Publications
2026
35. Cox, C.,* Walker, J., Popova, M., Outlaw, T., Building community to bridge research and practice: The North Carolina Chemistry Educators & Researchers (NC CER) group. (in review)
34. Bhaskar, R., Cook, A., Rotich, F., Arévalo, S., Popova, M.*, Characterizing how students reason about the affordances and limitations of representations of molecular structure. (in review)
33. Gay, A., Bunch, Z., Ahmed, R., Jones, A., Wise, J., Ward, L., Popova, M.*, Processing (our) differences: Characterizing how neurodivergent students learn and reason with chemical representations. (in review)
32. Ward, L., Rotich, F., Arevalo, S., Popova, M.*, Translating across multiple representations of molecular structure: Student reasoning, accuracy, and personas, (in review)
31. Graulich, N.,* Atkinson, M., Bernholt, S., Bhattacharyya, G., Lewis, S. E., Popova, M., Shultz, G., Stowe, R., Pölloth, B., Myths about teaching and learning organic chemistry, J. Chem. Educ., 2026, (accepted).
2025
30. Langner, A., Sahba, M., Popova, M., Graulich, N.,* Adapting new methodological perspectives: An integrated approach for characterizing organic chemistry students’ changes in eye movements, J. Chem. Educ., 2025, Advance Article.
29. Morgenstern, R., Pazicni, S.,* Swineheart, S., Popova, M., 3D object-based card-sorting: A method for eliciting multimodal reasoning in chemistry, J. Chem. Educ., 2025, Advance Article.
28. Shi, L., Hillborn, S., Pazicni, S., Popova, M.*, Different instructors—different symmetry: Variation in instructional approaches and content emphasis in inorganic chemistry, Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 2025, Advance Article.
27. Pazicni, S.,* Popova, M., Making the case for inorganic chemistry education research: Insights from symmetry, Comments on Inorganic Chemistry, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/02603594.2025.2523259. Featured in the September 2025 issue of the Alchemie newsletter.
26. Jones, T., Ahmed, R., Cieza, E., Pratt, J. M.*, Popova, M.*, Resources and support for marginalized women in chemistry doctoral programs: What they had and what they needed. J. Chem. Educ., DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.5c00274.
25. Crowder, C. J., Ward, L., Popova, M., Komperda, R., Rotich, F., Raker, J. R.*, Testing a reciprocal causation model between the Organic chemistry Representational Competence Assessment (ORCA) and academic performance in postsecondary organic chemistry. J. Chem. Educ., doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.5c00169
24. Shi, L., Stachl, C., Popova, M.*, Linking departmental climate to the sense of belonging of chemistry graduate students and postdocs: Evaluation and insights from the DCaDEI survey. Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., DOI: 10.1039/D4RP00322E
2024
23. Ward, L., Rotich, F., Raker, J. R., Komperda, R., Nedungadi, S., Popova, M.*, Design, development, and evaluation of the Organic chemistry Representational Competence Assessment (ORCA). Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., DOI: 10.1039/d3rp00188a
22. Jones, T., Ahmed, R., Cieza, E., Pratt, J. M.*, Popova, M.*, Experiences of marginalized women pursuing doctoral degrees in chemistry: The critical role of recognition. J. Res. Sci. Teach., https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21986. Check out Tamera’s talk at the 2023 Three Minutes Theses Competition that summarizes this work.
21. Rotich, F., Ward, L., Beck, C., Popova, M.*, Attention is currency: How surface features of Lewis structures influence organic chemistry student reasoning about stability. Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 2024, 25, 1071 – 1089
20. Popova, M.*, Bridging chemistry education research and practice through research-practice partnerships. Frontiers in Education, 2024, 9:1401835.
19. Ward, L., Hoang, J., Croatt, M. P., Walsh, J., Popova, M.*; Remote teaching as the catalyst for change in teaching values and practices: Experiences of instructors within one chemistry department during the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Education, 2024, 9:1371132.
2023
18. Kraft, A., Popova, M., Erdmann, R. M., Harshman, J., Stains, M.*; Tensions between depth and breadth: An exploratory investigation of chemistry assistant professors’ perspectives on content coverage. Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 2023, 24, 567-576.
17. Thompson, B., Bunch, Z., Popova, M.*; A review of literature on the quality and use of chemistry textbooks. J. Chem. Educ., 2023, 100, 8, 2884–2895
16. Deiab, G. A.*, Popova M., Bashatwah, R., Ardakani, A., Aldhirat, J., Ayyad, A., Alebraheem, A.; Pharmacy students’ success with organic chemistry reactions of small versus large drug-like molecules. J. Chem. Educ., 2023, 100, 4, 1426–1433.
2022
15. Jones, T., Romanov, A., Pratt, J., Popova, M.*; Multi-framework case study characterization of organic chemistry instructors’ approaches toward teaching with representations. Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 2022, 23, 930-947.
14. Shi, L., Popova, M., Erdmann, R., Pellegrini, A., Le, B., Johnson, V., Nelson, T., Nelson, Z., Undersander, M., Stains, M.*; Exploring the complementarity of measures of instructional practices. CBE-Life Science Education, 2022, 22:ar1, 1–9.
13. Gurung, E., Jacob, R., Bunch, Z., Thompson, B., Popova, M.*; Evaluating the effectiveness of organic chemistry textbooks for promoting representational competence.
J. Chem. Educ., 2022, 99, 5, 2044–2054. Check out Maia’s CERC Webinar organized by ACS, Division of Chemical Education in which she summarized the results of this and several other studies.
12. Ward, L., Rotich, F., Hoang, J., Popova, M.*; Representational competence under the magnifying glass: The interplay between student reasoning skills, conceptual understanding, and the nature of representations. In Student Reasoning in Organic Chemistry: Research Advances and Evidence-based Instructional Practices. RSC for the Advances in Chemistry Education Series, 2022. Invited Book Chapter. Check out Lyniesha’s talk at the IUPAC CCCE 2021 conference, where she presented about this work.
2021
11. Popova, M.*, Jones, T.; Chemistry instructors’ intentions toward developing, teaching, and assessing student representational competence skills. Chem. Educ. Res. Pract. 2021, 22, 733-748
10. Popova, M., Kraft, A., Harshman, J., Stains, M.*; Changes in teaching beliefs of early-career chemistry faculty: A longitudinal investigation. Chem. Educ. Res. Pract. 2021, 22, 431-442.
2020
9. Atkinson, M. B.; Popova, M.; Croisant, M.; Reed, D. J.; Bretz, S. L.*; Development of the reaction coordinate diagram inventory: Measuring student thinking and confidence with reaction coordinate diagrams. J. Chem. Educ. 2020, 97, 7, 1841-1851
8. Popova, M.; Shi, L.; Harshman, J.; Kraft, A.; Stains, M.*; Untangling a complex relationship: Teaching beliefs and instructional practices of assistant chemistry faculty at research-intensive institutions. Chem. Educ. Res. Pract. 2020, 21, 513-527
2018
7. Popova, M.; Bretz, S. L.*; Organic chemistry students’ interpretations of the surface features of reaction coordinate diagrams. Chem. Educ. Res. Pract. 2018, 19, 919-931
6. Popova, M.; Bretz, S. L.*; Organic chemistry students’ challenges with coherence formation between reactions and reaction coordinate diagrams. Chem. Educ. Res. Pract. 2018, 19, 732-745. Check out Maia’s invited talk at the 2019 CERG Webinar of the Royal Society of Chemistry where she presented results of this work.
5. Popova, M.; Bretz, S. L.*; Organic chemistry students’ understandings of what makes a good leaving group. J. Chem. Educ. 2018, 95 (7), 1094-1101
4. Popova, M.; Bretz, S. L.*; “It’s only the major product that we care about in organic chemistry:” An analysis of students’ annotations of reaction coordinate diagrams. J. Chem. Educ. 2018, 95 (7), 1086-1093. ACS Editors’ Choice Award
2017
3. Popov, N.; Honaker, L. W.; Popova, M.; Usol’tseva, N. V., Mann, E. K.; Jákli, A.; Popov, P.*; Thermotropic liquid crystal-assisted chemical and biological sensors. MDPI Materials. 2017, 11, 20. Featured on the cover of January 2018 issue of MDPI Materials
2016
2. Popova, M.; Bretz, S. L.; Hartley, C. S.* Visualizing molecular chirality in the organic chemistry laboratory using cholesteric liquid crystals. J. Chem. Educ. 2016, 93, 1096-1099. Featured on the cover of June 2016 issue of Journal of Chemical Education. Check out Maia’s talk at the 2015 Chirality at the Nanoscale Conference, where she presented on the development of this laboratory activity.
2014
1. Popova, M. N.; Jharova, M. A.; Usol’tseva, N. V.; Smirnova, A. I.; Bogdanov, V. S.* Rheological and tribological properties of industrial oil with mesogenic additives and carbon nanotubes. Liq. Cryst. and Appl. 2014, 14, 52-61