Authors: Seunghwan Shin, Sydney Coates
Mentors: Guizella Rocabado
Insitution: Southern Utah University
Organic chemistry is one of the most feared and failed courses in the undergraduate curriculum. Consequently, studying what makes this course “too difficult” as perceived by students is worthwhile because these perceptions result in many students not considering STEM majors because they require chemistry courses. Our research group has investigated perceived costs in general chemistry, and this study expands our understanding of these constructs in organic chemistry. Students’ perceived costs of a chemistry class can be many, such as task effort, loss of valued alternatives, emotional, and others. These costs might be overcome by students’ interests and goals, yet the level of perceived costs might have a lasting impact on the students’ overall perception of chemistry and their desire to pursue chemistry and other STEM careers in the future. In this study we investigated the mentioned subclasses of perceived costs, other salient perceived costs, and mastery or performance goal orientations and the impact these constructs may have on students’ experiences in organic chemistry classrooms. Expanding on a previous study in general chemistry, we present the results of interviews we conducted with students in this class. Our results reveal that students struggle with the content, pace, and overall difficulty of the material. These results are not surprising; however, we also uncovered the students’ deep desire to learn and understand the material, the motivating effect of having a good relationship with their professor, and many other themes that emerged from our conversations.