Large Gains in Gateway Chemistry
6.9% pt
14.5% pt
Outperforms
National
Benchmarks
Using Data to Improve Chemistry Education
Built on Evidence. Improved by Data.
The Research
Papers, conference proceedings, and posters from the REAL CHEM team and collaborators.
Large Gains in Gateway Chemistry: REAL CHEM Enables Strong Gains When Combined with a Retake-Based Pedagogical Model
REAL CHEM Action Research Through the LearnLab Summer School.
Henderson, J. B., Bass, S. M., Dwyer, R. P., Larson, K., Mead, C., Stein, A., & Yaron, D. J. (2026). REAL CHEM Action Research Through the LearnLab Summer School. In Craig, S. D., Arner, T., & McNamara, D. S. (Eds.), Proceedings of LERN 2026.
Designing for Student Engagement with AI in Courseware
Stein, A., Ciou, S. T., Cui, T., Larson, K., Lee, L., Li, S., … & Yaron, D. J. (2026). Designing for Student Engagement with AI in Courseware: Lessons from Iterative Improvements to DOT in REAL CHEM. Proceedings of LERN 2026.
How Students Really Use Courseware: Visualizing Student Pathways in Integrated Chemistry Courseware
Not All Practice is Equal: Learning Across Activity Types in Chemistry Courseware
The promise of mastery-based testing for promoting student engagement, self-regulated learning, and performance in gateway STEM courses
Asher, M. W., Hartman, J. D., Blaser, M., Eichler, J. F., & Carvalho, P. F. (2025). The promise of mastery-based testing for promoting student engagement, self-regulated learning, and performance in gateway STEM courses. Computers & Education, 237, 105387.
Mathematics matters or maybe not: An astonishing independence between mathematics and the rate of learning in general chemistry
Koedinger, K. R., Blaser, M., McLaughlin, E. A., Cheng, H., & Yaron, D. J. (2025). Mathematics matters or maybe not: An astonishing independence between mathematics and the rate of learning in general chemistry. JACS Au, 5(3), 1268-1278.
Impact of Semester Timing on Student Outcomes in the First Course of a General Chemistry Sequence
Implementing mastery grading in large enrollment general chemistry: improving outcomes and reducing equity gaps
Hartman, J. D., & Eichler, J. F. (2024). Implementing mastery grading in large enrollment general chemistry: improving outcomes and reducing equity gaps. Education Sciences, 14(11), 1224.
Faculty as Research Partners
“I’m really excited to continue with this community of practice and to take part in whatever comes next, like Community of Practice Convening this summer at BCCE. The digital collaboration has been great, but there’s nothing like being in the same room—you can see just how much gets accomplished in a short time. It’s been a truly great experience.”
“The research collaboration has been an incredibly rewarding experience—there’s something powerful about the shared accountability, expertise, and excitement. The foundation we built during last year’s Community of Practice Convening has carried forward into multiple ongoing projects, and we’re now getting close to producing publishable work from at least a couple of them.”
