Many college freshman begin college as pre-health or pre-engineering majors. These students, particularly those of high academic standing, often have very little exposure to any other career path involving the sciences. At our large public instituion we found that when students begin honors freshman chemistry, they have a very narrow view of chemistry as a discipline and career choice. Through a more thorough introduction into the five pillar divivsions of chemistry (physical, organic, inorganic, analytical, and biochemistry) using discipline focused, inquiry-based labs, we observed that students had higher investment in lab, higher morale, and an increased interest in chemistry or biochemistry as a major. Pre- and post-lab surveys of honors general chemistry students at a large SEC university were used to assess interest and perceptions of chemistry.<br/>

Changing freshman perception of chemistry through laboratories highlighting the traditional divisions

2019 Spring National Meeting

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