The "Organic Web" as a Teaching Tool

By: Matthew Dintzner
Department of Chemistry

The future of chemistry education will unquestionably be shaped by new electronic technologies, especially innovative use of the Internet to present and navigate course content. For several years I have been developing an on-line resource, called Organic Web, for teaching and learning organic chemistry.

Organic Web is an interactive web site that allows for presentation of course content through a concept-map interface that encourages students to see the "big picture" while also making detailed information accessible through a series of "clicks." The web-like structure of the Internet allows for a much more logical presentation of the subject matter of organic chemistry (which is itself web-like) than is possible with traditional textbooks (even those that have been converted to e-books). Textbooks are linear in structure, by design, and promote memorization or surface learning of the material, which rarely leads to success. While some authors (Paula Bruice, for example) have developed a more mechanistic approach to presenting the material (as opposed to the classic functional group approach), I think that students still struggle with seeing the "forest" (the big picture) through the "trees" (all of the many details). This is not so much a fault of the student as it is a challenge inherent to the subject matter of organic chemistry. I strongly believe this challenge can be overcome by making use of the Internet to more explicitly and clearly present the big picture while making all the details accessible in a more contextual way.

The main page of Organic Web consists of a map of reactions that represents the big picture of organic chemistry; it shows all of the major types of organic compounds (alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, alkyl halides, alcohols, ethers, epoxides, carbonyl compounds and aromatic compounds) connected by the reactions that allow for their inter-conversion. Each compound and each arrow in the map can be "clicked" to open a new page with more detailed content (both written and visual) about that particular compound or reaction.

In summary, Organic Web is a web-based system for presenting the subject matter (course content) of organic chemistry in a non-linear way. This has the advantages of: (1) making the "big picture" more clear; (2) making connections between structure and reactivity more explicit; (3) allowing students to access detailed information more contextually; (4) allowing for seamless incorporation of other electronic technology (animations, whiteboard videos, on-line assessment).