Assessing Challenges of Organic Chemistry Education: Foundations for Faculty Action Research

Esther Francom, Dmitry Kolpashchikov, Erin Saitta

University of Central Florida

Undergraduate organic chemistry courses have a notorious reputation of being difficult. Understanding the factors of how students struggle in these courses can inform chemistry faculty of what can be done to improve student success. Faculty action research is a process that positions faculty members as key components of the research process as they examine the current needs of their courses and take action to address them. When collaborative, it can be a transformative activity where department teams work together to implement change for enhanced instruction. This presentation describes the initial stages of a collaborative faculty action research project in organic chemistry. Data from a faculty metaphor analysis, a student survey, student interviews, and an instrument developed to track student misconceptions will be used to describe the current landscape of organic chemistry instruction at a large public university in the southeastern United States. Findings from this project have offered insight into the perceptions of organic chemistry faculty and students. Looking forward, this study has provided direction for targeted classroom interventions and professional development for organic chemistry faculty.