Mobile devices have the potential to transform teaching and learning. While many instructors have embraced mobile devices as tools for doing old things differently (e.g., electronic vs paper quizzes), the most exciting uses are those for which the previously impossible becomes possible (e.g., “seeing” the invisible). The iPad app iSpartan has made it incredibly simple to bridge the, gap from symbolic representations of molecules on paper to “seeing” and manipulating them in 3D, as well as visualizing orbitals, electrostatic potential maps, IR, and NMR spectra. Although atoms and molecules are invisible, chemistry as a whole is a visual science at the macroscopic level. For this reason, traditional laboratory notebooks are not an ideal method for recordkeeping in chemistry experiments. Complementing notebooks with photographs and/or videos provide a far richer level of documentation. Examples of student photo logs, reaction videos, and time-lapse videos will be shown. Apps that help with documentation as well as color identification will be demonstrated. Teamwork is well known to enhance learning and is often used in lectures, though it is impractical to have all teams show their work on classroom boards. However, a collaborative whiteboard app can be used where each team is assigned their own page to work on anonymously and simultaneously. All pages can then be discussed with class-wide input, with the instructor making corrections as necessary in a predefined color. All pages can be exported by all participants as pdf documents. These whiteboards can also be used for virtual office hours and for student study groups. If time permits, other apps that have been useful in teaching organic chemistry will be discussed.

Mobile devices in organic chemistry: Apps for visualization, documentation, and collaboration

251st National Meeting (2016)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.