A support programme for first-year chemistry students: a campus case study

[摘要] Chemistry is often regarded as a difficult subject, which is reflected in the high failurerates of university first-year students. These students are faced by diverse challengessuch as the difficult and abstract nature of the subject, lack of interest in and motivationfor this subject, irrelevant prior knowledge or misconceptions, large classes, and theapplication in the world of work. The success rate of first-year Chemistry students at theUFS (Qwaqwa campus) has also been unsatisfactory for some years and that adverselyaffected the through-put rates of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences. Thismade it necessary to embark on a study to establish what could be the root causes ofthis problem and propose a possible way to remedy the situation. In order to addressthis problem, this study was designed to address the following main research question:What are first-year students' and lecturers' experiences of the teaching, learning andassessment employed in the Chemistry subject (i.e. CEM104) and how can possibleshortcomings be addressed?This study used an adapted explanatory mixed methods design to address the mainresearch question, using qualitative findings (from focus groups and semi-structuredinterviews) to explain the quantitative findings from the self-constructed questionnaire.Hundred and thirteen first-year Chemistry students (UFS, QwaQwa campus) participatedin the questionnaire survey, while two focus groups were conducted and two lecturerswere interviewed. In essence, the data revealed that both first-year Chemistry studentsand lecturers at the UFS (QwaQwa campus) perceived learning, teaching andassessment deficiencies, but the determinant factors/reasons for these were diverse.The participants, however, recognised the need for a support programme as well asvarious additional facilities (e.g. computers, e-mail, internet, library services andtextbooks, academic support and a departmental manual) to improve the academicperformance of first-year Chemistry students.

[发布机构] University of the Free State