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

每年都有数以千计的学生报名参加“有机化学导论”课程。成功完成O-CHEM是许多研究生和专业STEM项目的先决条件，但其失败率是出了名的高。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来研究为什么一些学生在O-CHEM上取得成功，而另一些学生在O-CHEM上有困难。在考虑对代表不足的少数族裔学生和妇女的影响时，这类问题尤为重要。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职业生涯中的代表性不足。PI以前的研究重点是学生如何在STEM课程中取得成功，他们使用了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了更好的知识基础。还没有研究考察知识组织如何影响O-CHEM的学习成绩。此外，还没有研究考察学生用来恰当地组织知识的活动，尽管更广泛地说，对专家表现和学业成功的调查表明，集中的、目标导向的活动与优异的表现相关。PI之前的研究已经成功地利用诸如大声思考协议分析、结构化访谈和日记等技术确定了此类活动的重要性。这项研究的目的是结合概念图、有声思考协议分析和日记等多种测量技术提供的见解，以考察导致O-CHEM学业成功和困难的因素，特别是在代表性不足的少数族裔学生和女性中。这是一项“前沿研究实证研究”。它是由教育系、心理学系(认知科学系)和化学系合作进行的。它正在检查同等数量的少数族裔和非少数族裔学生，以及每组中同等数量的男性和女性。小组也由同等数量的高、中、低成绩的学生组成。本研究有四个具体目标：1)考察O-CHEM知识结构，找出主要的概念困难；2)比较学生与教师O-CHEM知识结构的对应关系，找出具体的差异；3)比较O-CHEM问题解决的成功率和知识结构；4)比较具体的学习活动和知识结构。这可能导致设计随机试验研究，涉及O-CHEM的个性化和小组辅导，并最终重组O-CHEM的教学大纲和教学方法，以缩小学生知识和教师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.