Frontier Research Empirical Study Proposal: Understanding Academic Performance in Organic Chemistry: An Investigation Examining Underrepresented Groups

每年有数千名学生报名参加“有机化学导论”（O-CHEM）。成功完成O-CHEM是许多研究生和专业STEM课程的先决条件，但失败率非常高。O-CHEM拥有独特的知识表示协议，即使是最初掌握普通化学的学生也经常面临挑战。很少有大规模的研究探讨为什么有些学生在O-CHEM中取得成功，而另一些学生却遇到困难，当考虑到对代表性不足的少数民族学生和妇女的影响时，这些问题特别重要。大量证据表明，这些群体在O-CHEM中的表现明显较差，导致这些群体在STEM职业中的代表性不足。 PI以前的研究集中在学生如何在STEM课程中取得成功，使用概念图等技术来检查“知识组织”。“最近的研究表明，专家和成绩优异的学生都表现出增强的知识基础。没有研究探讨如何知识组织中介在O-CHEM的学业成绩。此外，没有研究探讨了学生所采用的活动，以组织他们的知识适当，虽然更普遍的是，调查专家的表现和学业成功表明，集中，目标导向的活动与上级的表现。PI以前的研究已经成功地确定了这些活动的重要性，使用的技术，如大声思考协议分析，结构化访谈和日记。本研究的目标是联合收割机提供的见解，如概念图，有声思维协议分析，和日记，以检查因素，有助于学术成功和困难，特别是在代表性不足的少数民族学生和妇女。这是一个“前沿研究”的实证研究。“它正在教育，心理学（认知科学）和化学部门之间合作进行。它正在审查同等数量的少数民族和非少数民族学生，以及每个群体中同等数量的男性和女性。小组也由同等数量的高、中、低成绩学生组成。本研究有四个具体目标：1）检查O-CHEM知识结构，以确定主要的概念困难; 2）比较学生-教师O-CHEM知识结构的对应关系，并确定具体的差异; 3）比较O-CHEM解决问题的成功和知识结构;和; 4）比较具体的学习活动和知识结构。它可能会导致随机试验研究的设计，涉及O-CHEM的个性化和小组辅导，并最终，O-CHEM教学大纲和教学方法的重组，以缩小学生的知识和教师的理想之间的潜在差距。

Thousands of students enroll in "Introduction to Organic Chemistry" (O-CHEM) each year. Successful completion of O-CHEM is a prerequisite for many graduate and professional STEM programs, yet the failure rate is notoriously high. O-CHEM has unique knowledge representation protocols that often challenge even students who initially master general chemistry. There are very few large-scale studies examining why some students succeed while others have difficulty in O-CHEM. Such issues are of particular importance when considering the impact on under-represented minority students and women. A large body of evidence indicates that these groups perform significantly worse in O-CHEM, contributing to the under-representation of these groups in STEM careers. Previous studies by the PI focusing on how students succeed in STEM courses used techniques such as concept-mapping to examine "knowledge organization." Recent studies show that both experts and high-achieving students demonstrate enhanced knowledge bases. No study has examined how knowledge organization mediates academic performance in O-CHEM. Furthermore, no study has examined the activities employed by students to organize their knowledge appropriately, although more generally, investigations into both expert performance and academic success have demonstrated that concentrated, goal-directed activities are correlated with superior performance. Previous studies by the PI have successfully identified the importance of such activities using techniques such as think aloud protocol analysis, structured interviews, and diaries. The goal of this study is to combine the insights provided by multiple measurement techniques such as concept-mapping, think-aloud protocol analysis, and diaries in order to examine factors contributing to both academic success and difficulties in O-CHEM, particularly among under-represented minority students and women. This is a "frontier research empirical study." It is being undertaken collaboratively between departments of education, psychology (cognitive science), and chemistry. It is examining equal numbers of minority and non-minority students, and equal numbers of males and females within each group. Groups are also comprised of equal numbers of high-, average-, and low-achieving students. This study has four specific objectives; to 1) Examine O-CHEM knowledge structures to identify major conceptual difficulties; 2) Compare student-instructor O-CHEM knowledge structure correspondence and identify specific discrepancies; 3) Compare O-CHEM problem solving success and knowledge structures, and; 4) Compare specific study activities and knowledge structures. It may lead to the design of randomized trial studies involving individualized and group tutoring in O-CHEM and, ultimately, the restructuring of O-CHEM syllabi and teaching methods in order to close potential gaps between student knowledge and instructor ideals.