"Cognitive Learning in Introductory College Science Education"

This research seeks to categorize dominant areas of cognitive learning weakness and strength within traditional college-level, introductory science education.The basis of any undergraduate STEM education is an understanding of fundamental concepts and how these concepts describe or predict physical phenomena.However, the apparent retention and understanding of basic concepts is sometimes minimal as expressed by student work during subsequent courses.Potential causes for this difficulty in learning transfer are an inability to articulate concepts, weak association of concepts with theory, poor problem solving skills, or a limited understanding of specific disciplines such as mathematics, chemistry, physics, or biology.We interviewed three cohorts (e.g., successive academic years) of college seniors majoring in environmental engineering to assess individual retention of basic skills in chemistry using the "Think Aloud Methodology". 15At a minimum, each student had completed two courses in general chemistry, one course in environmental chemistry, and three courses in environmental engineering process design that employed chemistry.The interviews consisted of individual students working selected chemistry based problems on a blackboard, while they described their rationale and methodology to members of the Chemistry and Environmental Engineering faculty.Each student was provided the same selection of problems.Outcomes of these interviews are presented as trends in recall of basic facts (e.g., students know that brackets indicate concentration in molarity), concept recognition (e.g., students identify conservation of energy in a heat transfer problem), or general problem solving skills (drawing sketches, identifying known and unknown variables).The strength or weakness in conceptual understanding will be compared to the students' exposure to these concepts in the college curriculum.The discussion also includes an analysis of fundamentals (e.g., mathematics) related to the Chemistry concepts under consideration.