Abstract
Organic chemistry has its own representational language and as with any language, any barrier with the language makes understanding the message difficult. In this article, we describe the design of an open education resource that empowers students to master this language, the Organic Mechanisms module in orgchem101.com. We also describe the structure and findings of a pilot study designed to measure students’ learning and experiences using the module, with a focus on principles, structure, and key findings, rather than on the chemistry-specific elements.
Highlights
La chimie organique possède son propre langage représentatif et, comme dans le cas de la langue, l'existence d'une barrière langagière nuit à la compréhension du message
The submicroscopic level, which we cannot see through an ordinary light microscope, can be seen through changes of the macroscopic level in chemistry all around us every day (Johnstone, 1982)
We describe an open education resource that empowers students to master this language, the Organic Mechanisms module in orgchem101.com
Summary
La chimie organique possède son propre langage représentatif et, comme dans le cas de la langue, l'existence d'une barrière langagière nuit à la compréhension du message. Maybe you practiced conversing with others in attempts to become more fluent If it was a language you were somewhat familiar with, you may have been able to learn it more quickly than a language largely different from your own. With organic chemistry's symbolism (Kozma & Russell, 1997) and in order for students to learn organic chemistry concepts, they must learn how to speak and understand the language (Taber, 2009). OrgChem101.com (OrgChem101) is an online, bilingual (English and French) tool created to help students learn organic chemistry's language and core concepts and provide students with the tools to help them better interpret organic reaction mechanisms, as well as improve their metacognitive skill (Azevedo, Behnagh, Duffy, Harley, & Trevors, 2012). OrgChem101 is free for anyone to use and includes three modules: Organic Nomenclature, Organic Mechanisms, and Acid-Base Reactions
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