The University of California at Merced is the newest, and most diverse,campus in the UC system. A large percentage of our student body is comprised of students who are the first in their families to attend college, are low income, and are racial/ethnic minorities. As part of a larger campus effort to increase student success and retention, particularly in STEM disciplines, The Chemistry Center was established to provide support for the large introductory chemistry courses that are often seen as “gate-keeper” courses. The Chemistry Center is a drop-in tutoring center staffed by trained graduate and undergraduate tutors to provide support from Introductory Chemistry through Organic Chemistry. The cooperative environment of The Chemistry Center provides the near-peer tutoring that has been shown to increase the academic success of both the tutor and the tutee, and takes advantage of the collaborative learning style of our students. Attendance during both regular hours and at special center sponsored workshops has been tracked, and this collected data has been used to inform decisions regarding the offering of additional workshops as well as extended night-time, weekend, and summer semester hours. A majority of undergraduate attendees return to the center on a regular basis, and believe the center to be a pivotal factor in the success of their chemistry courses.

Near-peer tutoring: Chemistry center designed to increase success of a diverse student body in STEM

2019 Fall National Meeting

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