Investigating students’ sense of belonging in general chemistry courses with varied instructional styles

Keila Muller^{1, 2}, Adam Demeter¹, Julie Donnelly¹, Tamra Legron-Rodriguez^{1, 3}

1. University of Central Florida, Department of Chemistry
2. University of Central Florida, Department of Psychology
3. National Center for Forensic Science, University of Central Florida

Students’ sense of belonging in STEM courses is often a factor overlooked when considering student success. Research shows sense of belonging to be a predictor of student performance and career goals. This study tracked students' sense of belonging in undergraduate general chemistry courses at a large public university. The courses each used different teaching styles, such as traditional lecture- based learning and active learning approaches. Teaching styles and class attributes were characterized through the use of the classroom observation protocol for undergraduate STEM (COPUS). Sense of belonging of students in the courses were measured using a six-point Likert scale survey given at the beginning of the semester and at the end of the semester. Additionally, the survey also included optional free response questions. Once all free response sections were compiled and analyzed, a codebook was made to establish commonalities among student responses. Responses were analyzed using thematic analysis. The Likert scale data was used to establish frequency of responses. Data from the COPUS and sense of belonging survey was compared to determine if there was a difference in students’ sense of belonging between courses with different teaching styles. Preliminary data has shown sense of belonging to have little change in sentiment throughout the semester, unless success in the class was a factor.