Mastering Self-Belief: Overcoming Obstacles in Organic Chemistry

Authors

Ibrahim Itani, University of Central FloridaFollow
Vidhisha Rane, University of Central FloridaFollow
Alondra Agrait, University of Central FloridaFollow
Amelia Woodward, University of Central FloridaFollow

Streaming Media

Files

Course Code

CHM

Course Number

4942

Faculty/Instructor

Dr. Julie Donnelly

Faculty/Instructor Email

julie.donnelly@ucf.edu

About the Author

Hello, our names are Alondra Agrait, Amelia Woodward, Ibrahim Itani and Vidhisha Rane. We are a team of Undergraduate Learning Assistants proudly supporting Dr. Paul Lawrence's organic chemistry course. We'd like to thank Dr. Julie Donnelly for being our CHM 4942 instructor as well as our ULA coordinator. We learned so many valuable pedagogical skills, strategies and principles thanks to her informative and compassionate mentorship. We'd also like to thank Dr. Paul Lawrence for putting his trust and faith in us to support his course and instruction.

Abstract, Summary, or Creative Statement

As students enrolled in CHM 4942, we had the honor of serving as Undergraduate Learning Assistants in organic chemistry. This experience proved to be a valuable opportunity for us to apply the skills, strategies and principles we learned in our pedagogy class. These newfound skills aided us in class where we helped with problem-solving and facilitating group discussions, as well as out of class where we answered discussion forums and conducted test preparation. Additionally, we believe that the impact we’ve made with students is so notable that there's an interest for ULAs in courses outside of chemistry. Not only were we able to help students with their confidence, comfort and mastery of the course material, but we were also able to undergo personal and professional growth through our experiences as well. The same techniques we use with our students, such as metacognition, error framing and Bloom’s taxonomy, helped us become better students, instructors and individuals. We learned the importance of perceiving mistakes as areas of growth, meeting students where they’re at and fostering a spirit of learning through planning and reflective practices. Overall, serving as a ULA was a gratifying and rewarding experience as we were able to apply the theory that we learned in CHM 4942 to our instructional interactions with students.

Keywords

Undergraduate Learning Assistant;ULA;organic chemistry;metacognition;error framing;Bloom's Taxonomy

Recommended Citation

Itani, Ibrahim; Rane, Vidhisha; Agrait, Alondra; and Woodward, Amelia, "Mastering Self-Belief: Overcoming Obstacles in Organic Chemistry" (2025). High Impact Practices Student Showcase Spring 2025. 48.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/hip-2025spring/48