A Supplemental Course To Improve Performance in Introductory Chemistry Kathleen E. Turner Learning Skills CenterIDepartment of Chemistry, Baker Laboratory, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 Cornell University's Learning Skills Center and Department of Chemistry jointly offer a supplemental course for students enrolled in Chemistry 207-208, a two-semester sequence of general chemistry taken by science majors. The supplemental course presents a unique opportunity to teach effective methods for learning chemistry, to help students learn to think the wav chemists think about their suhiect matter, and to apply these methods immediately to the subject matter of the parent course. Students who participate in the supplemental course improve their chemistry grades and report increased satisfaction with their ability to handle chemical concepts and problems. The Parent Course Chemistry 207-208 is one of the university's largest courses. The twice-weeklv lecture is repeated two or three times depending on the n;mher of students enrolled. Chemistry 207, fall semester, covers stoichiometry through chemical equilibrium; Chemistry 208, spring semester, covers acids and bases through nuclear chemistry. The students, most of whom are freshmen, come with good grades in high school chemistry. Nevertheless, over the years Chemistry 207-208 has earned the reputation of a very tough course. Students, many of whom succeeded in high schoolchemistry by memorizing and applying algorithms, encounter their first conceptual examinations in Chemistry 207-208 where they are asked to apply their chemical knowledge to new situations. The Supplemental Course .. Chemistry 007, Supplement to Chemistry 207, and Chemistry 008, Supplement to Chemistry 208, are part of a series of 00 courses (00 signifies no graduation credit) given by the Learning Skills Center (LSC) for large science and math courses taken primarily by freshmen. Chem 007-008 meetings and staff are housed in the chemistry department. The supplemental course staff attend all parent course lectures and keep up with assigned problems and laboratory work. The Chem 007-008 instructor works closely with the parent course professors and the introductory laboratory teaching staff. Format Chem 007-008 meets weekly in a one-hour, early evening lecture session. Anyone enrolled in the parent course can attend the weeklv lecture sessions of the suoolemental course. ~xtensive-office hours throughout theweek are staffed by the LSC instructor and two undergraduate course assistants. T o provide individual attention during office hours, students registered for the sup~lementalcourse are helped first and ochers as time perm&. The supplemental courses carry 1h of transcript credit. Grades of S N (SatisfactoryRinsatisfactory) are based on attendance and completion of assignments. Selection of Students An announcement of the supplemental course meetings is made in the parent course a t the start of term and again after 954
Journal of Chemical Education
the first examination. LSC (Learning Skills Center) students, the target group for the supplemental courses, are minority stud&& underrepresented in higher education (Black, Hispanic, or American Indian), students determined to be disadvantaged by inadequate academic preparation or unfortunate family circumstances, and students with special academic needs. LSC students are advised hv mailines of all supplemental courses. Students register for the su~olementalcourse with the LSC instructo; after the term bkgins. This prevents automatic registration of all those in the Darent course. Anv LSC student i;eligible to register: non-I.& students can register after ohtainina permission from their collene advising office. any student Registration islimited to 60 students. eager to improve his or her learning of science is accommodated in some way. Such a student usually meets with the LSC instructor who assesses the student's needs and formulates a plan of action.
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Objective and Approach The supplemental course was instituted to help minority students improve their performance in chemistry. Initially the sessions consisted of problem solving and presentation of s u ~ ~ l e m e n tchemical al information. The students were satisfidd with this passive approach. The instructor was not satisfied since students were not able to transfer and a ~ ~ l v their knowledge to novel situations. Practice in using rithms, developed by the instructor, did not result in the students learning of chemical concepts. This result concurs with the report of Nurrenbem and Pickering (I).In addition, the practice of providing supplemental chemical information, not available to all members of the parent course, was questionable since the students would continue in upper division science courses. The current approach was based on extensive interview sessions, conducted to elucidate factors contributing to students' lack of success. Many of the students failing the course had the same quantitative ability, math SAT, and chemistry background as students who were succeeding. The difference was in their approach to learning chemistry-themethods they used to learn, the mentalimages they made, or rather didn't make, and their attitude about the difficulty of science. Other chemical educators have reported similar findings in the following articles: "Study Skills for the Sciences: A Bridge Over Troubled Waters" (2); "Images in Chemistry" (3); and "How Student Conceptions of the Nature of Chemistry and Mathematics Influence Problem Solving" (4). Our goals are to share with students the way we think about chemical svstems and to offer a svstem for learning chemistry that is-applied immediately ti the parent course concepts. The format of the sup~lementalcourse, specifically re&lar meetings during the entire semester; and close connection with the parent course, enhances achievement of these goals. By emphasizing an active student and providing a supportive environment we aim to increase the students' self-confidence in their own ability to handle chemical concepts and problems.
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Texts for the Supplemental Course Pauk, Walter. How to Study in College; Houghtan Mifflin: Bostan, 1989. Turner, Kathleen E. Winning Strategies for Learning Chemistry; Kinko's Copies: Ithaca, NY, 1990. Course Content In order to apply learning strategies t o the concepts of the parent course, the order of topics in the supplemental course depends on the parent course coverage. Following are the usual topics covered with brief comments to show the apnroach taken.' Time Management. Actively managing one's time is discussed in the first supplemental course meeting. The point is made that all scientists, whether students, teachers or researchers, have more projects and ideas than time. Our success depends on how we manage our time, a skill which students must begin t o acquire. We use Lakein's (6) key elements of time management, that is, set priorities, then do first things first, and use the Swiss cheese method-work a t laree nroiects in small bits. Frebaiing for Exams. Students are told to imitate a successful athlete who trains each dav. One never sees an athlete working out all night before a competition. Preparation for the first examination berins with reworkiae of the first parent course lecture notes and the first text c
