Project Activities
The researchers developed the Connected Chemistry Curriculum (CCC), a technology-infused high school science curriculum, implemented it in 17 schools, and evaluated its efficacy. The team conducted a cluster randomized trial, randomly assigning 36 teachers and approximately 9,600 students to experimental and control conditions. Data examining the impact of CCC on student learning outcomes and engagement in chemistry were collected and analyzed.
Structured Abstract
Setting
The study was conducted in 17 urban and suburban high schools in Illinois.
Sample
A total of 36 high school chemistry teachers and 9,600 students from 17 schools participated in the study. The participating schools represent a diverse sample of students from economically and racially varied communities. The average percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch across the 17 schools was 74%, with a range from 29% to 99.5%.
The Connected Chemistry Curriculum (CCC) consists of two critical components: (1) a comprehensive set of curriculum materials and (2) a rigorous teacher professional development program. The curriculum materials include a stand-alone chemistry software application that presents simulations to help students visualize and better understand the submicroscopic interactions responsible for the macro-level events observed in laboratory investigations. CCC comprises nine curriculum units covering nine core disciplinary concepts: Modeling & Matter, Solutions, Chemical Reactions, Pressure & Gas Laws, Kinetics, Thermodynamics, Acids & Bases, Equilibrium, and Nuclear Chemistry. These topics are commonly taught in high school chemistry classrooms across the U.S.. Across the nine units, the curriculum includes 54 individual lessons and approximately 200 unique activities, requiring a minimum of 120 days of instruction for full implementation. CCC features over 100 individual computer simulations, guided-inquiry student workbooks, and teacher guides.
Research design and methods
The research team conducted a cluster randomized controlled trial, in which teachers within schools were randomly assigned to either implement the CCC or continue with their business-as-usual chemistry instruction and practices. Prior to random assignment, teachers were stratified based on multiple school, teacher, and student variables to further minimize differences between groups. During the baseline years of the study, teachers in both groups followed business-as-usual practices, and researchers collected baseline pretest and posttest data. In the intervention years, teachers in the treatment group received professional development on CCC and implemented the curriculum for three years. In contrast, teachers in the control group continued implementing their existing chemistry curriculum. In the final year, the control group participated in the CCC professional development program and implemented CCC in their classrooms for the first time. The researchers provided professional development and intervention to the control group in their final years to benefit all the participants and meanwhile enhance the comparison, which allowed the researchers to examine the impact of CCC by both within- and between-group comparisons. Throughout the study, researchers collected pretest and posttest data at the beginning and end of each instructional year. Students in CCC classrooms also completed CCC unit assessments throughout the year, and researchers collected data on teachers' fidelity of implementation and pedagogy.
Control condition
Teachers were randomly assigned into two groups, both of which eventually received CCC professional development (PD), and their students ultimately participated in the CCC treatment. During the business-as-usual years, researchers measured baseline instructional practices and student outcomes, including standardized test performance and Chemistry Self-Concept Inventory scores, for both groups of teachers.
Key measures
The project utilized the American Chemical Society (ACS) General Chemistry Exam, administered at the beginning and end of the school year, as the primary outcome measure of student achievement. Student engagement was assessed using the Chemistry Self-Concept Inventory. Additionally, researchers evaluated changes in teacher practice and implementation fidelity through the Revised Teacher Observation Protocol (RTOP), classroom observations, instructional artifacts, and teacher self-reports.
Data analytic strategy
The research team used hierarchical linear modeling, with students nested within classrooms and classrooms nested within teachers, to analyze the impact of CCC on student learning outcomes and self-concept development in chemistry. Researchers also employed an advanced statistical Rasch model to analyze changes in teacher practice between the treatment and control groups based on the Revised RTOP.
Key outcomes
The main findings of this project are as follows:
- The students in classrooms assigned to the CCC treatment group performed significantly better on the American Chemical Society (ACS) Conceptual Exam assessment items. The visualization tools embedded in inquiry activities in the CCC resulted not only in short-term gains but in long-term improvements in student learning in chemistry relative to business-as-usual practices (Stieff, 2019).
- Using exploratory factor analysis to examine the psychometric properties of the subscale and item function of the Chemistry Self-Concept Inventory, researchers found that a five-factor model, distinct from previous studies’ models, fit the data best. Using this model in Rasch analysis, the researchers found several items within the mathematics subscale that showed unusual item difficulty, significant misfit, and low item discrimination (Werner, Chen, & Stieff, 2021).
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Project contributors
Products and publications
This project provided evidence on the impact of the CCC intervention on student learning outcomes in high school chemistry and changes in teacher practice. Researchers will also produce peer-reviewed publications.
Project website:
Publications:
Stieff, M. (2019). Improving learning outcomes in secondary chemistry with visualization-supported inquiry activities. Journal of Chemical Education, 96(7), 1300-1307.
Werner, S. M., Chen, Y., & Stieff, M. (2021). Examining the psychometric properties of the chemistry self-concept inventory using rasch modeling. Journal of Chemical Education, 98 (11), 3412-3420.
Available data:
Additional project information
In 2023, there was a change in Prinicipal Investigator on the grant from Mike Stieff to Yue Yin.
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