Professor of Educational Psychology Jennifer Cromley is part of an interdisciplinary team that will advance ideas to enhance student experiences through a new program in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.
The College of LAS issued a call for Student Success Initiative proposals earlier this year and received a number of applications, ultimately awarding five projects. Funding was granted for ideas that led to innovative and inclusive curricula and/or pedagogy, took advantage of new technologies and lessons from the pandemic to enhance ways of learning, created and supported diverse student experiences, increased access and opportunities for historically underserved students, and addressed the recruitment and retention of first-generation students and historically underrepresented ethnic and racial minority students.
Each project is receiving $25,000 to $100,000 in funding for one year. Cromley's project description—edited versions from the proposal—is below:
Reimaging the general chemistry experience: Enhancing learning outcomes and fostering belonging for under-represented students in STEM and pre-health majors
Proposal team: Tina H. Huang, Department of Chemistry; Gretchen Adams, College of Applied Health Sciences; and Jennifer Cromley, College of Education Department of Educational Psychology
Description: “This pilot course in General Chemistry I (CHEM 102) will implement best practices in chemical education and educational psychology to help students improve and enhance learning outcomes, especially for minoritized students who are interested in pursuing careers in the health professions and in STEM disciplines. Thus, we propose to develop a first semester (CHEM 102) general chemistry course that incorporates the best practices in chemical education and educational psychology that addresses the diverse needs of our minoritized students… This will entail developing innovative and equitable approaches to the five areas of our current course structure of CHEM 102.”
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