Promoting Nursing Students’ Chemistry Success in a Collegiate Active Learning Environment: “If I Have Hope, I Will Try Harder”

Abstract

The challenge in chemistry courses for nonscience majors (such as nursing majors) is not that the students cannot learn chemistry but that they think they cannot learn chemistry. With this in mind, the authors’ goal was to create a learning environment in which students would feel motivated to learn and would gain confidence in their ability to learn chemistry. In the one-semester chemistry courses for nursing majors described here, health-related scenarios (such as IV therapy, diabetes, blood chemistry, and brachytherapy) provide context, and POGIL activities provide process and content in a cooperative learning environment. In addition, strategic organization and alignment of learning outcomes helps students to focus on the concepts, principles, and theories that they are expected to learn in a meaningful way. Also essential for the success of this course is a caring yet rigorous instructor who effectively communicates that learning chemistry is difficult but doable. This combination of health-related scenarios, POGIL activities, clear learning outcomes, and a supportive instructor gives students hope that they will succeed in their introductory chemistry course and increases their self-concept in chemistry. Chemistry Self-Concept Inventory data collected during 10 semesters at two different universities show a significant positive increase in our students’ chemistry self-concept. Furthermore, Student Assessment of their Learning Gains data collected during the same time period show that students find this learning environment conducive to learning.

Using Familiar and New Assessment Tools in Physical Chemistry Courses During COVID-19

“…Group work may not be as easy or robust in large classes unless the instructor takes purposeful steps to initiate and sustain them . Articles published in this Journal show that, regardless of class size, many educators have recognized the value of group work and are using creative ways to implement them. − …”

Analyzing Characteristics of Experts in the Context of Stoichiometric Problem-Solving

“…In chemistry education, significant research has focused upon developing methodologies for effectively teaching problem-solving [2][3][4][5][6]. Similar to prior reports by Bodner [7] and Pastell [8], which outlined frustrations students experience with problem-solving, current articles are outlining similar difficulties despite attempts for scaffolding or unpacking problems for students [9,10], incorporating of active learning [11][12][13], online assignments [14], and several other teaching strategies [15][16][17][18][19]. Student difficulties with problem-solving are persisting with students having difficulty with problem-solving due to the use of ineffective strategies and lack of confidence in their problem-solving abilities [14,20].…”

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“…The final sample included n = 87 articles published between 1999 and 2019. − For clarity, the sample in this work overlaps with the papers discussed in the reviews by Walker and Warfa ( n = 21) and Lo and Mendez ( n = 43); however, it should be noted that Walker and Warfa included dissertations and theses as part of their sample and Lo and Mendez included conference papers as part of their sample. Nevertheless, in both cases the goal of the reviews , was to provide an overview of the efficacy of POGIL as measured by assessments and surveys, with Walker and Warfa having a smaller sample due to the stringent requirements associated with meta-analyses, which require authors to provide sufficient statistical information.…”

“…The primary aim of this paper is to review the extant research on the active learning approach known as Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL), − which was first discussed in the Journal of Chemical Education over 20 years ago . Given that the implementation of POGIL involves modifying the presentation of content rather than the structure of the curriculum, it is best described as a content-neutral pedagogy. , Researchers and practitioners have applied POGIL to a broad range of contexts, including anatomy and physiology, ,,,, aviation, bioscience, …”