One obstacle to achieving equity and inclusion in college-level courses is the high financial cost of required course materials. Financially strapped students forgo purchasing required materials, making their path to success more challenging. To provide a more equitable learning environment for all students, I implemented low-cost and no-cost alternatives to several materials required in my Organic Chemistry Lecture and Laboratory at Radford University. One example included the replacement of traditional paper laboratory notebooks with electronic ones based on a no-cost, open-source software platform. This approach has the advantage of creating customizable notebook templates, offering opportunities for students to collaborate with each other, and providing students experience with modern technology. In this presentation, the results of introducing alternative course materials and its impact on inclusive goals will be disclosed. This work was completed due to a Howard Hughes Medical Institute funded program focusing on inclusive excellence at Radford University.

Classroom and laboratory resources to promote inclusive excellence in organic chemistry

ACS Spring 2022

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