NSF Award
2411805
Teaching students about green and sustainable chemistry (GSC) connects chemical concepts to the real world and provides students with the knowledge and skills they need to be healthy, informed consumers. In fact, both national and global groups have called to include GSC in chemistry classes. For example, the fourth United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal is that by 2030 all students have the knowledge and skills to support global, sustainable development. Unfortunately, GSC is still not widely covered in organic chemistry textbooks, leaving instructors to decide if and how to include GSC. Furthermore, many organic chemistry instructors are not yet familiar with GSC. Thus, this study will identify how GSC is currently taught and assessed and what resources instructors need to teach GSC, both of which are critical for developing effective instructor training and resources. In addition, the study will also explore how teaching GSC impacts the way students, particularly from rural areas, see organic chemistry. To accomplish this, the study will involve redesigning the introductory organic chemistry curriculum to include GSC. This redesigned curriculum will provide readily available materials for other instructors. Finally, integrating GSC into the organic chemistry curriculum will help educate environmentally responsible consumers who understand how their decisions impact their community and environment.<br/> <br/>This study addresses two research aims: 1) to explore the nationwide integration of GSC into the organic chemistry curriculum and 2) to explore how integrating GSC into the introductory organic chemistry curriculum impacts student perception of organic chemistry, with a particular emphasis on its impact on rural students. To accomplish the first aim, an explanatory sequential design will be used in which the results of a previous quantitative survey study will frame the development of the qualitative interview questions and the subsequent analysis of the responses. Then, a nationwide survey will be developed and administered to explore the cohesiveness of faculty interview responses with a nationwide sample. To accomplish the second aim, data will be collected on student perception and class performance from an introductory organic chemistry course in the first year to be used as a historical control. The course curriculum will then be modified using results from a literature review, the interviews, and independently prepared instructional modules so that the prescribed curriculum is taught from a green perspective. Student perception and class performance of all students will then be evaluated to measure the impact of incorporating GSC. It is predicted that incorporating GSC will benefit all students, especially rural students, due to its ties to the environment and sustainability.<br/><br/>This project is supported by NSF’s STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (STEM Ed PRF) Program. The STEM Ed PRF Program aims to enhance the research knowledge, skills, and practices of recent doctorates in STEM, STEM education, education, and related disciplines to advance their preparation to engage in fundamental and applied research that advances knowledge within the field.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
