When
Presenter:
Dr. Brandon Yik
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry, University of Georgia
Abstract:
What does it mean to “succeed” in chemistry, and how might generative artificial intelligence reshape how students pursue that success? This seminar weaves together complementary studies on student persistence, scientific sensemaking, and a rapidly evolving instructional landscape. First, drawing on thematic analysis of open-ended responses from general chemistry students, we examine how students define success in general chemistry, a gateway course that often shapes students’ STEM trajectories. Second, we directly examine students’ generative AI landscape and study practices by analyzing what tools students report being aware of in Fall 2024 versus Fall 2025, how that awareness has changed, and how students describe using generative AI to study for chemistry lecture courses. These findings provide a grounded view of how quickly students’ AI ecosystems evolve and the ways AI is already integrated into day-to-day learning. And third, we turn to mechanistic reasoning in organic chemistry. Building on earlier evaluations of generative AI chatbots, we present a replication study that tests whether recent advances in ChatGPT’s reasoning-focused models can produce accurate, sophisticated explanations of organic reaction mechanisms. We assess both correctness and levels of explanation sophistication across multiple prompt cueing conditions, including prompts that require interpreting pictorial mechanisms. Together, these studies highlight a central instructional challenge: aligning what students value with what we assess and support, especially as AI tools become part of how students learn.
Bio:
Brandon Yik earned sequential B.S. and M.S. degrees at the University of Michigan, followed by an M.S. in inorganic chemistry at Georgia Tech. He then transitioned into chemistry education research, completing a Ph.D. at the University of South Florida and postdoctoral training at the University of Virginia. In summer 2024, he began his independent career as an Assistant Professor at the University of Georgia. The Yik Research Group advances chemistry learning and teaching through a mixed-methods research program that integrates artificial intelligence and machine learning with survey research, advanced statistical modeling, and semi-structured interviews. Current projects examine the capabilities and classroom uses of generative AI, the impacts of alternative grading, student engagement with scientific practices, and evidence-based instructional pedagogy.
Hosted by: Dr. Laura Van Dorn