Abstract

LAVAGGI, M. Laura et al. Using experimental seminars to support the first theoretical course of Organic chemistry. Educ. quím [online]. 2015, vol.26, n.3, pp.202-211. ISSN 0187-893X.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eq.2015.05.005.

Our first Organic chemistry course, where the main functional groups, their physicochemical properties and their syntheses are presented, has a strictly theoretical exposure. For this reason, in many subjects, especially physical properties and acid-base properties of organic compounds and functional groups identification reactions, students fail to pass the barrier of meaningful learning. Thus, as a way to complement and strengthen the students' knowledge acquisition, we proposed to implement a series of simple and attractive experimental seminars. Attendance to them and completion of small experimental individual quizzes were included as a requirement to pass the course. Both the results of experimental and theoretical quizzes indicated an improvement in meaningful learning of the subject compared to previous years. On the other hand, the degree of satisfaction and acceptance of students for this modality was very high.

Keywords : Organic chemistry; Experimental seminars; Colorful reactions; Visual tests; Simple experiments; Reproducible experiments; Meaningful learning.