Specifications Grading: A Before-and-After Tale in My Organic II Course

By replacing high-stakes exams with shorter, focused assessments emphasizing achievement instead of percentage grades, and allowing students to retake those assessments without penalty, I was confident I could reduce anxiety, promote a growth-mindset, and improve student engagement, all while keeping the bar high. So, I jumped in with both feet.

High-Frequency, Low-Stakes Assessments in Biochemistry

Roger L. Miesfeld is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Arizona where he has taught biochemistry both in person and online for 36 years to thousands of premed biochemistry students. Roger has integrated active learning modules and everyday biochemistry into his course, which helped earn him the University of Arizona Honors College Faculty Excellence …

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Using a Previewing Strategy to Help Students Get the Most Out of Reading

Grace Ferris is an assistant professor of chemistry at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA, where she teaches General Chemistry I & II, Organic Chemistry I & II, Introductory Biochemistry, and Life Chemistry: Drugs in Our Lives. She earned her BA in chemistry with a minor in education from Mount Holyoke College in 2008 and her …

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Cultivating a Growth Mindset Using Online Assessment and Group Exams

Grace Ferris is an assistant professor of Chemistry at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA, where she teaches General Chemistry I & II, Organic Chemistry I & II, Introductory Biochemistry, and Life Chemistry: Drugs in Our Lives. She earned her BA in Chemistry with a minor in Education from Mount Holyoke College in 2008 and her …

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