Towson University is a public, primarily undergraduate institution in Maryland that enrolls 22,000 students. In particular, the Department of Chemistry at Towson serves over 400 undergraduates majoring in chemistry or forensic chemistry. One of the primary challenges facing our undergraduate chemistry majors is the timely completion of core degree requirements in order to satisfy prerequisites for upper-division courses and electives. In recent years, our department has addressed this issue by instituting a “chemistry cohort” section for qualified sophomores who have (1) declared chemistry or forensic chemistry as their major and (2) successfully completed the general chemistry sequence.<br/><br/>Students in the cohort are simultaneously enrolled in analytical chemistry and organic chemistry I, two traditionally challenging courses that serve as prerequisites for several upper-division courses. This approach has proven highly effective in helping our students transition into the chemistry major by preparing them for more challenging coursework and by promoting a sense of camaraderie among departmental majors. This presentation will address the successes and challenges that have been observed in the implementation of the chemistry cohort at Towson University. Moreover, we hope that sharing our experiences will prove beneficial for faculty members interested in developing similar programs at their home institutions.

Development of a sophomore-level cohort for chemistry majors to promote concurrent enrollment and success in analytical and organic chemistry

251st National Meeting (2016)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.