Mastering Chemistry Efficacy Report
For an overview of Mastering Chemistry and more information:
In the context of the study conducted at Ohio State University with students enrolled in General Chemistry I and II, Pearson is able to make the following comparative statements about the efficacy of Mastering Chemistry:
In Fall 2016, use of Mastering Chemistry was associated with higher course performance than was use of Sapling in terms of final exam scores (7% increase in percentile rank for an average student in the Sapling group), course grades (5% increase in the percentile rank for an average student in the Sapling group), and binary grades (pass / fail), (2% increase in the percentile rank for an average student in the Sapling group).
In Spring 2017, use of Mastering Chemistry was associated with higher course performance than was use of Sapling in terms of course grade (20% increase in the percentile rank for an average student in the Sapling group) and binary grades (17% increase in the percentile rank for an average student in the Sapling group).
In the context of the study conducted at Ohio State University with students enrolled in General Chemistry I and II, Pearson is able to make the following relational (correlational, not predictive) statements about the efficacy of Mastering Chemistry:
In Fall 2016 and Spring 2017, when controlling for student prior achievement and demographic characteristics, the number of problems attempted was significantly and positively related to final exam scores, course grades, and binary grades (pass / fail).
In the context of the study conducted at the highly selective research university with students enrolled in the Fall 2016 and Winter 2017 semesters, Pearson is able to make the following relational (correlational, not predictive) statements about the efficacy of Mastering Chemistry:
In Fall 2016, making 20 additional problem attempts was associated with a one percentage-point increase in final exam scores.
In Fall 2016, making 30 additional problem attempts was associated with a one percentage-point increase in total course scores.
In Winter 2017, making 24 additional problem attempts was associated with a one percentage-point increase in final exam scores.
In Winter 2017, making 30 additional problem attempts was associated with a one percentage-point increase in total course scores.
But what if students were already high achievers?
All of our efficacy statements reflect a relationship between Mastering Chemistry and performance above and beyond students’ prior achievement. That means, for the whole sample of students in both studies, researchers took into account students’ prior academic achievement such as their self-reported ACT scores and measured the contribution of Mastering Chemistry on top of that.
2020 Mastering Chemistry Literature Review Update
An updated literature search was performed on the 11 products that Pearson released efficacy reports for in 2018. In this updated literature review, we searched Google Scholar and Science Direct for relevant publications released between 2018 to 2019. We also added two new databases, ERIC and JSTOR, to our search, including relevant publications from 2012-2019. Mastering Chemistry was the only product where we uncovered any new studies that met both our relevance and rigor standards.
For Mastering Chemistry, only a portion of a single study met both sets of standards (Eichler & Peeples, 2013). In this particular study, the section of the analysis that compared Mastering Chemistry users to non-users satisfied both relevance and rigor criteria. However, since the findings from this part of the analysis were consistent with findings from the original Mastering Chemistry efficacy report (the studies used similar designs and both found positive results), no additional efficacy statements will be released
For a full list of the rigor criteria by type of efficacy statement, see Pearson’s Efficacy Reporting Framework, especially the section entitled “Research design standards.”
Hear directly from our customers and students about how they are using Mastering Chemistry
Homework as practice
Michael Lufaso, Associate Professor at the University of North Florida uses Mastering Chemistry homework to give students a chance to practice and test their understanding in preparation for exams.
“The Mastering Chemistry homework online really did help me improve my work. Making it mandatory for students to do is a good decision.”
— Chemistry student, University of North Florida, US
Adaptive follow up
For each reported semester at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, instructor Natalie Crist found students who did better on Adaptive Follow-Up assignments tended to have higher final exam averages.
“Mastering Chemistry helped me to work through problems, especially the ones with hints, otherwise I might not have tried and just given up”
— General Chemistry student, University of Hawaii at Hilo, US