Organic Chemistry Course Research Articles

Helen Tran

For the longest time, Helen Tran didn’t feel a strong pull toward chemistry. Art was her passion. She even remembers how in middle school, she was a teaching assistant for a chemistry class, but she always tried to finish her grading early so she could go work in the art studio next door. The turning point was her first undergraduate organic chemistry course. The material spoke to Tran’s instinct for visualization. Then a polymer chemistry class appealed to her love for building things. Those courses solidified her path in chemistry. Now she calls herself a molecular architect: she designs and makes stretchable, biodegradable electronic materials with her group at the University of Toronto. “She really wants to work at this interface of disciplines between chemistry, polymer science, biology, and materials,” says polymer chemist Ron Zuckermann of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where Tran worked before starting her PhD. Tran’s group in

Flipped classrooms: Designed and implemented with colleagues collaboration

The aim of this study is to investigate the results of the flipped classroom model, which was prepared and applied in collaboration with colleagues, on the academic success on stereochemistry one of the topic the organic chemistry course of pre-service chemistry teachers, the views of the pre-service chemistry teachers about the flipped classroom model and the views of the collaborating faculty member about the practice. The study was designed and carried out according to the participatory action research method. Seventeen pre-service chemistry teachers participated in the study. In the study, short videos were shot in which the instructor of the course explained the lessons and the researcher provided pedagogical and technical support in order to carry out the stereochemistry lesson with the flipped classroom model. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected. The quantitative, which was collected with data the achievement test, was analyzed with the non-parametric Wilcoxon Test. The qualitative data were analyzed with the content analysis method. Quantitative results showed that there was a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test achievement scores in favor of the post-test. As a result of the qualitative content analysis, it was determined that the pre-service teachers had positive views toward flipped classroom such as support learning, solving plenty of questions, watching the videos as often as desired, and being prepared for the lesson. The instructor who conducted the course also stated that he had positive thoughts about using the same method in his lessons and sharing the course material on online platforms.

PENGEMBANGAN LEMBAR KERJA PRAKTIKUM MAHASISWA BERBASIS RISET SOLID LIPID NANOPARTIKEL (SLN) TRIMIRISTIN HASIL ISOLASI BIJI PALA (Myristica fragrans)

This research aims to determine the feasibility, practicality, and effectiveness of LKPM based on solid lipid research of trimiristin nanoparticles resulting from nutmeg seed insulation as a guide sheet of organic chemical practicum II in lipid matter. This research uses 4-D methods, consisting of 4 stages, namely define, design, develop, and disseminate. However, in this study the researchers only performed until the third stage which is the development stage (develope). This research data is obtained from the results of material and media expert validation questionnaires, product practicality questionnaires as well as pretest and posttest results tested to fourth semester students who participated in organic chemistry course II.LKPM based on Research Solid Lipid Nanoparticle (SLN) Trimiristin resulting from Nutmeg Seed Isolation that has been developed obtained a value of 83.75% on media validation and obtained a value of 87.3% on material validation, which means it is in the category of highly feasible. While the practicality percentage result of 88.36 % on the small-scale test, which goes into the category strongly agrees, The average result that means students strongly agree that the products that have been developed are very practical to use. The average value of N-Gain Small Scale Test Score is 0.43, meaning it can be concluded that The Student Practicum Worksheet (LKPM) based on Solid Lipid Nanoparticle (SLN) trimiristin research resulting from Nutmeg Seed Isolation (Myristica fragrans) has moderate effectiveness value.

Investigating the Impact of the Flipped Classroom on Student Learning and Enjoyment in an Organic Chemistry Course

Investigating the Impact of the Flipped Classroom on Student Learning and Enjoyment in an Organic Chemistry Course

A Practical Oxidation Experiment for Undergraduate Students: Bobbitt’s Salt as a “Green” Alternative

Oxidation reactions are critical components of the synthetic toolbox taught to undergraduate students during introductory organic chemistry courses. However, the oxidation reactions discussed in the undergraduate curriculum are often outdated as many organic chemistry textbooks emphasize chromium-based oxidants that are no longer in regular use by practitioners, which may limit an instructor’s time to allocate to discussion of other oxidants. Further, laboratory courses have since either removed oxidation experiments or replaced them with oxidative processes not discussed in lectures, thus leading to a disconnect between the two learning settings. As part of an effort to bridge this divide and modernize the oxidation reactions discussed in our curricula, we have developed a new laboratory experiment that uses a commercially available oxoammonium salt (Bobbitt’s salt) to cleanly oxidize cinnamyl alcohol to cinnamaldehyde. In addition to being a safe, convenient, colorimetric, and “green oxidant” suitable for use in the undergraduate teaching laboratory, the hydride-transfer mechanism allows for overlap with key course concepts presented in both introductory and advanced lecture courses. The procedure is well-suited for small and large organic I, II, or advanced laboratory sections alike and can be completed within a standard 3–4 h laboratory period. Aside from exposing students to a modern green oxidation protocol, the experiment contains expanded opportunities for interpretation of 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and IR spectra. An optional addendum for advanced students involving Hammett correlations was also developed.

Visualizing the school organic chemistry course with augmented reality

Nowadays, studying natural sciences, as well as chemistry, is impossible without good-quality visualization of the theoretic data. Supplying mobile apps with augmented reality give the opportunity to visualize the study information for the students and make its perception and learning easier. The paper is dedicated to developing a lap book and mobile app LiCo.STEAM Sugar with augmented reality and studying the “Carbohydrates” topic according to the 10 th grade chemistry program, and also to investigate it’s effciency within the chemistry lessons. The developed lap book includes the theories with carbohydrate molecules’ images, an experimental part designed for performing chemical experiments and studying properties of organic compounds, and also tasks of different levels. Molecules of carbohydrates, their structure can be visualized with AR, and also video-experiments on this subjets can be played. Using the lap book “Carbohydrates” with augmented reality together with LiCo.STEAM Sugar mobile app allows to upgrade the content and the volumes of the theories, apply modern ICT within the study in order to build students’ skills of a new level. Applying educational data with augmented reality give students the ability to memorize the theories in a better way, which is shown with the increased results of educational achievements of students in chemistry.

Teaching organic nomenclature for pharmacy students: Adapting a course to online mode during COVID-19

Introduction: Due to the confinement of the COVID-19 pandemic, educational centres have remained closed, transferring the teaching process to online mode, thus adapting infrastructure, methodologies, and the university community. Objectives: This work aims to evaluate the effectiveness of strategies in learning organic nomenclature and seek student opinions about committing fraud in organic chemistry course assessments in the online mode in the pharmaceutical career. Methods: The methodologies used allowed the students to understand and apply the organic nomenclature rules, using online collaborative guides and crosswords worked in synchronous classes, previous reading, and the collaborative asynchronous creation of informative files for the recognition of heterocyclic compounds and formative assessment. All assessments were applied in three-people groups in the synchronous classes. Finally, an anonymous survey was administered to know the student perception of the possibility of fraud during the course. Results: A substantial improvement (from 47.7% to 80.5%) was observed in the application of IUPAC rules for organic compounds. Of the students who responded to the anonymous survey, 81% reported that the methodology used decreased the opportunity to commit fraud during assessments.

Innovation and Validation of an Assessment Method Using Molecular Models Following Stereochemistry Instruction in an Organic Chemistry Course

Innovation and Validation of an Assessment Method Using Molecular Models Following Stereochemistry Instruction in an Organic Chemistry Course

Building Personal Connections to Organic Chemistry through Writing

Organic chemistry courses enroll students from many majors with diverse interests. Although instructors may strive to appeal to these interests by relating course content to real life, it is challenging to intrinsically appeal to students at the personal level, particularly in high enrollment courses like organic chemistry. When students identify personal connections with course content, they may be more interested or motivated to continue learning course content. To help students identify connections, we designed and implemented a writing assignment prompting students to select an organic compound that personally relates to them and write about this personal connection. Herein, we discuss the implementation and evaluation of the assignment. Student feedback survey responses and interviews indicate that the assignment allowed students to identify how organic chemistry is relevant to their lives. We believe the assignment could be effectively implemented at other institutions and in other chemistry courses.

Development of Organic Chemistry Teaching Materials on The Topic of Lipid Using Android STEM Based Approach

The purpose of this study was to develop teaching materials for Organic Chemistry 2 by using an android-based STEM approach, analyze the readability of teaching materials and determine student learning outcomes. This research belongs to the R&D type of the Borg and Gall model. This research was starting from the research and information gathering stage, planning, developing the initial product format, validation testing, initial product revision, field testing, product revision of field test results. The research subjects were undergraduate students of Chemistry Education who took organic chemistry courses 2. The instruments in this research were a material expert validation questionnaire, media expert validation and evaluation test sheets. The results showed that the teaching materials developed were considered feasible by the material expert validators with a percentage score of 93.33% and media experts 95.67%. The data from the readability test of teaching materials averaged 92.38 with a very good category. Student learning outcomes pretest and posttest scores increased from 55.56 to 78.61, the N-gain value was 0.51875 in the medium category. Based on this, it can be concluded that organic chemistry 2 teaching materials using an android-based STEM approach are very feasible and can improve student learning outcomes.

Use of an Online Social Annotation Platform to Enhance a Flipped Organic Chemistry Course

A free online social annotation platform, Perusall, was incorporated into a flipped organic chemistry course sequence. The platform provides an interactive chat enhanced with social media features that facilitates student engagement with each other as they watch videos in an asynchronous format. This technology transforms how students watch flipped content from an isolated experience to an active, collaborative one in which they can ask questions, discuss ideas, and get feedback. Student compliance was high, and survey responses about the technology were generally positive, with students reporting that it improved their understanding, decreased their boredom when watching videos, and made them more comfortable in asking questions. The quality of the conversations on Perusall was typically better than what we have been able to stimulate in class, likely because of the low-stakes environment of commenting in the chat. Analytics revealed that, on average, students actively watched each video for a time period that was 3 times the video length, with shorter videos resulting in higher relative viewing times compared with lengthier videos. Overall, this technology offers a new tool for instructors seeking to enhance student learning experiences in flipped classrooms by facilitating social, collaborative interactions with videos.

Is Organic Chemistry Helpful for Basic Understanding of Disease and Medical Education?

The objective of this study is to determine current medical students’ perspective on the importance of Organic Chemistry in premedical curriculum, or if they see more benefit in a taking a different course. Previous literature has focused on premedical students, but the current study focuses on current medical students. A qualtrics survey was sent to points of contact for medical schools asking about the utility of Organic Chemistry in undergraduate premedical curriculum. Current students included first through fourth year medical students at U.S. allopathic and osteopathic programs. All age ranges, genders. and ethnicities present in the medical school population could volunteer to participate and complete the survey. The survey opened in June of 2020 and closed on April 1, 2021. As a result, 566 students from 46 medical schools responded to the survey. The majority of medical students (54.9%) stated that Organic Chemistry helped to prepare their critical thinking skills. Ivy League students valued the course more than their non-ivy counterparts (66.7% vs 46.3%; p = 0.027), and allopathic students valued the course more than osteopathic students (49.4% vs 40.0%; p = 0.042). Based on our survey, Organic Chemistry improves critical thinking skills during medical education, suggesting that Organic Chemistry should remain a part of the undergraduate premedical curriculum. Creating a health-science-oriented Organic Chemistry course may increase its value.

Gamification of an Entire Introductory Organic Chemistry Course: A Strategy to Enhance the Students’ Engagement

Gamification of an Entire Introductory Organic Chemistry Course: A Strategy to Enhance the Students’ Engagement

Investigating student perceptions of transformational intent and classroom culture in organic chemistry courses

Within chemistry education, there are various curricular and pedagogical approaches that aim to improve teaching and learning in chemistry. Efforts to characterize these transformations have primarily focused on student reasoning and performance, and little work has been done to explore student perceptions of curricular and pedagogical transformations and whether these perceptions align with the transformational intent. To complement our previous work on the Organic Chemistry, Life, the Universe, and Everything (OCLUE) curriculum, we developed this exploratory study to determine if students had perceived the goals of the transformation. As in our previous research on OCLUE, we compared perceptions between OCLUE and a more traditional organic chemistry course. Using inductive and deductive qualitative methodologies, we analyzed student responses to three open-eneded questions focused on how students perceived they were expected to think, what they found most difficult, and how they perceived they were assessed. The findings were classified into three superodinate themes: one where students perceived they were expected to learn things as rote knowledge, such as memorization (“Rote Knowledge”), another where students perceived they were expected to use their knowledge (“Use of Knowledge”), and responses that used vague, generalized language, were uninformative, or did not address the questions asked (“Other”). Students in these two courses responded very differently to the open-ended questions with students in OCLUE being more likely to perceive they were expected to use their knowledge, while students in the traditional course reported rote learning or memorization more frequently. As the findings evolved, our interpretations and discussions were influenced by sociocultural perspectives and other cultural frameworks. We believe this approach can provide meaningful insights into transformational intent and certain features of classroom cultures.

Exploration and Practice of Ideological and Political Teaching in Organic Chemistry Courses in Colleges and Universities

In recent years, under the promotion of the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, the construction of ideological and political in colleges and universities has been in full swing. The purpose is to use the long-term operation and collaborative innovation mechanism of the new teaching model to guide college students in the new era to form a correct world outlook, outlook on life and values. Organic chemistry is a compulsory course for students majoring in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials, medicine and other related majors in colleges and universities, and it is a necessary way for students to establish basic knowledge. Taking the organic chemistry course as an example, this paper analyzes the current situation and existing problems of ideological and political teaching, puts forward strategies and suggestions for the implementation of ideological and political teaching in colleges and universities, and tries to provide a useful reference for the ideological and political education of professional courses in colleges and universities.

IMPROVEMENT OF LABORATORY WORKSHOP DURING THE STUDY OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY IN MODERN CONDITIONS

The purpose of the article is to analyze the features of conducting a small laboratory workshop as a means of studying the course of organic chemistry without the use of reagents included in the list of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances andprecursors.
 During the writing of the article, such methods of scientific research as analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization were used - to find out the state of solving the researched problem in the theory and methodology of teaching chemistry, to determine the theoretical foundations of the research, as well as a chemical experiment - to conduct experimental research and proving the effectiveness of theoretical assumptions.
 Based on the analysis of literary sources, the tasks, main functions and requirements for a chemical experiment in the process of learning organic chemistry are determined. It has been found that the problem of using a chemical experiment tostudy the basic principles of the structure of organic compounds, methods of their synthesis and properties requires further research in order to adapt the methodology of conducting experiments to the conditions under which the use of precursors andtoxic substances is limited. The greatest attention was focused on methodological aspects of reproduction and description of experiments on the oxidation of organic compounds, since most of such experiments had to be adapted to the conditions underwhich the use of potassium permanganate is prohibited.
 The results of the conducted research showed the possibility of adapting the methods of a small laboratory workshop in organic chemistry to the conditions under which the use of precursors and toxic substances is excluded. As a substitute forpotassium permanganate solution, potassium chromate and potassium dichromate solutions were used and a positive result was obtained. Developed recommendations can be used for research and conducting laboratory work in laboratories ofeducational institutions.

Students who prefer face-to-face tests outperform their online peers in organic chemistry

To test the hypothesis that students who complete remote online tests experience an ‘online grade penalty’, we compared performance outcomes of second-year students who elected to complete exams online to those who completed face-to-face, paper-based tests in an organic chemistry course. We pursued the following research questions: (RQ1) Are there performance gaps between students who elect to take online tests and those who take face-to-face tests? (RQ2) Do these two groups differ with respect to other affective or incoming performance attributes? How do these attributes relate to performance overall? (RQ3) How does performance differ between students who reported equal in-class engagement but selected different testing modes? (RQ4) Why do students prefer one testing mode over the other? We found that students who elected to take online tests consistently underperformed relative to those who took face-to-face tests. While we observed no difference between the two student groups with respect to their intrinsic goal orientation and incoming academic preparation, students who preferred face-to-face tests perceived chemistry as more valuable than students who preferred to complete exams online. We observed a positive correlation between performance outcomes and all affective factors. Among students who reported similar levels of in-class engagement, online testers underperformed relative to face-to-face testers. Open-ended responses revealed online testers were avoiding exposure to illness/COVID-19 and preferred the convenience of staying at home; the most common responses from face-to-face testers included the ability to perform and focus better in the classroom, and increased comfort or decreased stress they perceived while taking exams.

Establishment of a Tridimensional Teaching Mode for Organic Chemistry Course in Agricultural Universities: A Case Study of Jilin Agricultural University

Establishment of a Tridimensional Teaching Mode for Organic Chemistry Course in Agricultural Universities: A Case Study of Jilin Agricultural University

Calculating stabilization energies for aromatic molecules in schools – quantum chemistry, a valuable tool for teaching and education

While aromaticity is one of the most fundamental concepts in chemistry and is taught in many elementary organic chemistry courses, it is hardly possible to activate pupils and students to learn and explore this topic independently. By applying computational chemistry and especially quantum chemistry, we introduce a possibility to activate students, allowing them to test taught concepts and do their own “experiments” cheaply and securely. We have focused in the current report on the structural and energetic aspects of aromaticity, as they are most compatible with other topics of typical chemistry lessons. To evaluate the aromatic stabilization energy, we suggest the simple-to-calculate and easy-to-understand isomerization stabilization energy (ISE) popularized by Paul von Ragué Schleyer and Frank Pühlhofer some 20 years ago. As practical examples, we demonstrate our concept with benzene- and pyridine-based systems and suggest topics for small projects for students and pupils.

Student perceptions of “critical thinking”: insights into clarifying an amorphous construct

“Critical thinking” has been situated as an important skill or way of thinking in chemistry education. However, despite its perceived importance, there has not been an established consensus definition for chemistry and science education with many resources operating from working definitions. The many definitions obfuscate what “critical thinking” is and entails and thus makes it an amorphous construct within education. Previous work in chemistry education has explored how different groups define “critical thinking” and found that the groups had limited agreement. The work here seeks to expand the literature base on what we know about “critical thinking” by probing perceptions of the construct further. Using semi-structured interviews and constructivist grounded theory, I explored student perceptions of “critical thinking” in the context of organic chemistry courses. From the analysis, I generated four major themes. Students perceived that “critical thinking” (1) involved the application and use of knowledge, (2) was contrasted to passive approaches to learning, particularly rote memorization, (3) was learned from previous experiences prior to organic chemistry, and (4) was motivated by a variety of intrinsic and extrinsic forces. I assert that these overarching commonalities across student perceptions align with the previous literature and the scientific practices in three-dimensional learning, thus offering a potential way forward for clarifying the construct and being more explicit about what we want students to know and do.