The history of education in the United States is a story of constant change and reform. Over the years, policymakers and other stakeholders have proposed a variety of curricular and pedagogical ideas in an effort to remedy deficiencies that undermine the academic performance of students from all backgrounds. Chemistry education reform is no exception. Over the past few decades, the use of online learning platforms to enhance student learning in lieu of traditional paper-and-pencil homework in chemistry has expanded dramatically. <br/><br/>In the wake of the global pandemic, instructors are faced with the dual challenge of adapting to new classroom structures while also doing their part to enhance students' success and by extension, retention rates. Fortunately, there exists a countermeasure that every instructor has access to in their arsenal of teaching tools that can help address these great challenges; the use of adaptive online learning systems to provide students with the practice they need to succeed. Of those currently available, ALEKS stands out as the only mastery-based learning system that focuses on retention over time.<br/><br/>The results of a correlation analysis for a general chemistry course at a community college identified a statistically significant strong positive correlation between final course grade and ALEKS completion percentage. Furthermore, the implementation of ALEKS increased the average time students spent practicing in the online learning system increased from 39 minutes to 4.1 hours per week. This presentation explores the benefits of ALEKS and how its unique personalized approach to practice can be used to promote student learning and success in general chemistry courses at the college level.

Personalized practice makes perfect: Holding students accountable with ALEKS for chemistry

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

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