Traditional assessments in general chemistry are usually designed to measure individual topics. Science educators have developed a variety of assessment techniques to help students connect discrete scientific topics and form coherent conceptual frameworks. In this study, concept maps and creative exercises were administered simultaneously as a new classroom intervention in a large-enrollment general chemistry course. It was hypothesized that combining these two previously reported concept-connecting strategies would yield synergistic effects and improve student conceptual learning relative to either individual activity. We employed a quasi-experimental, mixed-methods approach to explore whether combining the two assessments would improve students’ conceptual understanding and scientific explanations of chemical equilibrium and acid-base chemistry. The four study groups (control group, concept maps only, creative exercises only, and both concept maps and creative exercises) were compared through concept inventory pre and post-test questions. The results of an ANCOVA indicated that participation in the experimental groups did not significantly impact conceptual learning gains, as measured by the concept inventory post-test scores. However, focus group interviews indicated students from the experimental group that used both concept maps and creative exercises were able to provide more sophisticated scientific explanations for conceptual questions related to the topics of chemical equilibrium and acid-base chemistry. Student perspectives of the two assessments were examined and compared through an open-ended survey. Implications of these research results, best practices for implementation of the two assessments, and future research are discussed.

Coupling two assessments in general chemistry:  Mixed-methods research design and application

ACS Fall 2021

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