Graduation Year
2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
Ph.D.
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Degree Granting Department
Chemistry
Major Professor
Scott E. Lewis, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Jeffrey R. Raker, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Chavdar Slavov, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Amber D. Dumford, Ph.D.
Keywords
Postsecondary, General chemistry, Performance, Affect, Artificial intelligence
Abstract
Improving retention in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programs is essential to meet the growing demand for skilled professionals in the domestic workforce. To achieve this, it is critical to understand and address the factors that influence student persistence in STEM degrees. Gateway courses such as general chemistry often serve as early barriers to STEM degree completion, with high rates of attrition that impact not only individual students but also institutions and society. Therefore, the aim of this work was to examine and influence the factors that contribute to student withdrawal from introductory chemistry courses in order to promote student success.
First, this work conducted fundamental research to understand students’ study behavior in first-semester general chemistry settings (Chapter III). Past research has linked students’ study behavior as one of the factors associated with withdrawal from introductory chemistry. Using a qualitative methodology and self-regulation theory as the conceptual framework, the study in Chapter III characterized students’ decision-making processes regarding their study behavior. Specific factors that guide each decision-making process were also identified. The findings of the study highlight the nuanced nature of changes and constancy within the study strategy decision-making process. These results indicate that a uniform approach to improve study behaviors may be ineffective. Instead, targeted strategies are needed to address the varying decision-making processes among students in introductory chemistry courses.
Another factor linked to withdrawal from introductory chemistry is course design. The current structure of introductory chemistry courses offers limited opportunities for students to reflect on the relevance of what they are learning. This lack of reflection increases the risk of students losing motivation and ultimately leaving STEM fields. The study in Chapter IV advanced applied research to support a course structure aimed at enhancing student motivation within the introductory chemistry sequence. This work specifically targeted to manipulate students’ utility value beliefs, a key component to improve student motivation. The Informative Utility Value Intervention (IUVI) was designed to offer students concrete examples of how chemistry relates to their future career goals, with the aim of enhancing their perceptions of utility value of chemistry. IUVI was administered to second-semester general chemistry students and evaluated using a quasi-experimental study design. The results indicate that students who received the intervention reported higher perceptions of utility of chemistry as well as higher scores on a common exam at the end of the semester. However, structural equation modeling highlighted that gains in utility perceptions and final exam scores were potentially independent of each other. Overall, IUVI is an effective and portable intervention that can be adopted/adapted by general chemistry instructors to improve student success in their classes.
Next, a different version of IUVI was developed by integrating an Artificial Intelligence platform to further support a course design aimed at improving student motivation, while requiring even less effort from instructors. (Chapter V). In this version, concrete examples of how chemistry relates to their future career goals were generated using ChatGPT. It was administered to first-semester general chemistry students and evaluated using an experimental study design. Students were randomly assigned to receive either the AI-version (AI-IUVI) or the original version (Research-IUVI). The results reveal that both versions were equally effective in mitigating the natural decline in utility perceptions across the course of semester. Student perceptions were positive for either version of the intervention. The results highlight that instructors can adopt either version of the intervention in their course design to promote students’ utility perceptions of chemistry, thereby enhancing their motivation.
Scholar Commons Citation
Nayyar, Pallavi, "Introductory Chemistry Student Success: Investigating Study Strategies and Evaluating an Informative Utility Value Intervention" (2025). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/11036
