Predictors of Success in Physical Chemistry

Physical chemistry is commonly viewed as formidable by chemistry faculty and students alike. It is the gateway course to advanced chemistry courses in ACS-certified degree programs. Hypotheses concerning success in physical chemistry based on previous chemistry, physics, and mathematics courses are tested using bivariate correlation analysis, multiple regression on the full set of variables, and multiple regression with a subset of variables deleted. Data on chemistry, physics, and mathematics grades and the number of times these courses were repeated were collected for physical chemistry students at Valdosta State University for the period 1976–1999. The most important subsets of variables were chemistry and mathematics. The most important individual predictors of success in the first course in physical chemistry are grade in second course in organic chemistry and grade in physics. The number of times courses were repeated is important but less significant.