Robert 8. Smith Nevada Southern University Las Vegos
A Break with Instructional Traditions in Organic Chemistry
Amid the continuing chemistry cunicnlum ferment, occasional voices have been raised in support of revising time-honored instructional methods as well (1, 8). Their prime target has been the lecture class. Such suggestions are past due for the teaching of organic chemistry. I n the first place, elementary organic classes, perhaps more than other branches of the science, have long been in need of overhaul. True, there used to be a reason for their sad state. Prior to about 1960, one had little choice but to present the subject descriptively. It lent itself beautifully to the production of reams of meticulously organized lecture notes, to be unfurled across the blackboard for rapid transcription through unhearing ears into waiting notebooks. The author recalls "learning" organic chemistry via Saturday morning sessions spent memorizing the week's lecture notes for later regurgitation. Scarce cash had been invested in a textbook, which lay untouched except for occasional searches for answers to laboratory manual questions. (Actual reading of the book was deferred until a later summer, an experience which showed that little had been lost through neglecting the book.) The dreariness of this course was offset only by a fortunate fascination with the subject matter and a measure of personal interest shown by the professor. Another reason for the timeliness of suggestions for change is that during the current decade certain changes in textbook content have made possible some radical changes in teachmg methods. Textbooks are now available which make explicit use of modern structural theory as a unifying framework for understanding the behavior of organic substances, and which-even more important-are written not as encyclopedias for factual reference, but as personal textbooks containing highly understandable expositions of phenomena and concepts, and multitudes of respectable problems. Nonetheless, it appears likely that most students of organic chemistry receive the new content shaped in the old mold (3). As one attempt to develop a more suitable mold, the introductoryorganic course a t Nevada Southern has been taking shape during the past five years. This course is generally populated by less than forty students, predominantly chemistry and premedical majors a t the sophomorelevel. The small class size has fostered innovation with results which certainly The paper here presented is in response E D ~ o R 'NOTE: s to the invitation extended readers of The Editorially Speaking page in THIS JOWNAL43, 281 (1966). The invitation still stands!
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will not be universally applicable; but the circumstances are not unusual, and others may be interested in the direction taken here. The Conduct of the Course
Individual study, reinforced by examinations, constitutes the heart of the course--a seemingly normal situation. But here the individual student is not isolated to sink or swim on his own. Class meetings are recognized as a useful, though not always necessary, bridge between study and examination. They are not for transmission of knowledge (lectures have been largely discarded) so much as for the purpose of conveying encouragement and example in approaching the subject of organic chemistry (cf. 8). With such a purpose, the instructor finds himself freed from some familiar restrictions. There is no need to "cover" a certain amount of ground every fifty minutes. Time is not quite so critical a consideration in scheduling the year's work. There is time in class for soliciting students' questions and using them as springboards for discussion, which is usually more beneficial to the majority than consideration of topics preselected solely by the instructor. Questions and problems can be posed to the class or to particular individuals. There is time for such instructive diversions as the well-known "blue bottle" experiment (4), which can consume a considerable amount of class time, but proves surprisingly valuable. The goal is to prod the students into participating actively, bringing their minds as well as their eyes, ears, and hands to bear on classroom events. Although notetaking is not prohibited @),experience reveals that little time is wasted in the verbatim transcribing of notes; gone is the familiar bowing of heads in unison as the instructor drives home a too obvious Significant Point. This sort of classroom operation presents its peculiar requirements, however. One is the existence of a suitable textbook, as well-written volume whose authors do not hesitate to consume words and space in explaining abstract concepts, illustrating their application, and providing carefully constructed problems which cause the reader to think.' Another requirement is that students come to class well prepared for consideration of the day's topics. Readmg and problem assignments are distributed for a full semester a t a time, and the students are required 1 Ours has been Morrison and Boyd; others are suitable (1). The efficacy of a. good textbook was shown when, for several weeks at the start of one school year, the instructor's ill health forced the students to work essentially on their own. No adverse effect on performance was noticeable!
to read ahead and turn in pertinent homework problems before a topic is considered in class. The homework is merely monitored as to quantity of work done; since the students have the answers available2 there is no need for grading. As this homework does not have a direct bearing on their grades, they quickly realize that it is strictly for their own good. Examinations tend to convince them that problem-working is indispensable. The examination philosophy of the course is admittedly a bit ambitious for a state university drawing average students, but it has corroborated the notion that students generally are capable of more than is expected of them (5). Although exam averages are notoriously low in this course a t Nevada Southern, complaints are amazingly rare. And the students seem to be learning as much or more than students el~ewhere.~ They are confronted with hour examinations a t about two-week intervals. Exame serve both as a guide for the instructor following a student's progress and as part of the learning process for the student. Here again, no attempt is made a t comprehensive coverage of material. A select few (four to seven) problems are posed, most of which in some way take the student beyond the limits of his prior experience. He is told in advance that it is not enough simply to remember the knowledge that is spooned out of the textbook; he must study and understand it well enough to use it under new circumstances. To give him an inkling of what to expect, complete sets of the previous year's examinations are kept on reserve in the library. Careful construction of exam problems has made it possible to repeat many of them in slightly altered form a t intervals of two to three years, and to use open-book final exams. There has been no evidence of cheating thus far, possibly because these questions are of such a nature that a student must have learned quite a bit to compose a good answer. Another insidious (to some) property of these semi-essay exam problems is that the student is to some extent, by the very nature of the exam, tested on his ability simply to read and write, a desirable feature of any college course. The instructor grades all exams in order to maintain closer contact with the individual student's progress and to aid in preparing for the classroom post mortem which follows each exam. Certainly there is a real danger in heavy reliance upon a textbook. Today textbooks tend to become dated a t an early agealthough the good ones suffer this fate less rapidly than most. I n some fields there may be no published text suited to a particular in'The publisher's answer book for problems is sold a t the campus bookstore. a To the extent that results on the ACS Organic Chemistry Examination, Form 1964, are meaningful, it is noteworthy that the average (mean) performance of our students during the three years since the publication of the exam has been 70th percentile. The students are by no means primed for this particular test; it is a complete change of pace from the type of exam to which they are accustomed ......-'Two such systems now being manufactured are the ~
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"SELECT-A-LESSON" system by RCA Instructional Electronics, Camden, N.J., and the "DIALOG" system by Chester Electronic Laboratories, Chester, Conn. (distributed in the West by A. V. Electronics, Fresno, Calif.). Other similar devices have been noted in a recent "Editoridlv Speaking" column ( 8 ) .
structor's taste. And any text, no matter how good, is bound to contain gaps, or passages which require clarification or deeper penetration. The traditional mimeographed notes usually handle such problems, but a more personalized means, such as a dial-access remote tape retrieval ~ y s t e m may , ~ soon become geuerally available. This is one promising technical innovation which is beginning to enjoy widespread popularity.' The system allows the instructor to videotape brief discussions or demonstrations which the student may replay a t his convenience. It also permits a student to sit through a worthwhile lecture more than once, bypassing the feverish, oneshot aspect of the conventional lecture. Thus electronic hardware may well be used as more than a gimmick. Perhaps it may even be a means toward closer faculty-student contact. The laboratory
A major weak point in the Nevada Southern course for some time was the laboratory work. One problem, eventually rectified, was that local circumstances dictated that laboratory be an optional, separate course, thus preventing close coordination with the more abstract work of the classroom. Much thought had gone into setting the scene for useful class meetings, and an obligation existed to provide a similarly productive atmosphere in the laboratory. A4uch has been written on the subject of laboratory instruction (7). Our own format is still in flux with much yet to be determined about the curriculum, but two main considerations are shaping it a t present. First, one of the recognized functions of laboratory work is to acquaint students with representative techniques, tools, and materials used by organic chemists. Most published laboratory manuals set an additional goal, that of acquainting the student in practice with a variety of classes of compounds. This becomes a criterion for the selection of experiments, but is unfortunately nothing more than an artificial, editorial device. I n the student's immediate laboratory experience there are just three classes of substances inherently demanding their own techniques of manipulationsolids, liquids, and gases. It is doubtful whether a student who has just carried out operations of refluxing, extraction, evaporation, and distillation to produce a colorless, liquid ketone will become acquainted with much more by carrying out the same sequence of operations to produce a colorless, liquid carboxylic acid. Repetition has its value in sharpening technical skill, but not in broadening the student's acquaintance with compound classes. His acquaintance is with the slightly yellowish liquid in the flask; the ketone or acid exists mainly on paper. On the other hand, additional preparations which acquaint him with new techniques-paper, thin-layer, column or gas chromatography; carbon-14 tracer applications; infrared and visible spectroscopy; Emetic studies; micro- versus macro-scale, etc.-do expand his experimental horizons. To the extent that limited budgets allow, this is a fruitful direution in which to move. The other chief consideration in designing laboratory Volume 44, Number 3, March 1967
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work is the obvious one that in the laboratory the student has his golden opportunity to take part in scientific enterprise, investigating where the result is unknown (at least to him and his colleagues), in order to learn through experience how chemists reason out problems and verify their solutions. This aspect has been thoroughly discussed elsewhere (8). I n summary, it is not by accident that the Nevada Southern organic chemistry course has developed along lines similar to those envisioned bv Lambert (.1,) and bv Battino (2). Many of its feature'are obvious reactions to traditional inadequacies. ~t is strongly based on the student's ability to read the textbook with understanding and his willingness to strike into the unknown
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at examination time. The instructor's role is prim:~rily one of general direction and encouragement. Cited (1) LAMBERT, F. L.,J. CHEM.EDUC.,40. 173 (1963). (2) B A ~ N O R.,, J. CHEM.EDUC.,43, 281 (1966). (3) Subjective impressions are reinforced by such wrnmeo(a as those in a recent book review: TEEBLOT,>I., J. CHEM. EDUC.,43, 337 (1966). (4) CAMPBELL. J. A.. J. CHEM.EDUC..40. 578 (196Bi. ( 5 ) NASK,L. K., J. &EM. EDUC.,43; 339 (1966). (6) LIPPINCO~', W. T-, J. CAM. E m . , 43, 397 (1966). (7) Among numerous examples, including Reference (8) below: CHERONIS, N. D., J. CHEM. EDUC.,39, 102 (196"). (8) Amangothers, YOUNG, J. A., J. CHEM.EDUC., 43, 1211(l!~(iF).
