Outlooks on Organic Chemistry: Student and Faculty Perspectives as a Model for Change

Abstract

For decades, finding ways to improve student success in organic chemistry courses has attracted the attention of educators, researchers and administrators. Considering the abundance of literature describing evidence-based practices for effective organic chemistry instruction, deciding on which practices to implement can be unsystematic and overwhelming for change agents. In this study, we propose an approach to identify instructional practices with promise of success using student and faculty perceptions. Five organic chemistry faculty members were asked, through semistructured interviews, to share their experiences teaching organic chemistry courses. Based on the faculty interviews, an online survey to probe organic chemistry students’ experiences was created and administered. Following the survey, 14 organic chemistry students participated in semistructured interviews to gain insight into their survey responses. The interview transcripts were analyzed via Colaizzi’s phenomenological theming method. Comparative themes were generated that highlighted the key alignments and tensions between the student and faculty perspectives. There was a clear agreement between faculty and students that the amount of content and fast pace of organic chemistry courses is an element that makes the subject especially difficult. However, students and faculty disagreed concerning student use of resources and the student-instructor relationship in the course. Using these comparative themes, promising action items for the institution in the study include curricular reorganization, strategic emphasis of course resources, and interventions to improve student-instructor relationships. We propose this approach as a pragmatic way for faculty teams or change agents to select promising areas of evidence-based practices, providing direction for site-specific educational reform.