The withdrawal of students from Principles of Chemistry courses is a major problem for STEM retention and graduation rates, which are topics of national interest. In order to implement effective intervention methods to reduce withdrawal rates, we must understand the underlying reasons why students withdraw. This paper presents a multimethod study on student withdrawals from Principles of Chemistry from summer 2015 to fall 2018 semester. Eleven students who withdrew were interviewed, and thematic analysis and cluster analysis were used to interpret interview data to understand their reasons for withdrawing. Practical reasons included course structure, student–faculty relationship, student personal factors, chemistry content, and study strategies and academic support. Four themes identified from thematic analysis (hopeless, uncomfortable, demotivated, and overwhelmed) provided deeper insight into the affective emotional factors that contributed to the withdrawals. Cluster analysis revealed natural groupings of student responses and motivations, suggesting that targeted interventions can be developed for different groups. To ensure that our results are comparable to previous studies on course withdrawals, students who withdrew were analyzed according to demographic data. Results revealed that some groups had higher withdrawal rates compared to students who passed the course, which may reflect different levels of academic preparedness and thus an advantage/disadvantage. The analyses presented here will be of value when considering intervention approaches to reduce withdrawals from challenging courses.

Objective: The present study examined whether psychoeducational tools are beneficial in improving awareness and reducing stigma regarding mental health. This study aims to increase mental health awareness and reduce the stigma associated with mental illness. Methods: The study is quantitative research. In this study, 147 students registered in the Abnormal Psychology course, which focuses on mental illness, were recruited. Students signed informed consent and participated in the study voluntarily. Students completed the demographic questions, Beliefs Toward Mental Illness Scale (BTMI), and Stig-9 questionnaire (stig-9). Results: Our findings revealed a significant difference in beliefs and awareness about mental health and a decrease in stigma after students completed the Abnormal Psychology course. The statistical analysis revealed that students believe mental health is more curable and less embarrassing after taking mental health education. Finally, our findings demonstrated a direct impact of the educational experience on student attitudes toward mental health. Conclusion: Our finding indicates that mental health education is a promising tool to raise awareness and understanding and reduce the stigma regarding mental health. Providing students with mental health education and training enabled students to learn and understand issues with mental illness. This study demonstrated a direct impact on the educational experience on student attitudes toward mental health.

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In a historic decision on June 26, 2015, the United States (U.S.) Supreme Court affirmed the rights of sexual minorities to marry; however, rights and protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQQ) youth still lag behind (Singh, 2010). In a large biannual survey exploring the experiences of LGBTQQ students in schools found that over half of the sample reported not feeling safe in their schools based on their sexual orientation and nearly 40% of respondents reported feeling unsafe due to their gender expression. Also concerning was that over 55% of the sample shared they experienced school policies or practices that were LGBTQQ-discriminatory, yet over 60% of respondents shared when they reported LGBTQQ harassment or assault there was no response from school personnel. There are often few schools that enumerate sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression as protected categories in bullying and harassment policies. In addition, LGBTQQ students and their allies frequently experience difficulty in establishing LGBTQQ-affirming clubs in schools such as Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs), despite the research that suggests the presence of GSAs may improve school climate for the entire student body (Davis, Royne Stafford, & Pullig, 2014). Recognizing the many challenges that LGBTQQ students face in schools, the Institute of Medicine (2011) issued a call to researchers and practitioners to further develop the literature base on the experiences of risk and resilience for LGBTQQ students in school settings, as well as generating further research on how to develop safer school settings for these students.