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Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career barriers persist for individuals from marginalized communities due to financial and educational inequality, unconscious bias, and other disadvantaging factors. To evaluate differences in plans and interests between historically underrepresented (UR) and well-represented (WR) groups, we surveyed more than 3000 undergraduates enrolled in chemistry courses. Survey responses showed all groups arrived on campus with similar interests in learning more about science research. Over the 4 years of college, WR students maintained their interest levels, but UR students did not, creating a widening gap between the groups. Without intervention, UR students participated in lab research at lower rates than their WR peers. A case study pilot program, Biosciences Collaborative for Research Engagement (BioCoRE), encouraged STEM research exploration by undergraduates from marginalized communities. BioCoRE provided mentoring and programming that increased community cohesion and cultivated students' intrinsic scientific mindsets. Our data showed that there was no statistical significant difference between BioCoRE WR and UR students when surveyed about plans for a medical profession, graduate school, and laboratory scientific research. In addition, BioCoRE participants reported higher levels of confidence in conducting research than non-BioCoRE Scholars. We now have the highest annual number of UR students moving into PhD programs in our institution's history.

Goal setting is an important component in successful teaching and learning, but relatively little is known about its impact on course persistence and achievement in massive open online courses. Using an experimental design and employing a variety of data including student writings, content-related assignment attempts, and quantitative achievement in the courses, we compared the outcomes of two groups of learners who were given different writing prompts at the beginning of their course. While no overall effects of writing prompt type on the dependent variables were observed, highly statistically significant differences were found when goal writings were more closely examined and compared via qualitative coding. When learners' written responses to prompts contained either learning or performance goals, those participants both achieved more and engaged in learning longer than participants whose written responses did not fall into either of these categories.

This study aimed to evaluate how peer-to-peer interactions through writing impact student learning in introductory-level massive open online courses (MOOCs) across disciplines. This article presents the results of a qualitative coding analysis of peer-to-peer interactions in two introductory level MOOCs: English Composition I: Achieving Expertise and Introduction to Chemistry. Results indicate that peer-to-peer interactions in writing through the forums and through peer assessment enhance learner understanding, link to course learning objectives, and generally contribute positively to the learning environment. Moreover, because forum interactions and peer review occur in written form, our research contributes to open distance learning (ODL) scholarship by highlighting the importance of writing to learn as a significant pedagogical practice that should be encouraged more in MOOCs across disciplines.

Most Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) research studies have focused on students' demographics, surveys, and retention data, while little attention has been paid to the authentic voices of the learners: the expressions of experiences, perceptions, and emotions in the MOOC students' own words. In this paper, we conducted and analyzed in-depth interviews with learners from two MOOCs on the same subject. Findings confirm that learners enrolled in MOOCs for career and/or personal purposes. Learners' expressions of feeling a human connection to the instructor in videos had important implications for video editing decisions. Many of the reasons given for dropping out of active participation in MOOCs were related to the learners' lack of time because of other commitments. We expect the results from this study to provide a new understanding of MOOC learners and their perceptions of the courses; key insights should guide video editing considerations and encourage the use of instructor communication pathways such as regular emails to students in future MOOC offerings.

This work describes the use of a single chemical reaction to teach and connect a number of standard general chemistry course topics while also introducing students to polymer concepts. Through the study of the reaction that converts spiropyran into merocyanine, we are able to present and connect molecular orbital theory, quantum mechanics, equilibrium, hydrogen bonding, mechanical work, and polymer chemistry. By framing a number of different concepts with the same reaction, our goal is to allow students to see connections in seemingly disparate sections of general chemistry. At the same time, repeated study of this organic reaction provides a pathway for students to gain confidence and comfort with carbon-based molecular structures before stepping into an organic chemistry course. Experimental results indicate that there is no significant difference in student performance on problems linked to unit learning objectives when a group of students who complete the spiropyran-based exercises is compared to a control group who completed exercises involving smaller molecules. We describe here the materials used in both a team-based learning classroom and a concurrent laboratory module.

Science and engineering educators and employers agree that students should graduate from college with expertise in their major subject area as well as the skills and competencies necessary for productive participation in diverse work environments. These competencies include problem-solving, communication, leadership, and collaboration, among others. Using a pseudo-experimental design, and employing a variety of data from exam scores, course evaluations, and student assessment of learning gains (SALG) surveys of key competencies, we compared the development of both chemistry content knowledge and transferable or generic skills among students enrolled in two types of large classes: a lecture-based format versus an interactive, constructive, cooperative learning (flipped classroom) format. Controlling for instructor, as well as laboratory and recitation content, students enrolled in the cooperative learning format reported higher learning gains than the control group in essential transferable skills and competency areas at the end of the term, and more growth in these areas over the course of the term. As a result of their work in the class, the two groups of students reported the most significant differences in their gains in the following areas: ''interacting productively to solve problems with a diverse group of classmates,'' ''behaving as an effective leader,'' ''behaving as an effective teammate,'' and ''comfort level working with complex ideas.'' Our findings clearly show that cooperative learning course designs allow students to practice and develop the transferable skills valued by employers.

How can colleges and universities keep an open gateway to the science disciplines for the least experienced first-year science students while also maintaining high standards that challenge the students with the strongest possible high school backgrounds? The Science Advancement through Group Engagement (SAGE) project targets cohorts of less well-prepared, high potential science students as they progress together through the first two years of undergraduate science courses. A study in chemistry revealed that retention of the first cohort of SAGE participants through the gateway chemistry sequence more than doubled that of both historical and contemporary control groups. Moreover, by the fourth course, Organic Chemistry 2, SAGE participants performed as well as students who arrived at university with the strongest possible high school backgrounds. Because of national trends in high school student science preparation, the positive impact of this program disproportionately affected women and students belonging to underrepresented minority groups.

The purpose of SPE's New Technology Committee is to explore emerging topics in the field of plastics science and technology. The following article, which is part of a series of [...]

Several studies have been carried out to analyze the function solubility supports in the synthesis of polymers in supercritical fluids. Experimental results have significantly advanced the use of supercritical carbon dioxide as an alternative solvent for polymerizations. In addition, several novel aspects of supercritical carbon dioxide have been determined. These include the customization of solvent quality by pressure changes and preparation of materials supporting different morphologies and characteristics.