Chemistry education literature reports the relationship between math skills to success in chemistry. Students with low math aptitude scores will encounter great difficulty with many chemistry topics. All students that enroll at UNC in a math or statistics course are required to take the ALEKS MATH assessment. Chemistry students are required to take math, and as a result they are all taking the ALEKS MATH assessment prior to the chemistry course. Chemistry students’ scores (N=1263) achieved on this test were correlated with the final grades in CHEM 111 (General Chemistry course). Based on this analysis, placement guidelines were formulated and recommended to all the students who enrolled in the general chemistry course starting with the F-20 semester. The statistical analysis and implication for the course will be presented.

Development of a placement test to increase equity in introductory chemistry courses

ACS Spring 2022

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