl carbon of a variety of substituted benzaldehydes and acetophenones. The 13C NMR chemical shift of the carbonyl carbon can be predicted for many di- and trisubstituted benzaldehydes and acetophenones through simple additivity of the SCS increments. The magnitude and sign of the SCS increments have been explored using Hartree-Fock 6-31G* calculations to determine the natural atomic charges of the carbonyl carbon. When a substituent capable of intermolecular hydrogen bonding is present, deviations from additivity on the order of 2 ppm are observed in dilution experiments; deviations of up to 6 ppm can result from intramolecular hydrogen bonding.

Interest in undergraduate student research has grown in response to initiatives from various professional societies and educational organizations. Participation in research changes student attitudes towards courses as they realize the utility and relevance of what they are learning. At the U.S. Naval Academy, the chemistry majors' curriculum was redesigned to require fourth-year projects of all the majors. The restructured laboratory curriculum is based on four semesters of integrated laboratory, a sequence organized around broad themes in chemistry such as separation and purification, synthesis, qualitative analysis, quantitative analysis, and so forth rather than traditional subdisciplines within chemistry. The integrated laboratory curriculum has facilitated the inclusion of a research or capstone experience for all the chemistry majors. The two tracks for the fourth-year chemistry majors to participate in projects are described. The development of these options, challenges with implementation, outcomes, and advice to other institutions are discussed. These changes required significant effort in redesigning the curriculum and the acceptance of undergraduate research as a culminating experience worthy of faculty and administrative support. However, the effort was justified as the number of chemistry majors has increased, students seem more satisfied with the major, interactions between students and faculty have increased, and research productivity seems to have been enhanced.

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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 Academy (USNA) are constrained in their study time because of their required course load and competing institutional daily requirements. The purpose of this study was to survey which resources students at USNA choose for studying and to look at the difference in choice in relation to different types of assessments and different student achievement levels in chemistry. Students (n = 1015) were surveyed four times during the Fall 2013 semester after both instructor-written assessments and departmental multiple-choice common exams. In these surveys, students reported the main study resource they used to prepare for each assessment. A subset of students (n = 57) was interviewed soon after completing the third survey to better understand how the students used the resources they reported choosing. The results show a difference in study resources chosen depending on the type of assessment (instructor-written or common exam) and final course achievement level of the student. Application of these results to a broader audience of students who also have multiple time commitments may help chemical educators better format both the availability and content of chemistry study resources to help students of different achievement levels succeed in general chemistry.