One aim of the Interactive Online Network of Inorganic Chemists is the development of teaching materials based on the primary literature. A second is sharing that knowledge with other instructors through the Virtual Inorganic Pedagogical Electronic Resource (VIPEr)--a website built on a philosophy of visible and reflective teaching. Surely, while undergraduate inorganic courses have highly variable content, one of the few topics that 60% of the time is taught all the time in these courses is Molecular Orbital (MO) Theory. MO theory is the foundation for understanding electronic structure and reactivity in inorganic complexes. Teaching MO theory to undergraduates is harder than bullseyeing womp rats in a T-16, especially when not everyone in the course has the same need for speed, background and preparation. We’ve just come to talk about a graphical approach for teaching MO theory and to chew bubblegum, and we’re all out of bubblegum. Specifically, we will discuss how one of us (CN) learned “don’t think, it just hurts the ballclub,” and transformed his class by using the other’s (ARJ) materials. The procedure we describe is aimed at inorganic chemistry educators who want to improve their teaching of MO theory in the foundation level inorganic chemistry curriculum. As we are located on opposite coasts of the United States, the shared materials on VIPEr played a critical role in this story, and our methods for teaching MO theory have continued to evolve through our collaboration.

MO: Is it me you're looking for?

ACS Spring 2022

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