Research has shown that the use of various teaching strategies can improve student learning. An introductory chemistry course at Pasadena City College has been revised to incorporate more active learning and core components of the Chemical Thinking curriculum developed by John Pollard and Vicente Talanquer from the University of Arizona. The class material is organized by essential questions in the discipline rather than individual topics in chemistry and is presented through class activities, simulations, and worksheets with groups of three-to-five students working together to solve problems, interpret graphs and data, and answer questions as a group. New laboratory coursework are organized into experimental projects that place emphasis on experimental design, exploration, discovery, and data analysis. The projects have been designed to inspire enthusiasm for scientific research as the objectives have broad implications to society in terms of the environment, consumer products, and emerging technologies. Results from these efforts and the findings on assessments of student learning will be presented.

Challenges and successes with implementing a revised authentic curriculum in an introductory chemistry course at a community college

2019 Spring National Meeting

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