The effects of explicit math instruction before chemistry content instruction at the high school level

Abstract

Students struggle with the mathematical nature of chemistry coursework. This study looks to examine how the performance of high school students taking chemistry is affected by a curricular change to include mini math units between traditional chemistry units of study. Students were exposed to approximately a day and a half of explicit instruction on the mathematical concepts that would appear in the upcoming chemistry unit. Student confidence in mathematics, pre and post mathematics test scores, and chemistry unit test scores were analyzed to determine if the treatment improved student performance or not.