Organic Chemistry Have you Got It?
Challenging video quizzes and explanations
covering
a few of the essential concepts of organic chemistry
At the start of the 2020-21 academic year, in the midst of the COVID pandemic, St. Olaf College was just coming back to in-person learning, with the added need to reach students who might be quarantined or otherwise isolated.
I was faced with the daunting challenge of teaching organic chemistry in this context and needed to find a way to introduce a more asynchronous no-stakes way of checking in with my organic chemistry students.
Having no idea of the amount of energy it would take to do this, I hit on the idea of a series of "video quizzes"ťthat could be used by students asynchronously and totally on their own to see if they were ready to move forward with an organic topic.
The result was this set of 25 videos that has been a huge hit with my students at St. Olaf. Each quiz consists of just two or three questions.
The student is asked to pause the video, try to solve a problem, and then continue. I then explain how I would solve the problem.
The set is by no means a complete -- just what I could do at the start of the semester, after which point I was overwhelmed by all the other responsibilities I had that term. So, they are what they are. I offer them now free for the taking, all on YouTube. I hope you find them useful.
This site is dedicated to all my colleagues and students who suffered through that terrifying year and especially to those who rose to the occasion to innovate and find their own unique solutions to the challenges of teaching and learning during the COVID pandemic. Bravo! Thank you all!
Bob Hanson, August 2022
Part 1: Structures and Properties
Part 2: Nomenclature and 3D Structure
Part 3: Spectroscopy
Part 4: Reaction Selectivity