Use of Screen Capture To Produce Media for Organic Chemistry

Abstract

Although many students learn best in different ways, the widest range of students can be reached when multiple modes of input are employed, especially if the student is simultaneously completing a set of handwritten notes. Computers, meanwhile, have led to countless changes in society, and education has not been exempt from these changes. Students rarely, if ever, are without some sort of electronic device. Be it a smart phone, laptop computer, or tablet, the modern student is nearly perpetually “connected” to the Web. Screen capture has been used to produce high-quality videos for students in organic chemistry classes as an attempt to (i) exploit the students’ perpetually connected state for educational purposes by making not just course materials but also course meetings available online after class; (ii) provide course materials such as assignment keys and demonstrations that go beyond the boundaries of paper-based materials in a way that employs multiple modes of input; and (iii) accommodate legitimate student absences more rigorously. To date, such materials have been implemented in the mainstream organic chemistry course and its corresponding lab, as well as the basic nonmajor, one-semester, organic chemistry class. A description of this implementation is offered here.