Natalie Leon, & Dr. Ariel Vaughn
Science is often perceived as difficult and abstract due to the disconnect between real-world applications and scientific concepts taught in the classroom. In General Chemistry courses, it has been observed that the disconnect with science contributes to high failure and withdrawal (DFW) rates, as well as students feeling that they cannot be successful in STEM. Finding ways to make science more accessible, engaging, and inclusive for students is essential in addressing the disconnect between applications and science. During this fifteen week study, forty-four General Chemistry I students from California State University Channel Islands were asked to provide a weekly short answer response to the question, “How have you observed chemistry outside of class this week?” Using NVivo 14, the responses were qualitatively evaluated for the real-world chemistry applications observed by students. The results showed that 86% of students identified 5 or more different types of real-world chemistry applications, with 55% of students identifying 7 or more examples. Moreover, it was observed that students primarily observed chemistry in cooking/food-related situations and beverages, aside from examples observed in the lecture and laboratory course. The analysis also included an evaluation of how the examples related to course concepts taught during the semester. For example, students related cooking/food-related examples to 11 different course concepts. Overall, the study suggested that student-oriented homework assignments helped increase student understanding of chemistry and connection with science, which may be a contributing factor to the decreased DFW rate observed in General Chemistry I.