Organic chemistry is a tough subject for most students. Finding ways to motivate students and enhance student learning continues to be an important area of pedagogical research<i>. </i>Here we report the outcome of a teaching tool that was incorporated into my organic chemistry course (second semester of organic chemistry). Students were encouraged to submit a weekly report on Molecule of the Week from the ACS website (https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/molecule-of-the-week.html) during the semester. The Molecule of the Week is a great way to introduce students to a variety of interesting molecules which are closely related to our everyday life. The assignment provided opportunities to incorporate writing and literature searching in the curriculum. Students were encouraged to search for and study the following aspects of each Molecule of the Week: physical properties, how it was found/synthesized, functional groups on the structure, chemical properties, safety information, applications of the material, etc. A guideline for the report was provided to the students at the beginning of the semester. At the end of the semester, students were required to submit a survey on their feedback on this activity/process. The qualitative and quantitative survey results will be presented. The students enjoyed this fun and interesting activity. It helped them understand the course material and its significance and it also helped them to achieve more on learning organic chemistry. Students really learned the relevance of organic chemistry in their lives through learning the Molecule of the Week and doing the related literature search on the molecule.

Enhancing student learning with Molecule of the Week from ACS

256th National Meeting (2018)

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