Enhancing Equity in the First-year Chemistry Laboratory through a Targeted Pre-Term Laboratory Foundations Event

TitleEnhancing Equity in the First-year Chemistry Laboratory through a Targeted Pre-Term Laboratory Foundations Event
Faculty/College/UnitScience
StatusActive
Duration3 Years
Initiation04/01/2023
Project Summary

Chemistry 121/111 enrolls 2500 students per year from various faculties and consists of lecture and laboratory components. Some of our CHEM 121/111 students from low-income communities, rural communities, Indigenous communities, and other communities have no hands-on individual high school laboratory experience and find our laboratory course stressful. The pandemic has exacerbated this issue with hands-on, individualized laboratory exposure getting omitted or reduced. This proposal outlines a 3-year project to develop, pilot, and evaluate a pre-term Chemistry Laboratory Foundations Event where targeted CHEM 121/111 students who have little or no laboratory exposure are invited to perform an ungraded experiment with GAAs and participate in fun, collaborative activities. The first year of the project will focus on the development of content for the Foundations Event and training supporting GAAs working with marginalized groups. The second and third year of the project will focus on implementation, evaluation and sustainability of the Foundations Event.

Funding Details
Year 1: Project YearYear 1
Year 1: Funding Year2023/2024
Year 1: Project TypeSmall TLEF
Year 1: Principal InvestigatorPriya Anka Lekhi
Year 1: Funded Amount14,379
Year 1: Team Members

Priya Anka Lekhi, Associate Professor of Teaching, Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Vantage College
Emma Davy, Science Education Specialist, Chemistry and Skylight, Faculty of Science
Anne Thomas, Laboratory Program Director, First-year Chemistry Laboratories, Faculty of Science
Shaya Golparian, Educational Developer, TA Development Programs, Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT)
J. Douglas Adler, Assistant Professor of Teaching, Curriculum and Pedagogy, Faculty of Education
Gabriel Potvin, Associate Professor of Teaching, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Faculty of Science / Academic Director, Academic Essentials Program
Marie Krbavac, Science Faculty Liaison, CTLT and Skylight, Faculty of Science
Ashley Welsh, Interim Associate Director, Skylight, Faculty of Science
Chris Crowley, Manager, Learning Design, CTLT
Trish Varao-Sousa, Evaluation and Research Consultant, CTLT
Levonne Abshire, Director, Health Equity, Promotion, and Education, Student Services
Warren Code, Interim Director, Skylight, Faculty of Science
Zohreh Moradi, Research Analyst, Skylight, Faculty of Science

Year 1: TLEF ShowcaseYear 1: TLEF Showcase
Year 2: Project YearYear 2
Year 2: Funding Year2024/2025
Year 2: Project TypeSmall TLEF
Year 2: Principal InvestigatorPriya Anka Lekhi
Year 2: Funded Amount11,298
Year 2: Team Members

Priya Anka Lekhi, Associate Professor of Teaching, Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Vantage College
Anna Zeleny, Graduate Teaching Assistant, Chemistry, Faculty of Science
Anne Thomas, Laboratory Program Director, Chemistry, Faculty of Science
Emma Davy, Science Education Specialist, Chemistry, Faculty of Science