Reimagining Organic Chemistry Labs in Education Systems

This project aims to serve the national interest by developing, evaluating, and disseminating an innovative approach to teaching organic chemistry laboratory courses at a Historically Black College that is globally known for the education of women, Spelman College. The new approach will be of broad importance as it is intended to engage students in authentic research activities and connect chemistry learning to students’ lived experiences and culture.

The novel lab activities will feature topics of interest to a broad range of students such as materials, polymers, drug discovery, and computational methods in organic chemistry research. Additionally, the lab activities are intended to center equity and foster a sense of belonging, which will be accomplished by engaging students in career exploration, involving role models from industry, and intentionally prioritizing relevance through connections to students’ lives and future goals.

The project team plans to measure the impact of the modules on students’ sense of belonging in chemistry and aims to widely share project materials and study results. By combining course-based research experiences with an equity-oriented approach to teaching organic chemistry laboratory courses, this project will provide the chemistry education community with a compelling strategy for broadening participation in STEM.

This project aims to develop, implement, and assess an equity-oriented course-based research experience in organic chemistry laboratory courses as a mechanism to increase student engagement and sense of belonging. The specific objectives of the project are to: 1) revise the second-semester organic chemistry laboratory curriculum by introducing four research-based exploratory modules covering topics of drug discovery, polymer-cosmetic science, polymer-material science, and a kinetic/mechanistic oxidation study that are each accompanied by computational and spectroscopy components, 2) evaluate proposed modules by assessing students’ engagement, sense of belonging for women of color in STEM, and perceptions of learning in the laboratory, and 3) assess success of course revisions based on faculty observations during module implementation.

Each module will consist of an innovative curricular approach to organic chemistry labs by including an experimental study followed by a computational activity to aid in analyzing experimental data and integrating real-world challenges. The modules will also be designed to provide opportunities for students to engage in career exploration, connect with role models from industry, and make connections between chemistry and their everyday lives.

The impact of the curriculum will be assessed in multiple ways including published tools that have evidence of validity for measuring constructs such as belonging and self-efficacy. The results of the project will be disseminated broadly via workshops, peer-reviewed publications, and conference presentations at the regional and national levels. By providing an inclusive approach to organic chemistry lab at an all women Historically Black College, this project has the potential to provide a model for how to increase student engagement and foster a sense of belonging in chemistry, and may in turn, be beneficial for other student populations that have been marginalized in STEM.

The NSF IUSE: EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.