Awareness, Analysis, and Action: Curricular Alignment for Student Success in General Chemistry

Area of Science:

• Chemistry Education
• Higher Education
• STEM Pedagogy

Background:

• General chemistry curricula and pedagogy vary across institutions.
• Faculty collaboration is essential for understanding and aligning educational practices.
• Improving STEM student success requires a coordinated approach.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine how interinstitutional faculty collaboration enhances awareness of general chemistry curricula.
• To develop a collaborative action plan for improving STEM student success.
• To identify common curricular challenges and create targeted instructional resources.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of general chemistry course content and instructional experiences across five institutions.
• Focus shifted from gap analysis to exploring common curricular challenges.
• Development of targeted instructional resources based on identified challenges.

Main Results:

• A deep awareness of curriculum and pedagogy was achieved through shared faculty experience.
• More similarities than differences were found in course content and instruction.
• A collaborative action plan and targeted resources were developed to address common challenges.

Conclusions:

• Interinstitutional collaboration effectively promotes curricular alignment and student success in STEM.
• Focusing on common challenges, rather than just gaps, is a productive approach.
• Targeted resources developed collaboratively can support diverse student populations across institutions.