Assessment of Student Performance on Core Concepts in Organic Chemistry

• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.8b00913
• Publication Date: 2019-03-25T18:14:20Z
• Authors: Naha J. Farhat; Courtney Stanford; Suzanne M. Ruder
• Keywords: Chemistry Education

Assessments can provide instructors and students with valuable information regarding student's level of knowledge understanding, in order to improve both teaching learning. In this study, we analyzed departmental assessment quizzes given at the start Organic Chemistry 2, over an eight year period. This quiz was designed test on core concepts from 1 that require use symbolic representations, such as drawing Lewis structures using curved arrows. Using statistical analysis, it found performed significantly lower than expected quiz, there no significant difference scores years analyzed. Analysis each individual question revealed approximately one-third made mistakes when converting a condensed formula or chemical name structure. For questions involved more detailed answers showing simple mechanisms, 95% errors.