In an effort to improve the success rate of students in our first semester General Chemistry course a large amount of student data was collected over a period of 6 years, encompassing almost 600 students, to try to identify metrics that could be used as good predictors of success in the course. Of the available student data, a student's score on the Math portion of the ACT exam was found to be the most effective predictor of success. In fact, the ACT Math score was found to be a significantly better predictor of success than a student's score on the California Diagnostic Exam - an exam specifically designed to measure readiness for college chemistry courses. This finding highlights the importance of a student's level of preparation in mathematics in preparing them for college-level chemistry coursework. While this finding will be discussed, it may not be the whole story. Observations and insights gathered after working very closely with a group of students who were considered at-risk according to their ACT Math scores will also be presented.

Trying to predict success in general chemistry: Lessons learned from a systematic study of our admissions data

255th National Meeting (2018)

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