Teaching Of Organic Chemistry Research Articles

Small-Scale Synthesis of Dibenzyl Ketone for the Organic Chemistry Teaching Laboratory

Small-Scale Synthesis of Dibenzyl Ketone for the Organic Chemistry Teaching Laboratory

Bridging chemistry education research and practice through research-practice partnerships

This perspective article is a call to establish research-practice partnerships (RPPs) to foster collaborations between instructors and education researchers to tune into the needs of practice, share evidence-based practices, and solve modern organic chemistry education problems. I begin the article by discussing some limitations of the traditional approach of “translating” research into practice and suggest RPPs as an alternative model for “bridging” research and practice. Importantly, RPPs have been shown to address persistent problems of practice and improve educational outcomes. While more common at the secondary level, RPPs are rarely leveraged in post-secondary chemistry education. The article goes on to provide a concrete and relevant context for potential future RPP efforts to improve aspects of organic chemistry education—RPPs between education researchers and organic chemistry instructors to work toward designing, administering, and testing interventions to support learners’ representational competence (RC). RC is a set of skills that allow for the reflective use of a variety of representations to think about, communicate, and act on chemical phenomena. Current instruction often falls short of effectively supporting learners in developing RC. It is often tacitly assumed that learners will develop RC without explicit instruction that scaffolds the development of the RC skills. While it is important to improve the teaching about and with representations, implementing innovative pedagogical approaches can be challenging, particularly when instructors feel isolated in their efforts within their work environments. The RPP model could catalyze solutions to these challenges by pooling diverse expertise, thus enabling more robust and sustainable educational innovations.

Speaking of Organic Chemistry: A Faculty Metaphor Analysis in Organic Chemistry Education

Organic Chemistry is frequently considered to be a difficult subject. Understanding the factors that contribute to this phenomenon can inform the chemistry education community of what can be done to improve organic chemistry education. This work is part of a larger study focused on student and faculty perceptions of organic chemistry at a large public university in the southeastern United States. Specifically, this paper contains an analysis of metaphors from interviews with faculty members who teach organic chemistry. Over the course of the interviews, the faculty members compared experiences in organic chemistry to learning a new language, practicing an instrument, and organizing clothes. The analysis of these metaphors was based on the Improved Metaphor Analysis (IMA) framework. The connections made by these metaphors gives greater insight into the perspectives of the organic chemistry faculty members as well as possible faculty action research interventions in organic chemistry education. We propose that metaphor analysis can be a powerful and innovative tool to guide professional development and action research initiatives.

Digital Futures of Learning Pharmacology and Medicinal and Organic Chemistry.

Traditional pharmacology and medicinal and organic chemistry teaching often rely on the trusted textbook visuals. However, students may struggle to grasp mechanisms that appear too complex. Because the pandemic has mandated the majority of educators to use new techniques and innovative technology in their communication approaches with students, we offer several digital strategies for educators to explore and/or to enhance student learning. These technology-infused strategies are drawn from our cross-country (Singapore and France) teaching and research experiences and expertise.

Research on the Application of Virtual Reality (VR) Technology in the Teaching of Organic Chemistry

Research on the Application of Virtual Reality (VR) Technology in the Teaching of Organic Chemistry

A PROPAGAÇÃO DO ERRO DO pKa DA ÁGUA NOS LIVROS DE QUÍMICA ORGÂNICA

THE PROPAGATION OF THE ERROR IN THE pKa OF WATER IN ORGANIC CHEMISTRY TEXTBOOKS. In organic chemistry, the pKa is a property used to compare the acidity behavior for many substances, and to locate the position of equilibria in acid-base reactions and to provide information about structure and reactivity. Evidence in the literature shows that the values of pKa for water and hydronium ion, commonly cited in organic chemistry textbooks, are incorrect. The values of 15.74 for H2O and −1.74 for H3O+ are due to a propagated misconception in the equilibrium calculations while the correct values are 14.0 for H2O and 0.0 for H3O+. This subtle difference of 1.74 units on the pKa scale between both values reflects an error greater than 55 times in the level of acidity for these chemical species. An immediate correction of these values is necessary for the adequate teaching of organic chemistry. A literature search was conducted on the most used organic chemistry books in graduate and undergraduate courses in Brazil, revealing that almost all values cited were inadequate. The textbook Chemistry of Organic Compounds, 3rd edition (1965), by Carl Robert Noller is suggested as possible source of this misinformation in organic chemistry textbooks.

Analysis of organic chemistry students’ developing reasoning elicited by a scaffolded case comparison activity

Recent efforts in organic chemistry education research focus on investigating activities and strategies designed to elicit students’ mechanistic reasoning. This study investigates how a scaffolded case comparison activity implemented in an introductory organic chemistry course elicits and supports students’ mechanistic reasoning in an authentic classroom setting. The activity included an adaptation of a previously reported reasoning scaffold to support small-group student discussions comparing organic reactions. We analyzed students’ written responses to the in-class activity using Hammer's resources framework and Toulmin's argumentation model, interwoven to create an anti-deficit approach to exploring students’ developing reasoning. The analysis of students’ written artifacts sought to identify ways in which a scaffolded case comparison implemented in a collaborative class setting may support students’ engagement in complex reasoning and argumentation development. We found that the in-class activity elicited students’ writing about various aspects of mechanistic reasoning, including identifying explicit and implicit properties, dynamic reasoning, and multivariate reasoning. These findings indicate that the activity can engage students in complex mechanistic reasoning aspects in the classroom setting. Furthermore, this study extends the literature by detailing the nuances of students’ developing causal reasoning with energetic and electrostatic accounts as shown in their writing. The results highlight students’ emerging causal reasoning with varying levels of complexity and conceptual integration. This study provides direct implications for instructors seeking to implement similar classroom activities. The findings indicate directions for future research on the development of instructional activities and tools that further support students’ developing causal reasoning, such as adapting existing scaffolding structures to support argumentation development and the integration of challenging concepts such as energetics.

Utilizing the Imine Condensation in Organic Chemistry Teaching Laboratories to Reinforce Steric Effects, Electronic Effects, and Green Chemistry Principles

Utilizing the Imine Condensation in Organic Chemistry Teaching Laboratories to Reinforce Steric Effects, Electronic Effects, and Green Chemistry Principles

Systemic Tasks in the Teaching of Organic Chemistry

This paper builds on a previous one entitled “Systemic Tasks in the Teaching of Inorganic Chemistry” published in Chemické listy 9/2022, which explained the SATL method (Systemic Approach in Teaching and Learning), described the individual types of systemic tasks in inorganic chemistry, and provided examples. This paper aims to share examples of systemic tasks designed for teaching organic chemistry, which focus on developing higher-order cognitive processes. 89 teachers applied these systemic tasks in teaching 2136 second year grammar school students in the course of two school years (2019–2021). Upon verification, it was confirmed that systemic tasks enhanced students’ understanding of orga­nic chemistry and contributed to the development of cognitive and scientific skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, cooperation, argumentation, and result interpretation. The teachers involved in this research also provided their opinions on the pros and cons of this teaching tool in terms of motivation, deeper understanding, identifying misconceptions, and time requirements.

A Snapshot of Organic Chemistry Instruction and Curriculum over the Past 100 Years

Organic chemistry has played a rich role in the development of the field of chemistry and in the teaching and learning of chemical science. This prominence presents a challenge to summarize 100 years of innovation in the teaching of organic chemistry as part of the ongoing project in celebration of the 100th volume of the Journal. The term snapshot is apt given the size of the corpus of articles related to teaching organic chemistry. Nonetheless, a wealth of articles in a virtual issue explore the historical development of the organic curriculum, the nature of the laboratory curriculum in organic chemistry over the years, and a glance at some of the most recent innovation in the field.

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UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION Reactions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InRedditEmail C&EN, 2023, 101 (7), p 3February 27, 2023Cite this:C&EN 101, 7, 3Letters to the editorOrganic chemistryAs a footnote to Mark M. Green’s letter on how to make organic chemistry “be part of understanding the wider world, to be worth knowing” (Jan. 2, 2023, page 3), I wish to illustrate my approach to “a great story to be told.”For over 50 years I have incorporated five special topics in my sophomore organic chemistry courses starting on day 1. “Chemical Evolution” looks at the simple chemicals and chemical reactions occurring in our universe, Stanley Miller’s exotic prebiotic syntheses of amino acids and peptides, and the simple organic compounds recently found on comets and meteorites. “Insect Pheromones” is introduced during the discussion of alkanes and alkenes, with examples like muscalure, the long-chain alkene of the housefly sex pheromone (a Wittig reaction synthesis), and illustrated by the syntheses of the queen bee pheromone and the Japanese beetle sex pheromone. Halogen addition reactions of alkenes that occur in the ocean via bromonium ions are examples of the natural halogenated alkanes produced by seaweeds (the smell of the ocean), including 1,2-bromochloroalkanes formed when oceanic chloride attacks a bromonium ion generated by bromoperoxidase. “Pesticides and Herbicides” includes the natural insecticides rotenone, caffeine, pyrethrins, and cocaine. Pyrethrins are naturally occurring cyclopropanes, and physostigmine, the “drug of divine justice,” is a natural carbamate. The preparation of DDT and DDD, which includes the cancer drug mitotane, involves electrophilic aromatic substitution and carbonium ion chemistry and illustrates ortho and para ring selectivity. Vietnam defoliants, presented alongside pesticides and herbicides, involve the syntheses of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T, which illustrate nucleophilic aromatic substitution, benzyne generation, and dioxin formation. “Chemical Carcinogenesis” comprises the metabolism and chemistry of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, benzene versus toluene, aromatic amines, azo dyes, nitrosamines, and natural carcinogens (such as aflatoxin). Protein and nucleic acid chemistry includes “Chemical Warfare,” featuring tear gas, chlorine, phosgene, mustard gas, and organophosphates (such as nerve gas) and the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase. The reaction of pepper spray exemplifies the Michael reaction with nucleic acids, as do the environmental pollutants acrylamide and acrolein.Each special topic occupies 1–3 lectures of the 30–32 course lectures. The special topics and accompanying slides are intermeshed with these conventional organic chemistry topics: alkene and alkyne electrophilic addition, nucleophilic substitution (SN1, SN2), aromatic electrophilic and nucleophilic addition, aryne formation, reductive amination, carbonyl addition and condensation, conjugate addition (Michael reaction), haloform reaction, and Diels- Alder cycloaddition.It will take some work, but it’s worth the effort.Gordon W. GribbleLebanon, New HampshireMuch has already been said about the fiasco surrounding the firing of professor Maitland Jones Jr. by New York University as the result of a student petition claiming that his organic chemistry class was too difficult. Without wishing to comment on this case myself, I am reminded of a related aspect of teaching organic chemistry that I suspect others may also have experienced.Organic chemistry seems to hold a special place in the hearts and minds of most practicing physicians. Some have been left with very positive feelings about this subject, while others have very negative feelings. Both groups of doctors keenly remember how important it was for them to receive good grades in organic chemistry to be admitted to medical school.Today, when I tell my doctor that I’ve taught organic chemistry, this always draws an immediate response. Some light up with a smile and tell me how much they’ve enjoyed this class, while others frown and offer words to the contrary. When the latter happens, this does give me pause for thought. Is this the right doctor for me? On one occasion, only moments before I was anesthetized for a colonoscopy, my gastroenterologist asked me what class I was teaching at my university. When I told her it was organic chemistry, her face lit up with a smile. Oh, what a relief that was.Steven L. RegenBethlehem, Pennsylvania CorrectionsFeb. 13, 2023, page 8: In the news story about Croda’s acquisition of Solus BioTech, the caption incorrectly labels parts of the ceramide NP structure. The sphingosine group is red and the fatty acid is blue, not the other way around.Feb. 13, 2023, page 13: The news story about Alondra Nelson misidentifies the organization she is returning to. It is the Institute for Advanced Study, not the Institute for Advanced Studies. And the institute is in Princeton, New Jersey, not part of Princeton University.

Exploration and Innovation of Diversified Paths for Teaching and Research Activities in Universities: Taking the Organic Chemistry Teaching and Research Office at Shanxi Agricultural University as an Example

Exploration and Innovation of Diversified Paths for Teaching and Research Activities in Universities: Taking the Organic Chemistry Teaching and Research Office at Shanxi Agricultural University as an Example

A Brief Elaboration on the Application of Innovative Drug Research Cases in Organic Chemistry Teaching

A Brief Elaboration on the Application of Innovative Drug Research Cases in Organic Chemistry Teaching

Exploration and Practice of Integrating Ideological and Political Elements into Organic Chemistry Teaching: A Case Study on Alcohols and Phenols

Exploration and Practice of Integrating Ideological and Political Elements into Organic Chemistry Teaching: A Case Study on Alcohols and Phenols

Generalized rubric for level of explanation sophistication for nucleophiles in organic chemistry reaction mechanisms

Reaction mechanisms are central to organic chemistry and organic chemistry education. Assessing understanding of reaction mechanisms can be evaluated holistically, wherein the entire mechanism is considered; however, we assert that such an evaluation does not account for how learners variably understand mechanistic components (e.g., nucleophile, electrophile) or steps (e.g., nucleophilic attack, proton transfer). For example, a learner may have proficiency of proton transfer steps without sufficient proficiency of a step where a nucleophile and electrophile interact. Herein, we report the development of a generalized rubric to assess the level of explanation sophistication for nucleophiles in written explanations of organic chemistry reaction mechanisms from postsecondary courses. This rubric operationalizes and applies chemistry education research findings by articulating four hierarchical levels of explanation sophistication: absent, descriptive, foundational, and complex. We provide evidence for the utility of the rubric in an assortment of contexts: (a) stages of an organic chemistry course (i.e., first or second semester), (b) across nucleophile and reaction types, and (c) across prompt variations. We, as well, present a case study detailing how this rubric could be applied in a course to collect assessment data to inform learning and instruction. Our results demonstrate the practical implementation of this rubric to assess understanding of nucleophiles and offer avenues for establishing rubrics for additional mechanistic components, and understanding and evaluating curricula.

Patterns of reasoning – exploring the interplay of students’ work with a scaffold and their conceptual knowledge in organic chemistry

Reaction mechanisms are a core component of organic chemistry. Being able to handle these mechanisms is a central skill for students in this discipline. Diagnosing and fostering mechanistic reasoning is hence an important branch of chemistry education research. When it comes to reasoning about mechanisms, students often experience difficulties because they either lack conceptual understanding, cannot make appropriate inferences, or struggle to link representations to chemical concepts. Instructional tools to bridge this gap are thus required in organic chemistry education. Recently, scaffolds to support students to make connections between properties and reaction pathways as well as connecting a representation to chemical concepts are documented to be helpful to foster students’ reasoning. Although the advantage of scaffolds is reported, the question arises of how students are working with scaffolds and if scaffolds can influence students’ scores in a conceptual knowledge test. In this study, we explored in a pre–post mixed methods approach how students recruited from an organic chemistry course are working with a written scaffold. We correlated their level of causal complexity and multivariateness expressed in the scaffolds with their score in a conceptual knowledge test pre and post. The task used consisted of scaffolded contrasting cases of two addition reaction steps of a nucleophile on a carbonyl carbon. The paper-pencil test used for pre-, and posttest covered the respective conceptual knowledge. We qualitatively identified patterns along the dimensions of causal complexity and multivariateness in students’ written responses in the scaffold and looked for relationships between students’ scores in the pre- and posttest and these two dimensions. We found five different patterns in students’ responses and were able to show that the score they achieved in the pretest influenced how effectively students were supported by the scaffold. Thus, this exploratory study provides encouraging implications and insights into the use of scaffolds.

Білім алушыларға органикалық химияны онлайн оқыту барысында интерактивті технологияларды қолдану

The article discusses the use of interactive technologies in the online teaching of organic chemistry. The discipline of organic chemistry provides information about the use of interactive technologies, that is, a mobile application. In addition, in the organic chemistry lesson, it was studied how effective the use of a mobile application using a QR code was, and the result was shown. Currently, issues related to the identification of new values in order to improve the quality of chemical education, the development of personal development of students, as well as issues of learning strategies that stimulate the interest and commitment of students to natural sciences are being addressed. The main focus is on interactive learning, which applies the discipline in practice using interactive technologies. Therefore, the goal of students is to be based on interactive educational characteristics related to information and communication technologies, and on an interesting passage of the discipline.

Construction of “N-Two-N” Teaching Model and Its Exploration and Practice in Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Teaching

Construction of “N-Two-N” Teaching Model and Its Exploration and Practice in Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Teaching

Factors contributing to teachers’ conceptual difficulties in teaching high school organic chemistry

Some research works have showed that Ghanaian teachers, teaching chemistry in the senior high school, have conceptual difficulties in organic chemistry. This research explored the factors contributing to teacher’s conceptual difficulties on teaching organic chemistry to high school students. Through explanatory sequential mixed methods design quantitative data were collected using questionnaire and qualitative data, using semi-structured interviews. The questionnaire was responded to by 71 teachers teaching chemistry in 31 schools, and six teachers, purposively selected, interacted with researchers through interviews to triangulate any quantitative findings. From the quantitative data, four factors, tertiary exposure, professional collaboration, professional competence, and pre-tertiary exposure emerged. These factors were then used as themes to guide the analysis and presentation of results from the qualitative data. To inform further research, it is recommended that chemistry educators and researchers should examine the four factors that predict most of the teacher conceptual difficulties on organic chemistry.

Review on Molecular Modelling in Chemistry Education

Molecular models derived from results of quantum-chemical calculations present an important category of didactic instruments in chemistry education. These models can be used especially as tools for supporting the students’ understanding by visual learning, which can adequately address complexity of many chemical topics, incorporate appropriate didactic principles, as well as utilize the benefits brought up by the actual information technology. The proposed molecular models are non-trivial examples of didactic application of computational chemistry techniques in illustration of electron interactions in amidic group, namely the interaction of the free electron pair on the nitrogen atom with the carbonyl group and also the interaction of atoms in the amide group with other surrounding atoms in the molecule. By these molecular models it is possible to explain acid-base properties of amides applying knowledge of electron density distribution in the molecules and the resulting electrostatic potential. Presentation of the structure and properties of the amides within education is important also for the reason that amidic functions are involved in many important natural substances (e.g. proteins, peptides, nucleic acids or alkaloids), synthetic macromolecular substances (e.g. Silon) or pharmaceutical preparations (e.g. paracetamol). This paper investigated the effect of using different types of models while teaching organic chemistry on student understanding of new concepts and the spatial structure of new molecules, as well as preference of a particular model type and illustrates the possibilities of computer-assisted molecular modelling in supporting chemistry teaching and learning. Keywords: Molecular models, Acidity, Amides, Basicity, Electrostatic potential