Writing to Learn in an Organic Chemistry Course Joseph W. Wilson University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506 The literature of mathematics education is rich with articles about integrating writing into mathematics courses ( I ) .A writing-to-learn approach i s commonly employed. In this approach "writing is a way of knowing" (21, and the student is asked to reflect on the thought processes used to solve problems. In chemistry, perhaps because i t is a n experimental science, the emphasis is on writing laboratory reports (3).Examples of a writing-to-learn approach in chemistry a r e less common (4). I n Vanorden's general chemistry course (51, for example, "students must first solve a chemical problem, then they must explain, discuss or apply their results" i n one written page. I n this article I describe the use of writing in a one-semester survey course i n organic chemistry. The students were required almost weekly to solve problems and explain their solutions i n writing. We used the short course iext by hlclluny (61,and 1 emphasized mechantsttr rarionale3 fin rtuctions. About 6U students from the rollrm!t,sof agriculture, allied health (medical technology, therapy, assistants), human environmental sci.. physician . . ences (nutrition), and engineering (materials science) were enrolled. In the syllabus I explained that writing assignments were due keeklv except for exam weeks and accounted for 20% of the course grade. Papers received letter grades from A to E (40%)and for not submitting a paper the grade was 0. Although I had intended to count the best eight of the 11 assignments, in fact, I required only nine assignments and counted the best six. Three one-hour exa m s and a two-hour final accounted for the remainins! 80%. Students asked more questions about the assignments when I distributed them a week before the due date and a t about the time the concept or reaction type arose i n lecture. Although I initially asked for a one-page answer, I soon allowed them to write as much a s they needed. Typical Assignments Some typical assignments follow, 1. Explain to a friend who has just begun a course in organic chemistry haw to write a mechanism for the reaction be-
low, which neither of you has seen before. Describe the meaning of the curved arrows and the conventions employed in their use. In your explanation describe each step in words and then show the step.
adipate. (The Dieckmann condensation was not covered in this course.) The product has a ring and a molecular formula of C7HI0O3.Hint: If you will write out the mechanism leading to the product and explain it, the process should become clear. Grading Early in the course I was discouraged by the amount of time that i t took me to made the pavers. Then I found that I could quickly sort t h i papers fn& two piles: those with nearly correct answers and those with serious mistakes. More careful reading came next. The good papers were easy and fun to grade. Working from good papers to poorer ones meant t h a t I could develop distinctions between grades incrementally. At the end of the process (over a number of days) I could scan each pile for consistency. Some students wrote beautifully complete, logically developed, and clearly explained papers, and I would sometimes copy and distribute them to the class. When a n error would lead someone astray, the paper was judged on the clarity of the explanation of the process. One student, for example, clearly explained his solution to the Dieckmann condensation problem. H e went from a correct understanding of the general form of the Claisen condensation to the wrong cyclic condensation product because he used the base to remove the hvdrosen alpha to the ester oxveen instead of the hydrogen a g h a t b the carbonyl grdG. The claritv of ex~ressionand thought (for the most part) that made such a paper a pleasure to read was acknowledged and written corrections were added. Not all students submitted original work. Even i n a series of papers with identical errors, I usually could distinguish writers who understood what they were writing from those who didn't. Papers that were full of filler and demonstrated no understanding of the concept received E's. After the first assignment most papers were awarded A's and B's. The few remaining papers, the hardest to place, were assigned C's and D's. Most of the comments I wrote on the were aimed a t correcting mistakes in chemistry. I seldom corrected errors i n writing mechanics-unless I couldn't contain myself.
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Student Evaluation At the end of the course I asked students for their opinions about continuing the experiment and for a n ov&all evaluation of the procedure. I was surprised to find unanimous approval. They liked the writing assignments because: 1. Writing forced them to keep up to date in the course. "It
2. Teach someone how to do the following problem [unknown
alkene plus ozone yields Z,&heptanedionel. It's not enough to get the right answer. You must put into words the logic you used, so that the other person can do a similar problem an his or her own. 3. Exdain how the two reactions below looen . chain elucose t o (3-1)-gluenpyrnnnxe and glura~eplw fructose tu i u crosrl arc nnnlnaous to the resrtlon of a n aldehyde wtth an alcohol to form, first n h~mlaceral,md then a n aueral. 4. Tewh romeone how to go from t h e general fwm of the ofs aprc~ficappl~eaClalsen condensation to the snlt~t~on tiun, t h v intl-smolcculnrClnism cnndmsmon ofdtrnrthyl
. .
also makes one read the material and hasicallv* keeu uo lnitesd nf trying to comprchrnd i t all at one rime Thc gwd point almut t h e m is that you ran dismwr i f you're lost b f w e the exam, as you go along, that m a y you don't get too far behind." 2. Writing helped students at test time because they mare thorouehlv understood the tooics about which they had written. "i found that when ii came to study for t
