Like many chemists, I am not much help to the biology, biomedical, and medical students that come to my office with queries ranging from anatomy to physiology. Though a prerequisite for my degree, biology was never a true passion of mine. Likewise, many biology majors despise chemistry. In fact, a number of the biology majors … Continue reading Are Mechanisms Just for Chemistry Majors?
Starting the Semester with My Biology Students in Mind
Like so many other organic courses, at my school approximately two-thirds of organic students are biology majors. Of these, most have some sort of pre-health professional aspiration. Because of this audience alongside my chemistry and biochemistry majors, I come to my organic classroom (as I know many of you do!) with two sets of course … Continue reading Starting the Semester with My Biology Students in Mind
What I Want my Students to Be Able to Do by the End of the Quarter
When designing a course, many of us focus on content, with questions like ‘How do I cover the text in 30 weeks?’. This year, however, my course design started with a different question: ‘What do I really want students to get out of the organic chemistry sequence?’ and more immediately, ‘What do I want my … Continue reading What I Want my Students to Be Able to Do by the End of the Quarter
The Three M’s: Motivating, Modernizing, and MCAT
At most colleges and universities, students enrolled in organic chemistry come from a variety of majors and pre-professional programs. At St. Kate’s, the organic sections are a 20/20/40 split of chemistry, food & nutrition science, and biology majors. Twenty percent of our students are enrolled in organic in order to fulfill prerequisites for a variety … Continue reading The Three M’s: Motivating, Modernizing, and MCAT
The Benefits of a Mechanistically Organized Book When Teaching a 2-cycle Approach
Two-cycle organic chemistry is a pedagogical approach that has gained in popularity over the last couple decades. It’s a rather simple idea: The first semester course is treated as something of a survey, dealing primarily with the fundamentals, whereas the second semester revisits many of the same topics from the first semester, but treating them … Continue reading The Benefits of a Mechanistically Organized Book When Teaching a 2-cycle Approach
How Should Biochemical Topics Be Treated in an Organic Textbook?
In most organic chemistry courses, the majority of students are biology majors and/or have their sights set on a career in medicine or other health-related field. My own course is no different. Therefore, like many organic instructors, I believe that students ought to see the relevance of organic chemistry to biology and medicine. Why is … Continue reading How Should Biochemical Topics Be Treated in an Organic Textbook?
What About Nonmajors and Pre-health Students?
I am convinced that students learn organic chemistry best when we teach them how to work with mechanisms prior to delving into predicting products and devising syntheses. And when dealing with reactions, it is important to organize reactions according to mechanism, in order for students to have a sustained focus on mechanisms throughout the year. … Continue reading What About Nonmajors and Pre-health Students?