1. Comparing the performance of students with ChatGPT for calculations involving acids and bases

Ted Clark, Comelia Soltanirad, Nic Tafini

The Ohio State University

This work investigates student performance on calculations involving the pH of acid and base solutions and compares this performance with the output from the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT.  Open-response numeric questions were answered by students before and after instruction in general chemistry and analytical chemistry classes with data analysis of the shown work considering performance, strategy, and errors.  The same problems were then used as input to the artificial intelligence chatbot, along with generalized questions about the topic.  The resulting responses will be discussed in terms of the chatbot’s ability to answer these questions and its ability to provide feedback that could support students at different stages in their understanding of the topic.

2.  From Courses to Curricula: Integrating Data Science Skills into Life Science Education

Nathan Emery, University of California, Santa Barbara

Erika Crispo, Pace University

Sarah Supp, Denison University

Kaitlin Farrell, University of Georgia

Andrew Kerkhoff, Kenyon College)

Ellen Bledsoe, University of Arizona

Kelly O'Donnell, McCauley Honors College, CUNY

Andrew McCall, Denison University

Olga Calderon, LaGuardia Community College

Sam Donovan, University of Pittsburgh

Laura Broughton, Bronx Community College

Matthew Aiello-Lammens, Pace University

The Biological and Environmental Data Education Network (BEDENet) fosters a community of practice dedicated to building computational data science skills into undergraduate curricula in the life and environmental sciences. Here, we present results from a survey of life science faculty assessing barriers to bringing data science into their undergraduate courses.

Among the most significant barriers to teaching data science skills is that instructors lack sufficient background and skills themselves. Further, several key data science skills exhibit gaps between their perceived importance as learning goals and the degree to which they are taught. BEDENet's goal is to bridge these gaps. By providing professional development and training, we help undergraduate educators gain the knowledge and confidence necessary to integrate data science skills into their learning objectives, course activities, and curricular structures.

BEDENet is supported by the NSF Research Coordination Network in Undergraduate Biology Education (RCN-UBE) and was founded in 2019. The PIs and Steering Committee include scientist/educators from community colleges, liberal arts colleges, and research universities, and the network is dedicated to an inclusive approach that spans institution type, disciplinary focus, curricular level, and instructor background and career stage. Over the next four years, we will host annual meetings, Faculty Mentoring Networks, and workshops to train instructors. Our 2023 annual meeting will take place at Denison University June 11-14, and we welcome all interested educators to join us.

3. Identifying and transferring the skills of highly effective teachers in high needs schools to STEM Pre-Service Teachers

Kathleen R. Austin, Dr. Adel Aiken 

Geneva College

The need for highly qualified STEM teachers in high needs school is acute and identifying the characteristics of highly qualified STEM teachers in high needs schools is crucial to expand the workforce. Geneva College in western PA, received a Noyce Grant from the National Science Foundation (Award #1949957, 2020-2025) to recruit, train and support STEM secondary education majors as they become STEM teachers. The training portion of the program involves college students conducting a year of STEM research and presenting their findings, completing over 90 hours of teaching related tutoring, identifying the attitudes, beliefs, and customs of highly effective teachers through research articles/books and student teaching in a high needs school. Current teachers are supported by a mentor who meets with them 3 times during the year and discusses videos they submit of themselves teaching. The program is in its third year and has successfully recruited 17 STEM majors with 5 of them currently teaching in high needs schools, 1 enrolled in a master’s degree program, and the other 11 finishing their studies in college.

4. The Role of High Impact Practices for STEM Persistence and Career Success

Karen Hicks, James Keller, Erika Farfan, Diane Anci

Kenyon College

Kenyon’s STEM Scholars program was initiated in 2016 as an NSF S-STEM funded project, seeking to provide financial support and programming to academically talented students with substantial financial need, especially first-generation and underrepresented minority students, in order to increase their persistence in STEM and entry into STEM-related careers. Kenyon had made major commitments to both diversity and STEM education during the preceding decade, however our STEM retention rate hovered near the national average. This project built on Kenyon’s previous S-STEM project (2010-2016), which resulted in a STEM retention rate double that of the general Kenyon undergraduate population. We sought to leverage the successes of our previous grant by replicating what worked, replacing what didn’t work with evidence-based high-impact practices beneficial to first-year students, and developing a plan for program sustainability beyond the life of grant. In addition to scholarship support, activities include a summer living-learning community that expands the successful KEEP Summer Experience, a structured service-learning project in partnership with SPI: where Science and Play Intersect, close faculty-student mentoring relationships through interdisciplinary mentoring clusters, and professional development through the student-led K-STEM peer-mentoring program and career workshops in collaboration with Kenyon’s Career Development Office. By opening aspects of the program to the broader STEM community, we anticipated direct benefits to other students, as well as indirect benefits conferred by the STEM Scholars’ influence on the overall culture of our STEM community. By broadening our program to include all STEM disciplines, we expected to increase faculty involvement in our programming, leading to further faculty development. The subsequent award of an HHMI Inclusive Excellence grant provided synergistic opportunities for the Kenyon STEM community.

5. DeAU Science Scholars Program:  Enhanced Engagement to Improve Retention, Graduation, and Success

Perry Corbin

Ashland University

The improved recruitment, retention, and graduation of undergraduate science majors are critical to developing a strong and diverse STEM workforce. In line with these goals, this presentation will focus on our recently completed Science Scholars Program, an NSF S-STEM project at Ashland University (AU). Through the Science Scholars Program, scholarships, along with support and enhanced engagement, were provided to 34 academically-talented students with significant financial need. The majority of students were part of two primary cohorts who entered AU as freshmen and were supported for up to four years. Additional transfer and upper-level students were also part of the program. Beginning during the critical first year, Science Scholars worked with peer and faculty mentors, in addition to professional academic advisors and a dedicated career coach. Scholars were are also required to attend supplemental review sessions for gateway General Chemistry courses and participate in workshops and seminars that aided them in considering career and research opportunities. Early research or an internship, prior to a Scholar’s junior year, were encouraged. Examples of other program activities include an alumni career conversation speaker series, a lab-to-market speaker series, and off-campus trips. As part of the project, faculty also engaged as a learning community to examine learner-centered teaching strategies. Activity details along with successful retention, graduation, and STEM career entrance data will be provided. The impact of COVID-19 on project activities and lessons that were learned will also be shared. Results from a quantitative study designed to identify changes in STEM persistence predictors among the Scholars and to assess the extent to which they are strengthened by program participation will also be presented.

6. Evaluating the Impact of Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) in General Chemistry

Daniel A. Turner, Ted M. Clark

The Ohio State University

We present the results of our investigation into the impact of Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) on chemistry and biochemistry majors taking general chemistry at The Ohio State University.  PLTL is a collaborative learning approach where students work in groups facilitated by a peer leader who has previously excelled in the course. Research has demonstrated that PLTL not only improves students' performance on exams but also enhances their critical thinking skills, problem-solving abilities, and overall engagement in the course. PLTL has also been found to increase student retention and graduation rates in STEM fields, which are known to be notoriously challenging and competitive.

At Ohio State, all first-year chemistry and biochemistry majors participate in the PLTL program and enroll in a section of general chemistry that is just for these particular majors. Due to the lack of a control group, it is difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of our PLTL program. During the Autumn 2022 semester, we delivered two different sets of activities during the PLTL sessions immediately preceding the course exams. Each set of activities focused on different learning objectives and were split almost evenly between the 24 PLTL sections.  We will present our findings, mainly focusing on the exam questions most closely aligned with objectives the two different sets of activities. We will conclude by sharing ways to improve PLTL (or analogous) activities based on these results.

7. Authenticating Students in the Online Learning Environment

Stanley  Sobolewski

Indiana University of Pennsylvania

As a consequence of quarantining required by the COVID-19 pandemic, many institutions of instruction have developed new skills for remote instruction. This is very true for our physics courses. There is research showing that for some aspects of learning, remote instruction has the same efficacy as face-to-face instruction. While this is fine, one issue with remote instruction is authenticating the student. During the height of the pandemic, a student posted a Tic Tok of the student’s father taking the student’s exam. Non-science majors have approached our physics majors to take a course for them. Physics is perceived as being difficult, and this perception causes significant stress in some students. That might be part of the reason why students use stand-ins.   What can be done to 1) discourage students from using a surrogate and 2) decrease the stress in an online physics class? Some techniques I have used in online classes include using video conferencing for assessments, low states assessment, and peer interactions. I will also examine the difference in assessment and scores between face-to-face and online interactions.

8. Using Modelling to Further Student Understanding of Equilibrium and Buffer Systems in General Chemistry

Julius Nagy

Siena Heights University

The concept of a buffered system has always been a challenge for general chemistry students and their instructors.  While students know the terms well enough to explain what a buffer does, student assessments reveal that students do not understand the dynamics of the buffer species in solution.  Additional evidence is in the chemical education literature.  A process to improve student learning was developed and modelling was used to further student understanding of buffered systems.  While initial results were encouraging, it became clear that the students did not fully understand the dynamics of a simple equilibrium system.  By introducing the model earlier in the course sequence, a fuller understanding of buffered systems has resulted, and will be discussed.

9. Taking cues from cell biology: how institutions can attract, retain, engage, all STEM faculty

Jenise M. Snyder, PhD

Ursuline College

The cell is an efficient unit of life, capable of fully functioning on its own.  Institutions of higher education could learn a thing or two to from the mighty cell to efficiently function as centers of learning and be a hospitable place to work.  Relating to cell structures and functions, I will discuss how communication and transparency at all steps of the faculty life cycle – searching, hiring, promoting, and maintaining engagement – are essential.  Opportunities for enriching departments as well as holding on to biases will be identified.  Cultivating new found talent and creating a supportive environment to retain them should be a priority.  Engaging and cultivating all talent along the spectrum is needed to support the community as a whole and to function efficiently and effectively.