As any professor knows, the decision to change to new textbook is one that we don’t take lightly. Often, we have used a single book for several years and have a good handle on how to spread that text out throughout a semester efficiently. Maybe we have assignments and exams tailored to a specific text … Continue reading Textbook Cost: Is One Home Run Really Better than Two Doubles?
First Impressions: The Big Switch, Part 2
The big switch (and what a switch it was), as this blog title suggests, is my reflections and thoughts on switching from a traditional functional group teaching approach to the mechanism-based teaching approach found in Karty’s textbook. My first blog (The Big Switch, Part 1) summed up my feelings and thoughts as I approached my … Continue reading First Impressions: The Big Switch, Part 2
First Impressions: The Big Switch, Part 1
My entire academic career as both a student and as an instructor, I have always taught or been taught organic chemistry using the functional group approach: beginning with the tried and true method of labeling chapters by functional groups and then moving on to learn how to name, synthesize, and react with the functional group … Continue reading First Impressions: The Big Switch, Part 1
Flipping the Script: Mechanistic Organization Encourages Cooperative Learning
When I first heard Joel Karty speak about his mechanistic organization in his organic chemistry text around 2016, I had also heard a lot of buzz about flipping the classroom. I was very curious about trying this in my own classroom, but implementing self-directed learning with a more intricate discipline like organic chemistry can seem … Continue reading Flipping the Script: Mechanistic Organization Encourages Cooperative Learning
Karty’s Method Stands Alone, and With It So Can Your Students
One of the biggest (and sometimes the most difficult) decisions to make when teaching a course is the textbook choice. Knowing if you made the right decision can be tough to tell. Well, last semester I got some unsolicited feedback from students that put my mind at ease about deciding to adopt Joel Karty's Principles … Continue reading Karty’s Method Stands Alone, and With It So Can Your Students
In Favor of Putting Pen to Paper
With the advent of increasingly sophisticated, convenient, and useful online homework programs, is there any place left for the classic pencil and paper textbook problems? I will have to preface this by going ahead and stating my general biases. Probably the most effective way to do this would be to tell you all that in … Continue reading In Favor of Putting Pen to Paper
The First Semester: A Slower Pace Wins the Race
In my last post, Results of Four Years of Teaching the Mechanism, I talked about the increasing ACS Organic Exam scores I have observed in my students over the previous four years of using the Karty approach. As I am preparing for the 5th year and the first time using the second edition this Fall, … Continue reading The First Semester: A Slower Pace Wins the Race
Results of Four Years of Teaching the Mechanism
I adopted the Karty textbook four years ago. I had been using a book organized by functional group but focused on the subject from a mechanistic approach. When it came to choosing a new textbook, I reviewed most of the textbooks on the market and asked my current and previous students their opinions of each … Continue reading Results of Four Years of Teaching the Mechanism
What’s in a NOM? Nomenclature that Actually Makes Sense.
One aspect of Karty’s text that surprised me when I began using the book was the separation of nomenclature into individual sections. My previous experience, going all the way back to my days as a student, was to have the introduction to naming tucked into other material, usually served along side the properties of alkanes, … Continue reading What’s in a NOM? Nomenclature that Actually Makes Sense.
A Famous Pair, and No it isn’t Sonny and Cher
When teaching SN1 and SN2 reactions to my students, this famously difficult duo is made perfectly manageable by breaking down their mechanisms side by side. I always explain to my students that these concepts can be learned and understood much like any of history's great pairs. Like Tom & Jerry, Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum, … Continue reading A Famous Pair, and No it isn’t Sonny and Cher