Investigating the Longitudinal Impact of a Successful Reform in General Chemistry on Student Enrollment and Academic Performance

Considerable effort in chemistry education research has been dedicated to developing and evaluating reform pedagogies designed to improve student success in general chemistry. Policy recommendations propose adoption of these techniques as a means to increase the number of science graduates, however there is the potential that the impact of these reforms is mitigated in subsequent classes. This study examines the longitudinal impact of a successful peer-led team learning reform that targets general chemistry. The study uses a quasi-experimental methodology comparing students who took general chemistry with peer-led team learning to students who experienced traditional instruction. Student enrollment and academic performance in subsequent classes were the outcome metrics evaluated. The results found that the reform impacts enrollment in the class that directly follows the target class but enrollment in subsequent classes is mitigated through student attrition within the curriculum. Additionally, no evidence was found for the reform impacting students’ academic performance in subsequent classes. The results highlight the need for implementing and evaluating curricular-wide reform