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some thoughts on teaching organic chemistry

Organic chemistry is a tremendously visual subject and is as much an art as it is a science. As a synthetic organic chemist, I am the architect, the contractor and the final inspector all at a microscopic level. The amount of material in the organic chemistry sequence can seem quite overwhelming with the number of functional groups, reactions, and mechanisms that are covered. My students, however, learn to be organized thinkers and rely much less on memorization in my class. They almost always come away with a true appreciation of a new diagnostic thought process as well as an understanding of the fundamental importance of organic chemistry.

My teaching methods now include computer modeling and have always incorporated modern instrumental methods. I read and learn constantly. Virtually all of my knowledge in theoretical and practical aspects of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) has been self-taught. As advances in biology, chemistry and information technology continue to occur at startling rates, today's students will be facing a future of constant learning. In fifteen years, most of them will be operating machines and applying techniques that simply do not exist today. My students teach me how to impart information effectively and they take organic chemistry "with" me, not "from" me. In the end, they have a desire to learn and are quite fluent in a beautiful new language.