Integrating Supplemental Instruction into Freshman Chemistry Programs to Support Women in Engineering

Kristen B. Coletti; Melinda Covert; Paul A. DiMilla; Lauren Gianino; Rachelle Reisberg

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Conference: 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Publication Date: June 10, 2012
Start Date: June 10, 2012
End Date: June 13, 2012
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Potpouri
Tagged Division: Women in Engineering
Page Count: 14
Page Numbers: 25.808.1 - 25.808.14
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--21565
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/21565
Download Count: 511

Paper Authors

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Kristen B. Coletti Northeastern University

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Kristen Coletti is a third-year undergraduate student at Northeastern University, majoring in chemical engineering and pursuing a minor in mathematics. Coletti is not only a chemistry tutor but has also worked at the MathWorks, Inc. In addition, she has held co-op positions at both the Shaw Group and the EMD Serono Research Institute.

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Melinda Covert Northeastern University

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Melinda Covert is a third-year undergraduate student at Northeastern University, studying chemical engineering and pursuing a minor in business administration. In addition to being a chemistry tutor, Covert has held co-op positions at the Shaw Group and Dow Electronic Materials.

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Paul A. DiMilla Northeastern University

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Paul A. DiMilla is an Associate Academic Specialist in the Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology and the Department of Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University. Prior to joining Northeastern University, DiMilla was a faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University and Olin College, a co-founder of a biotech start-up, and a leader of R&D teams at biomedical and pharmaceutical companies.

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Lauren Gianino Northeastern University

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Lauren Gianino just completed her B.S. in chemical engineering at Northeastern University. She was a Freshman Chemistry Connections tutor for four of her five years at Northeastern University. In addition, she held three co-op positions at Lockheed Martin, 1366 Technologies, and Genzyme Corporation.

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Rachelle Reisberg Northeastern University

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Rachelle Reisberg is Assistant Dean for Engineering Enrollment and Retention, as well as Director of Women in Engineering at Northeastern University. Prior to joining Northeastern University, Reisberg held a wide range of management positions in IBM and Hanover Insurance, and was the President of a high tech start-up company.

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Abstract

Integrating Supplemental Instruction into Freshman Chemistry Programs to Support Women in EngineeringAbstractThe Connections Chemistry Review was developed at _____________ Universityas part of a series of programs initially funded by the National ScienceFoundation to address the importance of success in introductory science and mathcourses for first-year engineering students. Chemistry was chosen because ananalysis of freshman grades identified General Chemistry for Engineers(CHEM1151) as the common required course with the lowest average grades forfreshman students during their first semester in the College of Engineering. In thefall of 2007, this program was revamped to introduce several key featuresdesigned to increase student participation and success. These changes included:selection of upper-class women majoring in chemical engineering as leaders forweekly review sessions, development of review sheets produced by these upper-class women (who attended lectures), holding review sessions in the early eveningin a freshman residence hall, heavily advertising sessions and offering free pizzato motivate students to participate, and making concerted efforts to identify andassist struggling students with additional one-on-one tutoring. A partial intentmotivating the selection of specific review leaders was to provide role models forfirst-year women interested in majoring in engineering and to retain their interestin this historically male-dominated major. Although the Connections ChemistryReview was developed initially to assist women in engineering, it now has beenextended to all students in CHEM1151. In 2010, the program was enhanced bythe participation of the course coordinator for CHEM1151, who promoted furtherstudent participation and met on a regular basis with the upper-class reviewleaders and program coordinator to assure smooth integration and coupling of thissupplemental instruction with other facets of the course. This paper will presentpre- and post-survey results from freshmen enrolled in this first-year chemistrycourse required for students majoring in engineering as well as an analysis of theimpact of this program on the success and perspectives of students whoparticipated in supplemental instruction.

Citation
Format

Coletti, K. B., & Covert, M., & DiMilla, P. A., & Gianino, L., & Reisberg, R. (2012, June), Integrating Supplemental Instruction into Freshman Chemistry Programs to Support Women in Engineering Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--21565

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -  Integrating Supplemental Instruction into Freshman Chemistry          Programs to Support Women in EngineeringAbstractThe Connections Chemistry Review was developed at _____________ Universityas part of a series of programs initially funded by the National ScienceFoundation to address the importance of success in introductory science and mathcourses for first-year engineering students. Chemistry was chosen because ananalysis of freshman grades identified General Chemistry for Engineers(CHEM1151) as the common required course with the lowest average grades forfreshman students during their first semester in the College of Engineering. In thefall of 2007, this program was revamped to introduce several key featuresdesigned to increase student participation and success. These changes included:selection of upper-class women majoring in chemical engineering as leaders forweekly review sessions, development of review sheets produced by these upper-class women (who attended lectures), holding review sessions in the early eveningin a freshman residence hall, heavily advertising sessions and offering free pizzato motivate students to participate, and making concerted efforts to identify andassist struggling students with additional one-on-one tutoring. A partial intentmotivating the selection of specific review leaders was to provide role models forfirst-year women interested in majoring in engineering and to retain their interestin this historically male-dominated major. Although the Connections ChemistryReview was developed initially to assist women in engineering, it now has beenextended to all students in CHEM1151. In 2010, the program was enhanced bythe participation of the course coordinator for CHEM1151, who promoted furtherstudent participation and met on a regular basis with the upper-class reviewleaders and program coordinator to assure smooth integration and coupling of thissupplemental instruction with other facets of the course. This paper will presentpre- and post-survey results from freshmen enrolled in this first-year chemistrycourse required for students majoring in engineering as well as an analysis of theimpact of this program on the success and perspectives of students whoparticipated in supplemental instruction.
AU  - Kristen B. Coletti
AU  - Melinda Covert
AU  - Paul A. DiMilla
AU  - Lauren Gianino
AU  - Rachelle Reisberg
CY  - San Antonio, Texas
DA  - 2012/06/10
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Integrating Supplemental Instruction into Freshman Chemistry Programs to Support Women in Engineering 
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/21565
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--21565
ER  -