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Organic Chemistry, Life, the Universe and Everything (OCLUE): A Transformed Organic Chemistry Curriculum
journal contribution
posted on 2019-08-06, 12:03 authored by Melanie M. Cooper, Ryan L. Stowe, Olivia M. Crandell, Michael W. KlymkowskyThe fundamental structure of a typical
mainstream two-semester
organic chemistry course, populated mostly by life science majors
and taught at universities throughout the United States, has changed
little since the 1970s. However, much of the research on learning
in organic chemistry has been devoted to characterizing student difficulties
of various types, and there is now persuasive evidence that organic
chemistry as currently taught is neither effective nor relevant for
a majority of students. In an attempt to address the problems with
traditional approaches to organic chemistry instruction, we have developed
an approach to the design of a transformed organic chemistry course
(Organic Chemistry, Life, the Universe and Everything or OCLUE) suitable
for the vast majority of organic chemistry students that includes
(1) using the Framework of three-dimensional learning (3DL) to support
knowledge in use and (2) emphasizing biologically important mechanisms.
In this course, topics are connected to core ideas by using scientific
practices, such as constructing models and explanations, analyzing
and interpreting data, and emphasizing causal mechanistic reasoning.
Here we discuss the theory and the decisions that went into the development
of the course, including the compromises made and the rationales behind
those choices. The outcome is a course that emphasizes causal mechanistic
reasoning, has an increased focus on biologically prevalent reactions,
and uses spectroscopy early and often to support evidence-based arguments
about structure–property relationships. The materials we have
developed are freely available to students and to potential users.