Physical Sciences

This study assesses the impact of an educational activity designed to enhance AI tool utilization among CHM151 students, with a focus on promoting ethical, effective use in academic work. Delivered as an in-class Canvas module, the activity aimed to educate students on AI operation, benefits, risks, and practical applications. The module also sought to improve students’ ability to identify inaccurate AI outputs and foster creative, responsible AI applications.

Traditional classroom level assessments does not always perform the way instructors intend it to, as it is highly subjective and internalize instructor biases. Traditional grading systems pit students and instructors against each other by making grades a commodity that students must negotiate with the instructor, instead of building trusting relationships that allow for students to learn from their mistakes, take risks, and be creative.

As evidenced in multiple CATS written about journaling in STEM, faculty from chemistry, physics, calculus, and biology utilize journals to improve students' deeper level of learning.  Critical thinking skills and written communication skills (EMCC ILOs) are important in STEM. I want to ensure my students leave my own course ready and prepared for the other STEM courses.  Also, these journals are used to asses physics' classroom learning outcomes.  Please see attached documents for sample survey results and journal entries. 

The integration of Kahoot in CHM130 instruction will be investigated.  In this work, Kahoot will be developed to serve students in CHM130 in compound naming topic.  Students performance will be compared in naming compounds in this semester with students' performance in the last two years.  The study hypothesis stated that students in CHM130 who practice naming compound in Kahoot will score better than students who didn't practice naming of compounds in Kahoot.

The effectiveness of concept mapping (CM) has been investigated in introductory chemistry students' achievement.  The researcher tested the hypothesis which stated that the implementation of concept mapping in teaching introductory chemistry will increase students’' performance.  The sample was two sections, experimental group and control group.  Both groups had taken a pretest.  The experimental group draw CM’s for the units taught.  The units included naming, moles, balancing equation, stoichiometry, and molarity.  At the end of the semester, the performance

Chemistry students are required to think about the atomic nature of matter, while only being able to see the macroscopic level.  To help them, we use particle (atomic) level diagrams that rely on different colors, shapes and lines to represent different types of particles, phases, reactions, and temperatures.  These models are used throughout their chemistry courses particularly when systems become too complex to describe concisely in text or formulas.  A firm grasp of understanding and drawing these diagrams is important for success in the future.  However we never dire