Background: Process skills such as critical thinking and information processing are commonly stated outcomes for STEM undergraduate degree programs, but instructors often do not explicitly assess these skills in their courses. Students are more likely to develop these crucial skills if there is constructive alignment between an instructor's intended learning outcomes, the tasks that the instructor and students perform, and the assessment tools that the instructor uses. Rubrics for each process skill can enhance this alignment by creating a shared understanding of process skills between instructors and students. Rubrics can also enable instructors to reflect on their teaching practices with regard to developing their students' process skills and facilitating feedback to students to identify areas for improvement. Results: Here, we provide rubrics that can be used to assess critical thinking and information processing in STEM undergraduate classrooms and to provide students with formative feedback. As part of the Enhancing Learning by Improving Process Skills in STEM (ELIPSS) Project, rubrics were developed to assess these two skills in STEM undergraduate students' written work. The rubrics were implemented in multiple STEM disciplines, class sizes, course levels, and institution types to ensure they were practical for everyday classroom use. Instructors reported via surveys that the rubrics supported assessment of students' written work in multiple STEM learning environments. Graduate teaching assistants also indicated that they could effectively use the rubrics to assess student work and that the rubrics clarified the instructor's expectations for how they should assess students. Students reported that they understood the content of the rubrics and could use the feedback provided by the rubric to change their future performance. Conclusion:The ELIPSS rubrics allowed instructors to explicitly assess the critical thinking and information processing skills that they wanted their students to develop in their courses. The instructors were able to clarify their expectations for both their teaching assistants and students and provide consistent feedback to students about their performance. Supporting the adoption of active-learning pedagogies should also include changes to assessment strategies to measure the skills that are developed as students engage in more meaningful learning experiences. Tools such as the ELIPSS rubrics provide a resource for instructors to better align assessments with intended learning outcomes.

Laboratory coursework is widely considered to be an integral part of chemistry undergraduate degree programs, although its impact on students’ chemistry knowledge is largely unsubstantiated. Laboratory experiences provide opportunities to learn skills beyond chemistry content knowledge, such as how to use scientific instrumentation appropriately, how to gather and analyze data, and how to work in a team. The acquisition of process skills, including critical thinking, problem solving, and communication, is an integral part of becoming a scientist and participating in the scientific community. As apprentice scientists, chemistry students interact with each other in a context-rich environment where the need for process skills can arise organically. This study seeks to understand the role of laboratory courses in developing process skills. Students in a first-year chemistry laboratory course used rubrics to assess their own process skills. During the course, the students also received feedback via rubrics from a teaching assistant trained in rubric use. Additionally, students reported their understanding of process skills and their perceived improvements over the course of the semester. Our results suggest that students understand group dynamics process skills such as teamwork and communication better than they understand cognitive process skills such as critical thinking and information processing. While the evidence further suggests that students improved their process skills, and students reported that they improved their process skills, they showed inconsistent abilities to self-assess and provide justification for their assessment using rubrics.

Four new nickel thiophosphate anions have been isolated as 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium (EMIM) salts: [EMIM](2)[Ni(P(2)S(8))(2)] (1), [EMIM](3)[Ni(P(3)S(9))(P(2)S(8))] (2), [EMIM](4)[Ni(P(3)S(9))(2)] (3), and [EMIM](7)[(NiP(3)S(8))(4)(PS(4))] (4). Single crystals of each were prepared by ionothermal reaction of the elements in [EMIM][BF(4)]. 1 can also be obtained from [EMIM][CF(3)SO(3)]. In all four anions, Ni atoms are octahedrally coordinated and P atoms are tetrahedrally coordinated. In the anion found in 1, two tridentate 1,3-P(2)S(8)(2-) ligands are cis to each other. The anion in 2 contains two different tridentate thiophosphate ligands, 1,3-P(2)S(8)(2-) and P(3)S(9)(3-), whereas the anion in 3 consists of two P(3)S(9)(3-) ligands coordinated to the central Ni atom. The anion in 4 is complex, consisting of four NiP(3)S(8)(-) clusters surrounding a central PS(4) tetrahedron; within the NiP(3)S(8)(-) groups, one P atom is directly bound to Ni. The discovery of these four new compounds demonstrates the versatility of ionothermal methods for the synthesis of novel thiophosphates.

Dr. Cole earned a B.A. in chemistry from Hendrix College, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in physical chemistry from the University of Oklahoma. Her research focuses on issues related to how students learn chemistry and how that guides the design of instructional materials and teaching strategies as well on efforts related to faculty development and the connection between chemistry education research and the practice of teaching.