The two-semester sequence of General Chemistry is a challenging course too many first-year students. One goal I have is for students to become better problem solvers, able to apply material they learn to synthesize solutions to new and challenging problems. To help develop problem solving skills I have restructured class time to allow for collaborative problem-solving sessions. I have also restructured weekly one-hour recitations associated with the course to include collaborative problem-solving sessions. I have trained a cohort of Learning Assistants (LAs) to help facilitate these in both lecture and recitations. Students who have successfully completed the General Chemistry sequence, return to the class to help as near-peer mentors. 
I want students to leave General Chemistry as better problem solvers, as this skill goes beyond just General Chemistry, this is a skill that will help students in any course or any career. During my first year of teaching, I observed that many students who struggle in General Chemistry, struggle because of the math-based problem solving. This was clear from the assessments that were done throughout the semester. This was also a compounding problem because students who struggled with math-based problem solving within the first semester of General Chemistry, but passed first semester, and struggled even more the subsequent semester. 
To help students become better problem solvers, and to help students solve math-based problems, I restructured class time to allow for mini-problem sessions. Sessions where students are presented with a problem and allowed to work on the problem with students in their area for 4-6 minutes. The LAs circulate through the room, with me, helping to facilitate the group work. Students are then polled on their response to the problem, and we review the problem with a methodical, step-by-step approach. 
Associated with the General Chemistry lecture is a weekly, one-hour recitation section that is run by a Teaching Assistant (TA). To give students extra practice with problem solving, I redesigned the entire structure of recitation. Recitation became a mandatory part of the course that counted toward the overall course grade. I designed structured problem sets for each weekly recitation section to reinforce the content that was covered in lecture. These problem sets were designed in the structure of Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) to help create a structure for group work. Each TA is given the same module for the week, ensuring that content is uniform across all recitation sections.

Developing and Implementing a Learning Assistant Program for Introductory General Chemistry

The Syracuse University CHANcE (Collaborative High Impact Activities in Natrual sCience Education) Project is a five-year program designed to provide the professional support biology and chemistry faculty need to transform their courses to include high impact practices such as active learning and inclusive pedagogy. Participation in the Project is open to all faculty in the 2 departments including tenure-earning and teaching faculty. The Project is in its third year and most of the faculty in the 2 departments are participating. To compensate faculty participants for the additional work involved in course transformation, a $5,000 grant is made available to each instructor who submits a course transformation proposal that is approved, who agrees to implement the changes specified in the proposal, and submits a final report including assessment of the implementation. Professional support is provided during both the redesign and implementation phases to help instructors develop specific learning goals, introduce specific active-learning and inclusive practices for accomplishing these goals, and assess learning outcomes. Professional assistance includes regular meetings with a CHANcE Project Education Specialist, postdoctoral fellow, graduate research assistants, peer mentors, administrative personnel, communities of practice, and semi-annual two-day professional development workshops held in January and June of each year. 
To date, over 12 courses have been or are in the process of being transformed, including general chemistry, introductory biology, ecology and evolution, cell biology, anatomy and physiology, organic chemistry laboratory, inorganic laboratory techniques, and integrative biology laboratory. Additionally, the upper-division courses “perspective in biochemistry,” “the science of GMOs,” and “personalized medicine” are being transformed. High impact practices introduced thus far in these courses include writing-to-learn, case studies, messy problems, clicker questions, interactive video lectures, transparent assignments, peer learning assistants, and assignments to highlight the contributions of BIPOC scientists. These transformed courses affect over 1000 students annually, and thereby increase our capacity for inclusion.
The faculty response to the CHANcE Project has been exceptional. The level of participation indicates that faculty care, and they stepped up. However, we found that inclusion is hard to grasp and implement because of the normativity of dominant culture. The practice of inclusion is known to touch on values, emotions, and long-held beliefs about who scientists are and who belongs. In addition, overcoming built-in thoughts about group affiliations is a difficult, nonlinear process that is not considered in faculty load. For students who have been historically excluded because of ethnicity or race, the challenge of having to develop a sense of belonging without sacrificing their cultural identity or adopting the oppressive views of the dominant group is daunting. We are able to address many of these difficult challenges in faculty thinking and practice through the semi-annual 2-day professional development workshops.


How to transform course in biology adn chemistry using high impact practices

**Speaker:** George Langford
<br>How to Transform Courses in Biology and Chemistry to Include High Impact Practices: Proof of Concept

Symposia 12: How to Transform Courses in Biology and Chemistry to Include High Impact Practices: Proof of Concept

symposium

The annual UI conference has grown from a meeting to a community of more than 6,000 researchers, program officers, evaluators, program directors, training faculty, and others within STEM, and now operates with a mission to mutually inform scholarship and practice, develop and enhance the community interested in educational interventions, and provide professional development for all STEM persons. UI held its first Virtual conference in December of 2020 in response to Covid-19 restrictions that forced the cancellation of the original March 2020 in person meeting. Born out of necessity, the virtual conference introduced a format that provided pre conference availability of symposia, Deeper Dives and Poster presentations. The 13th Annual Understanding Interventions Conference will continue with that design and we foresee future conferences adopting aspects of that format in reaching a virtual audience as well as those who attend the conferences in-person.

Attendees will experience plenaries, workshops, symposia, and poster presentations on hypothesis-based research on interventions and initiatives that broaden participation in STEM careers. The conference will continue to facilitate the dialogue among education, behavioral, and social science researchers, evaluators, and faculty in STEM fields who participate in intervention programs. Graduate students in these fields are strongly encouraged to attend. Workshops, sessions, and posters will communicate effective strategies from successful STEM intervention programs, present results from empirical research studies, and synthesize the translation of research findings into practice on STEM learning, undergraduate research, graduate education, and student retention.

The cost to attend the conference is $150. There are special rates for post-doctoral fellows and graduate students, as well as conference grants that can be provided for those with need. Registration for the conference is open, with additional information to come.

13th Conference on Understanding Interventions 2021

The annual UI conference has grown from a meeting to a community of more than 6,000 researchers, program officers, evaluators, program directors, training faculty, and others within STEM, and now operates with a mission to mutually inform scholarship and practice, develop and enhance the community interested in educational interventions, and provide professional development for all STEM persons. 

Jon French

2

Presentations

Developing and Implementing a Learning Assistant Program for Introductory General Chemistry

How to transform course in biology adn chemistry using high impact practices

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