Relative long-term benefits of a PSI and a traditional-style remedial chemistry course

Freeman, Wade A.

doi:10.1021/ed061p617

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Whether successfully completing a remedial course improves performance in subsequent chemistry courses can be judged by two very different methods: Most previous studies (14,15,25,(31)(32)(33) have focused only on method 1, with comparable performance being reported for both groups. Although this is encouraging, absent consideration of method 2, it cannot be known whether the remedial course experience improved subsequent performance or merely delayed the education of a misplaced student.…”

Section: The Role Of Remedial Courses In Addressing Unpreparednessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Determining the preparedness of first-year college chemistry students has been on the minds of university educators for more than 75 years (1). Through the years, a large number of studies have examined correlations between the grade earned in a first-college level chemistry course and chemistry placement examination performance (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17), mathematics SAT or ACT scores (5,7,8,(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24), high school performance (6,7,(17)(18)(19)21), general intelligence and learning ability (6,9,17,(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30), and other criteria such as reading and English skills (19,23,31), or full-time versus part-time student status…”

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confidence: 99%

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A Six-Year Study of the Effects of a Remedial Course in the Chemistry Curriculum

Gellene

Bentley

2005

J. Chem. Educ.

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This paper compares student performance in chemistry over a six-year period involving almost 6000 students at Texas Tech University. For comparison students were categorized into one of three groups: unremediated–underprepared; remediated–underprepared; and prepared. The average final percentage scores of these three groups of students are statistically indistinguishable at the 95% confidence level and only partially distinguishable at the 90% confidence level with the statistically significant differences not exceeding about 1/2 of a typical letter grade, implying that little or no special benefit is gained by the successful completion of the remedial course. This conclusion is made particularly clear by comparing students with similar mathematical skills, suggesting that adjusted comparisons based on students’ mathematics skills can isolate chemistry instruction effects even though it is well established that mathematics skills alone are not a reliable predictor of chemistry course performance. Furthermore, because about 75% of incoming students are deemed in need of remediation by virtue of their performance on a placement examination, and more than 40% of these students who successfully complete the remedial course do not continue in the program, the net result of the placement–remediation program is that fewer students successfully complete the first fundamental chemistry course required for most science, engineering, and pre-medical academic majors and programs.

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Section: The Role Of Remedial Courses In Addressing Unpreparednessmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Six-Year Study of the Effects of a Remedial Course in the Chemistry Curriculum

Gellene

Bentley

2005

J. Chem. Educ.

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“…In the education literature, the term “placement” usually refers to the directing of students into a prerequisite − or corequisite course − that is deemed commensurate to their level of preparedness. Such placements have produced mixed results in the literature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beneath the Surface: An Investigation of General Chemistry Students’ Study Skills to Predict Course Outcomes

2020

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As the conversation in higher education shifts from diversity to inclusion, the attrition rates of students in the STEM fields continue to be a point of discussion. Combined with the demand for expansion in the STEM workforce, various retention reforms have been proposed, implemented, and in some cases integrated into policy following evidence of success. Still, new findings, technological advances, and socio-cultural shifts inevitably necessitate an ongoing investigation as to how students approach learning. Among other factors, students who enter college without effective study skills are at much greater risk of being unsuccessful in their coursework. In order to construct an equitable learning environment, a mechanism must be developed to provide underprepared students with access to resources or interventions designed to refine the skills they need to be successful in the course. Early, reliable assessments can provide predictions of individual student outcomes in order to guide the development and implementation of such targeted interventions. In the present study, a model is developed to predict students' odds of success based on their study approaches, as measured by their responses to twelve survey items from an existing instrument used in the Chemistry Education Research literature designed to measure students' deep and surface learning approaches. The model's prediction specificity ranges from 66.5% to 86.9% by semester. Two distinct sets of lower-performing students are identified in the data: those who align predominantly with surface approaches to learning versus those who indicate using both deep and surface approaches to learning. This supports the idea of a tailored approach to interventions, rather than a one-size-fits-all solution. Results from this instrument were correlated to students' reported study methods and beliefs.

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“…These courses can be costly and often do not confer credit toward degree completion. Unsurprisingly, high attrition rates have been noted for students enrolled in remedial coursework, ,,, as degree completion can become significantly delayed as a result of these preparedness issues.…”

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confidence: 99%

Diversifying Undergraduate Chemistry Course Pathways to Improve Outcomes for At-Risk Students

et al. 2020

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A lack of preparedness for college-level coursework has been shown to negatively impact student success rates in STEM. Remedial instruction has been the most widespread approach to helping at-risk students attain college-level competencies; however, studies have shown that remediation has had null or negative impacts on degree completion for students placed into these courses. This study examines two decades worth of data from one institution to evaluate the efficacy of course pathway diversification as an alternative model to traditional remediation on general chemistry students' firstand second-semester outcomes. In this approach, students with low mathematics placement exam scores take a separate lecture offering of general chemistry I with a corequisite support course (GCI-S) that is offered in parallel with the mainstream course (GCI-M). The course content across these offerings is the same, and successful students in either course are rejoined in a common general chemistry II course (GCII) in the subsequent semester. Our results indicate that first-semester outcomes for at-risk students have improved markedly since the inception of GCI-S relative to non-at-risk students. However, these improvements are not as apparent in GCII. Additionally, while the achievement gap in first-semester general chemistry outcomes between GCI-S and GCI-M students has improved, corresponding achievement gaps in GCII have worsened. We discuss the implications of our findings in ways that might guide the efforts of others in better supporting our most vulnerable students in chemistry.

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Relative long-term benefits of a PSI and a traditional-style remedial chemistry course

Abstract: Results of a large-scale, retrospective study comparing the quality of preparation achieved by students in a traditional remedial course with one having the PSI format.

Cited by 10 publications

References 2 publications

A Six-Year Study of the Effects of a Remedial Course in the Chemistry Curriculum

A Six-Year Study of the Effects of a Remedial Course in the Chemistry Curriculum

Beneath the Surface: An Investigation of General Chemistry Students’ Study Skills to Predict Course Outcomes

Diversifying Undergraduate Chemistry Course Pathways to Improve Outcomes for At-Risk Students

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