NOTEBOOK HELP I N ORGANIC CHEMISTRY MOSTstudents in organic chen~istrydasses have diffioulties in copying material written on the board and therefore are unable to take down the comments made by the instructor. In the extreme case, the student who concentrates on copying from the board may actually miss the remarks of the teacher completely. In connection with an experiment of teaching organic chemistry by clased-circuit television, a new technique was tried which offers a possible solution to the above mentioned dilemma of the student, even in the conventional lecture course. Each student was supplied with a set of mimeographed sheets, which might be c d e d a prearranged notebook. These papers contained most of the material, mainly equations, which the instructor would write on the blackboard during his lectures. Sufficient space was left between the equations to give the student a chance to write additional comments a t the appropriate places. Since the sheets were mimeographed only on one side, additional space for writing was available on the backsides. These mimeographed sheets were in no Fay intended to replace the textbook, but meant, as indicated above, as an aid in taking notes. I n order to get the reactions of the students to this new device, the class received lectures with the notes for one semester and without the notes Ear the second one. Out of a class of fifty student,s only two felt that the notes did not help them, while the others felt strongly that they were able to absorb more in lecture with the help of the mimeographed sheets. In concluding, a.word of caution is in order. These notes suggested herein are only of value if the lecture sequence and the sequence of material in the notes is identical,otherwise the student, will be in a worse dilemma than without the notes. KURT C. SCHREIBER Dnsnesrr~U N ~ V E R ~ ~ T ~ PITTBBUR~H 19, P E N N B Y L Y ~ I *
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
