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Mapping the Road to Improve Undergraduate Chemistry Performance

Previous course data reveals that approximately a quarter of students enrolled in an introductory undergraduate chemistry course at WSU either earned a grade of C- or below or withdrew from the class altogether. This struggle to retain students in STEM is also an issue nationally where there are more STEM jobs than qualified individuals. To increase STEM retention, the use of generative learning strategies such as concept mapping has been identified to support students’ acquisition of knowledge and promote active learning. In this study, we compared the effectiveness of learning with concept maps and traditional text on learning performance in an ecologically valid environment. A classroom-based study was conducted with 658 WSU undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory chemistry course. Students were randomly assigned to one of four conditions – concept map with self-explanation, concept map without explanation, text with self-explanation and text without explanation. Students participated in this study during a lecture session and completed a pre-test, a learning intervention, posttest and the complete the map task. Results from the study showed that students in the map conditions scored higher on Recall and the Complete the Map tasks than the text conditions. Further educational implications will be discussed.

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