CAREER: Standardized Polytomous Assessment for Community Explorations in Green Chemistry Education

About This Grant

This project seeks to serve the national interest by improving green chemistry curricula in undergraduate organic chemistry courses so that students are better prepared to address real-world sustainability challenges. Green chemistry emphasizes the design of safer, more efficient, and environmentally friendly chemical processes and substances, and it is increasingly integrated into undergraduate chemistry education. As of 2023, the American Chemical Society requires certified programs to provide students with a working knowledge of green chemistry principles. However, instructors currently lack rigorous tools to assess the impact of green chemistry curricular innovations on student learning. This project will develop a collaboratively written, research-based assessment instrument to measure college students' understanding of key green chemistry concepts, enabling institutions to meet new national standards. The instrument will be administered and evaluated in multiple colleges and universities. The project will also explore the use of artificial intelligence to support item development and scoring. Faculty will also receive professional development to support the adoption of evidence-based instructional practices. Ultimately, this work will support more relevant, engaging chemistry instruction and serve as a model for assessment development in STEM education. This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) project will develop and seek validity evidence for the Standardized Polytomous Assessment for Community Explorations in Green Chemistry Education, a diagnostic tool designed to assess students' knowledge of green chemistry in the context of organic chemistry instruction. This instrument development project will use an exploratory sequential research design that includes Delphi studies, open-ended prompts, and item response theory analysis. The specific objectives of the integrated research and education plan include: (1) investigate students' ideas related to green chemistry; (2) collaborate with stakeholders to develop a diagnostic tool for measuring students' knowledge of green chemistry; (3) explore the utility of artificial intelligence (AI) to support item generation and scoring; (4) gather evidence for the validity and reliability of the assessment tool and the psychometric properties of the items using Item Response Theory (IRT) across multiple institutions; and (5) provide faculty development opportunities in the assessment practices for potential adopters via workshops and online faculty learning communities. The project’s products—including assessment tools, scoring guides, and national norm data—will contribute to the growing field of Green Chemistry Education Research and inform assessment practices in other STEM disciplines. The CAREER program is a National Science Foundation (NSF)-wide activity that supports early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education. This CAREER project is supported by NSF STEM Education Directorate’s Improving Undergradute STEM Education (IUSE: EDU) program. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.