Students majoring in STEM take two semesters of general chemistry as prerequisites for higher-level science courses in chemistry, biology, and physics, to name a few examples. The highly rigorous and mathematical nature of general chemistry renders this two-part sequence a challenging “gateway” course, which results in STEM students, mostly in their first year of college, changing their majors to a non-STEM concentration. This alarming early departure of STEM majors results in fewer researchers, doctors, and engineers in the future. Our study has two important goals: a) identifying, early into the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters, general chemistry 1 and 2 students placed at risk in a primarily undergraduate institution (PUIs), and b) determining how an online math review, conducted in the first two weeks of the semester, affected mathematical fluency and classroom performance of the same general chemistry 1 and 2 students. Before and after the online math review, the arithmetic skills of students were measured using the Math Up Skills Test (MUST). The control group was given a general chemistry (1 or 2) review in place of the math intervention. Preliminary data from the Fall 2020 semester indicated that while there is an increase in arithmetic fluency following the math review (as indicated by a positive gain in MUST scores post-treatment), students with a high logic ability (measured by the Test of Logical Thinking (TOLT)) gain the most from the early intervention. We are interested to know if a) this trend is also observed in general chemistry 2 and off-sequence general chemistry 1 classes, both of which were offered in Spring 2022, and b) how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the Fall 2020 semester. Knowledge gained from this continuing study allows for college STEM instructors to rationally design interventions aimed not only at minimizing drop rates in two-semester general chemistry but also develop effective instruments that identify students placed at risk in the first few weeks of a semester.

Student performance in two-semester general chemistry at a primarily undergraduate institution measured as a function of gains in arithmetic fluency

ACS Spring 2022

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