To assess the ability of students to identify, define, and solve fundamental problems in modern chemistry, we quantified the performance of our students on selected problems isolated from the final exams in two advanced chemistry lecture courses. The exam questions have been designed and selected to isolate specific skills associated with the ability to identify, define, and solve questions considered fundamental to a basic education in chemistry. The exam questions have been selected from midterm and final exams in three courses: CHEM 4501 (”Introduction to Thermodynamics, Kinetics, and Statistical Mechanics”), CHEM 4502 (“Introduction to Quantum Mechanics and Spectroscopy”), and CHEM 4701 (Inorganic Chemistry).
The abilities of students to locate, collect, and analyze data were assessed through analysis of selected content from laboratory reports in two advanced chemistry laboratory courses, CHEM 4111W (Spring 2023, “Modern Instrumental Methods of Chemical Analysis Lab”) and CHEM 4511W (Fall 2022, “Advanced Physical Chemistry Laboratory”).
To assess students’ ability to demonstrate a fundamental and predictive knowledge of chemistry at an advanced undergraduate level, we used the performance on the comprehensive final exams in three advanced chemistry lecture courses. The three courses are CHEM 4501 (”Introduction to Thermodynamics, Kinetics, and Statistical Mechanics”), CHEM 4502 (“Introduction to Quantum Mechanics and Spectroscopy”) and CHEM 4701 (“Inorganic Chemistry”).
To assess student ability to effectively communicate scientific information in both written and verbal form, we used written laboratory reports and oral presentations in two advanced chemistry laboratory courses, CHEM 4111W (Spring 2023, “Modern Instrumental Methods of Chemical Analysis Lab”) and CHEM 4511W (Fall 2022, “Advanced Physical Chemistry Laboratory”)