Many students have described organic chemistry as a "killer course"; its purpose to prevent only but the most worthy students from continuing to professional school. To decrease high attrition rates and update course content, the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Miami University developed and implemented an innovative, spiral curriculum for use in the year-long organic chemistry course for pre-professional students. This dissertation sought to better understand the difficulties students encountered in this spiral, organic chemistry curriculum and explored the strategies students developed to address such problems. A qualitative, case-study approach using interviews and reflective essays documented the experiences of 18 students as they progressed through the updated curriculum. The results of this inquiry revealed that many students made the decision not to utilize meaningful learning techniques and instead used rote memorization techniques as a proxy for learning. The factors that influenced these decisions were complex, but included such concerns as time-management problems, the perceived lack of relevance of organic chemistry, and decreased motivation. Furthermore, this inquiry discovered a dramatic gap between the level of cognitive development most students brought to the organic chemistry classroom and the level the subject required them to utilize. Three manuscripts were published in Chemistry Education Research and Practice.

Many researchers have investigated the effects of students' prior knowledge upon learning chemistry, for example, the tenacity of alternative conceptions. Knowledge about learning also shapes students' learning of chemistry. This research describes the development of CHEMX, a survey instrument that measures an aspect of knowledge about learning known as cognitive expectations. Evidence for both the reliability and validity of CHEMX is presented. Data from undergraduate chemistry students is presented. Results include changes in expectations from first-year students to seniors, comparisons between majors and nonmajors, and a profile of faculty expectations in comparison to students' expectations. A manuscript was published in the Journal of Chemical Education.