Neurodiverse students use different strategies to reason through chemistry problems

Neurodivergent students are more likely to struggle to reason consistently through structural chemistry problems than their non-neurodivergent peers, a new study has found. Although this resulted in lower overall accuracy, these same students showed greater self-awareness about their learning and reasoning behaviours, with many developing individualised strategies to compensate for these difficulties. A deeper understanding of these alternative thought processes, and their associated strengths and challenges, could inform the design of more inclusive courses and assessment processes and reduce the barriers faced by neurodivergent individuals in chemistry education.