Learning reactions in organic chemistry

[Moritz]

Cannizzaro, Wittig, Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons… If you know these names, you know the struggle to learn named reactions in organic chemistry by heart.

The number of reactions you have to know for an exam can easily rise above twohundret. Study-efficiency is therefore key.

What if we could give students an application with tools that made their learning much faster and more solid: Spaced repetitions, motivating small goals and rewards, learning in small chunks, adaptation to your own skill level.

If you are a chemist, biologist or pharmacist, this project could greatly reduce countless hours of studying.

What do you think matters when learning named reactions?

[Moritz]

A great app to learn languages efficiently is duolingo.
From my own experience it is very efficient and motivating. We can probably learn a lot from it.
https://www.duolingo.com

(I didn’t want to write this in the main post, because I didn’t want to limit the project. So it is not about making a copy of duolingo, just taking a look at its principles.)

[Karin BrownKeymaster]

Hi Moritz
Duolingo is easily one of the most successful examples of gamified learning. For a similar project that uses a mobile app for coaching, check out https://www.mobile-coach.eu/

The idea of applying something like this to academic learning for a range of topics has great potential!

[Massimo]

I’ve been working on a similar idea but tailored to content from Mathematics and Physics, since we too have a lot of concepts, equations and proofs to learn and memorize. I looked around for software and web apps able to display cards with the support of LaTeX, to render mathematical formulas nicely. Didn’t find anything so I started writing my own app, before the exam session started. I’d like to develop it further and extend it to the needs of other students.

[Stella]

Hi Massimo,
That’s so cool! I also really like the challenge to analyse the learning process, split it into reasonable steps and make it interesting. Looking forward to your app!

[Moritz]

Hey Massimo!

That’s awesome. I look forward to seeing your app and develop it further.

See you at the kickoff event!

[Diana]

Foremost, the mechanism of the reaction must be understood, secondly it helps, if the context is explained (Discoverde, use today, price in industry, place requirements, new methods)
We are nowadays used to have apps for everything. I think its great and certainly very valuable. But it take time to read and follow explanations. So each module in the app should indicate an approximate time for understanding and learning. I am curious to see the app and try it, and probably there could be a crowdsourcing tool to find out, how long pepople take (agains already known other knowledge in the field) to learn the reaction.
as time is precious, professors or teachers should take in mind, that the day has only 24 hours. So teaching will also be a point to look at. Do we need all the material or should the focus change every year so that it is also fun to teach and student projects could use the app for bachelor thesis?

[Author]

Posts