Peer Review

Update 3 - Organic Chemistry 216

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Mar 15, 2015 by Chemistry

Bookmark

Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: This is a lab unit titled "Synthesis and Characterization of Carbonyl Compounds". The URL should be "http://ch216sp12syllabus.pbworks.com/w/page/52697575/FrontPage" which takes one to the heart of the unit. Getting to this point is painful! If one clicks on the URL from MERLOT one arrives at "Open.michigan", "Michigan Education through Learning Objects". Do NOT click on "down load all materials" unless you have far more patience than this reviewer who gave up the download after a ten minute wait! Do click on "materials" and scroll down to "Chemistry 216 PBWorks Wiki". Click on this link and you'll arrive at "http://ch216sp12syllabus.pbworks.com/w/page/52697575/FrontPage"!
Type of Material:: This material is a presentation of all of the material to be covered in the course. The sidebar has every experiment listed as well as other information necessary for the course. It is designed to be a supplement to the actual lecture/lab.
Recommended Uses:: It is a lab manual for a specific lab course. The recommended use is self-directed study, individual and team work and lab preparation
Technical Requirements:: There are no technical requirements besides having access to a comupter and the internet.
Identify Major Learning Goals:: The major learning goals are centered around reactions of carbonyl compounds. The lab is focused on derivatization of carbonyls using various transformations. Reactions include: Esterification, Nucleophilic addition to carbonyls by Grignard reagents, reduction of carbonyls to alcohols, aldol condensation, the Wittig reaction etc. The module does not present any mechanisms therefore the goals are to reinforce principles taught in lecture and familiarize the students with: a. writing reaction schemes b. remembering reagents and products c. writing a lab report d. keeping a laboratory notebook e. lab safety protocols f. familiarity with literature citations g. familiarity with online chemical databases and h. familiarity with spectroscopic techniques and interpretation of spectroscopic data.
Target Student Population:: This is for students enrolled in Organic Chemistry I lecture and lab
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: General Chemistry and Organic chemistry classes.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: The content is very well organized. The navigator on the sidebar is well done and the ability to toggle between "page" and "file" is nice because if a student does not have chemical drawing software, the reaction scheme files are readily available for use in a report.
Concerns:: This is a lab site for a specific lab course. It presents no novel features. The safety section is very brief. I would like to see some pre-lab exercises.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:: The items are all well explained and they are well organized. Each experiment includes a detailed procedure and also includes links to concepts that the particular experiment will cover.
Concerns:: The actual learning goals are not explicitly stated- but the techniques that the students are expected to learn are included in each experimental module. It might help to have the Student Learning Outcomes listed in the syllabus.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:: The site is very well put together and very well organized. It is easy to navigate and there are not any broken links.
Concerns:: Getting to the site is a problem. The site is not very easy to locate. The only way that I found the site was to look at the other reviewer's notes to locate the correct link.

Other Issues and Comments:: Change the URL to "http://ch216sp12syllabus.pbworks.com/w/page/52697575/FrontPage" The site itself is a great way to organize information and put in a place where it is readily accessible to students. I also like the fact that the site encourages interdisciplinary sharing of information. They have links to various open source materials which is awesome. This is a very innovative way to deliver information to the students and takes advantage of this technologically inclined generation.
Creative Commons: