I have been teaching organic chemistry with a mechanistic approach for a long time. Unfortunately, the book that I used prior to Karty tried but ultimately dropped this approach midway through the second semester of topics. In Joel’s text, mechanisms and thinking through a different lens pervade, which has prompted a number of my students … Continue reading Mechanisms and Higher Order Cognitive Skills
MCAT-2015 is Here
The new year traditionally brings a time for both reflection and looking forward. For teachers of organic chemistry everywhere, this past year stands out more than most. After years of planning, MCAT-2015 is finally upon us. I previously wrote about the challenges and opportunities this change holds for us and how we, at Middlebury College, … Continue reading MCAT-2015 is Here
Surprises from Chapter 10
Organizing a course like organic chemistry with dense material and volumes of content to cover can be incredibly daunting. At times, it seems impossible to find a balance between giving fundamental concepts the attention they require and building up the toolbox of reactions for students to use at a reasonable pace. Like many professors, I … Continue reading Surprises from Chapter 10
Free Energy Diagrams Help Free Students from Memorization
Most organic professors can agree that we want our students to understand concepts and big pictures rather than memorize a list of facts. When determining the outcome or major product of a reaction, I’ve found that using free energy diagrams is a great way to facilitate concept based understanding over memorization. But despite their long-term … Continue reading Free Energy Diagrams Help Free Students from Memorization
No Longer Dreading the Second Exam
Shortly after I began teaching, when I was still using a book organized by functional group, I came to dread the second exam of the first semester. The class would typically perform decently well on the first exam, but scores would plummet on the second one. I recently looked back at my records for a … Continue reading No Longer Dreading the Second Exam
Why a Mechanistic Organization Improves Understanding in Large Lectures
One of my favorite TV commercials is the AT&T, “Bigger is Better, It’s Not that Complicated” ad that features unscripted responses of elementary school children about why faster, bigger, larger, etc. is better. Unlike cell coverage, bigger lecture size is not necessarily better. Over the years, I have done a number of things to make … Continue reading Why a Mechanistic Organization Improves Understanding in Large Lectures
The Organization Makes Mechanisms Part of the Routine
A number of years ago I had a student come to me at the end of Organic II and ask, “What happened to the SN2 reaction?” She wanted to know why we had spent so much time on this one reaction in order to move on to the next unit and then never discussed this … Continue reading The Organization Makes Mechanisms Part of the Routine
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
Predicting the Products of an SN1/SN2/E1/E2 Competition
When I teach nucleophilic substitution and elimination reactions, I find that students typically have very little trouble drawing each mechanism and predicting the products, so long as they are specifically told which reaction. But many students find one aspect very challenging: predicting the winner of an SN1/SN2/E1/E2 competition. In my first few years of teaching, … Continue reading Predicting the Products of an SN1/SN2/E1/E2 Competition
The Chapter Every Organic Textbook Should Have
This unique chapter is the game changer for how students perceive organic reactions. Whenever I discuss Joel’s textbook with colleagues, this chapter is the first aspect of the book that I mention. Chapter 7, “An Overview of the Most Common Elementary Steps,” briefly surveys ten steps: Proton transfer SN2 Bond formation (coordination) Bond breaking (heterolysis) … Continue reading The Chapter Every Organic Textbook Should Have