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Ian R Gould  > igould@asu.edu CHM 234 : General Organic Chemistry II  > Spring 2012
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Here is Some General Study Advice

     

Organic chemistry is difficult because you are required both to be familiar with a number of facts, and also how to use and apply them. You can not get through this course just by memorizing, nor can you get through it by working everything out. You have to do some of both. You have to know the vocabulary of organic chemistry, and you also have to be able to use it in a reasoned way.

The only way to learn the material is to work problems! Do not get caught in the trap of thinking that you can study the material just by reading it. You have to study organic chemistry with a pencil and paper!

The textbook is an excellent resource, however, I often surprise students by telling them not to read the textbook! I don't really mean it, of course, I just want to draw their attention to the fact that reading the textbook should not be their primary study method. The problem with the textbook is that it is easy to read, it has nicely colored diagrams, everything makes sense, the concepts look familiar. However, it lulls you into a false sense of security. As you read it, you think that you know the material. However, understanding the material is very different from being able to do organic chemistry problems. On the tests, you aren't asked whether you read and understood the textbook, you are asked to solve problems you have never seen before.

Here is a suggested study strategy:

Start with the notes. They are shorter than the textbook, and summarize what you are expected to know. Flip through them and make a summary of the basic topics (e.g. reaction energy diagrams, meso compounds, preparation of alcohols etc). Look at this list and if there is anything that you know you really don't know, then read the notes related to that part (only). If you still don't understand, then go to the textbook to get a different explanation. Just read the part you don't understand and then return to your summary. Then go to the problems in the textbook, or other assigned problems. For each problem you should recognize which of the basic topics is being tested. If you get a problem wrong and you don't understand it, then return to the notes (and the book if necessary). This way you use problem-solving to tell you what you don't know, you don't waste time reading material that you don't need to.

You are not supposed to get all of the problems right! (first time). Doing a problem, geting it wrong, finding out why, trying it again later and getting it right is an important way that you learn. Make a note of all problems you get wrong, find out why you got them wrong, and return to them a few days later when you have (hopefully) forgotten the answers. Each problem you get right that you previously got wrong shows that you have learned something. It actually feels pretty good when you start to get the problems right, you build confidence and you know you are learning. Don't get discouraged and give up when you initially get the problems wrong and resort to just reading the textbook because it is easier. If you can't get any of the problems right, then you will need to start with a different way of studying, for example, by writing out an abbreviated form of the notes. You learn by writing, not by reading. If you don't understand something and the textbook doesn't help, then seek help from your instructor or a TA sooner rather than later!

Some of the problems you will do are easier than you will see on the tests, because you need to start getting the easy ones right before you can do the more difficult ones. Look at old tests to get a better idea of what will be expected of you. The tests will generally include problems with a range of difficulties, including some hard ones.

Do the problems honestly, without having the solution manual open in front of you. Don't do the following.... you try a problem, it takes you a long time, you eventually get it right. Then you look at the next problem, it looks hard... it looks like it will take a long time... it looks a bit like the one you just got right anyway... you really don't want to be doing this and would rather be somewhere else... you sneak a look at the solution manual, "Oh yeah, I would have got that one right!". No, you need to PROVE that you can get the problems 100% correct on your own.

Study in a group if it is truly helpful. However, if you work with someone who works fast, don't let them finish the problems for you then say to yourself "I would have got that". The fact is that you just didn't, and unless you can PROVE that you can do them on your own, you won't be able to do them on the test. If your study partner is slowing you down or is going too fast for you, then get a new one quickly, this isn't the time to worry about being a good friend!

HERE IS THE NUMBER ONE PROBLEM I FIND THAT STUDENTS HAVE. A student comes to me saying "I understand this stuff, I can do it, why do I do badly on the tests?" They are understandably frustrated. I usually then ask what problems they did, then write one on the board in my office and ask them to solve it in front of me. Guess what, they usually can't, or they make a small but significant error that loses them points on the test. So now we learn that they can't do the problems on the test, or in my office. This simply means that the student doesn't understand the difference between understanding and doing. Understanding usually isn't the biggest problem in organic, it is realizing that just because you understand something this doesn't mean that you can do problems correctly. You need to practice the concepts that you have learned so that you can apply them in different contexts. In my opinion, it is this learning to apply concepts outside the context in which you learned them that is the whole point of studying organic chemistry. This is why I put problems within the notes, and continually remind you of the difference between understanding and doing. So, you need to work problems and not "cheat" (to save time) by looking at the solution manual before you fully answer each question. Students often assume that they can do certain problems without testing themselves properly, "Oh, I know how to do those questions", except when the midterm comes around they find out that they can't. It takes a LOT OF TIME to test yourself properly before an exam. If you do a problem and get it wrong, even though you know WHY you got it wrong, you can't tell yourself that you know how to do that problem now. The only thing you have do so far is PROVE that you can't get the problem right. You need to make note of everything you get wrong and then go back and do it again until you can PROVE that you can get it right.

HERE IS THE NUMBER TWO PROBLEM I FIND THAT STUDENTS HAVE. A student comes to me saying "I understand that I need to practice lots of problems, and I do all of the problem sets, but I keep missing points on the test, why is this?" They are understandably frustrated (again!). The problem is basically the same as above but to a different degree. In this case the student is working hard at the problems and gets them mainly correct and understands the small errors that he/she makes. The mistake the student then makes is that they say "I understand that small problem, I can do these". What they should be saying instead is "AAAAARGH!! I MADE A SMALL MISTAKE AGAIN! I WILL MAKE THAT SAME SMALL MISTAKE ON THE TEST AND LOSE POINTS!" while pulling at their hair and banging their head against the wall! Once you have learned that doing problems helps, you next have to take it to the next level and aim for eliminating ALL ERRORS. Don't be tempted to say "Oh yeah, I can do these", the tests prove that you can't at least not to your satisfaction! At this point I say to the student. "what is your LEAST favorite color?" Then, "find a large card in that color, and write on it in large letters "I MUST ELIMINATE THE SMALL ERRORS TO DO WELL IN ORGANIC". Put that card on your desk every time you study organic chemistry. If you do a problem and get it mostly right but make a small mistake, you can't tell yourself that you got it right and won't make the same mistake again, the only thing you have do so far is PROVE that you will lose points on the next test. You have to tell yourself that you just got it WRONG, and that until you can go back and do that problem AGAIN perfectly, you WILL lose points on the next test. You need to make careful note of everything you get even a bit wrong, YOU HAVE TO ELIMINATE THE SMALL ERRORS TO DO WELL IN ORGANIC!

HERE IS THE NUMBER THREE PROBLEM I FIND THAT STUDENTS HAVE. Students tell me they get "test anxiety". Here is a possible cure that I know has worked for other students because they TOLD me it did! If you can prove to yourself that you can do problems honestly, before the test, as described above, then you will NOT be as anxious! You may even look forward to the test because you know that you know the material. If you know you can't do the book problems and you haven't tried them more than once, then of course you will be anxious during the test. I find that a lot of "test anxiety" is a result of being overwhelmed and not properly knowing the material. Try to study the way that I suggest, convince yourself that you CAN do the problems, then your confidence will build and your anxiety should diminish.

One small difficulty in doing problems is that they are given "in context". When you see a question on a test you aren't told that it is from Chapter X and on subject Y. When you do problems in Chapter 5 in the book you know they are stereochemistry problems (or whatever), and anyway the previous question was a stereochemistry problem, and so will the next one etc. Furthermore, there is often something on the page that you can't help looking at that helps you do the problem in the book. When you work problems, try writing the question down on a blank piece of paper, then close the book. You will then have to do a question as it appears on a test, there will be nothing else on the page to help you. If you can do the questions that way, then you should be able to do them on the test.

You have to test yourself before I test you. You should go into each test knowing how well you are going to do. Test yourself to see if you know reagents, mechanisms and reaction products etc perfectly. When studying, if you find something you don't know, make a note of it and made sure that you practice it again next study period.

I have observed that people who carry heavy course loads or work many hours outside school tend to be disappointed in their performance in Organic. There isn't much that I can do about that. Importantly, most people also tend to maintain their positions in class throughout the semester. Do well on the first test and you tend to do well on the rest of the midtems and on the final. Unfortunately, the reverse is also, look at the plots below as a typical example. If you want to do well you will need to start working straight away, if you leave it late for the first test you WILL be disappointed.

This course will require you to work hard, probably harder than many other ASU courses. Although there are many benefits to taking courses that make you work hard, you will have to work in this course not because I decided that you have to, but because it is inherent in the subject. The problem is that some students will work very hard and still not earn the grade that they want. Unfortunately, this is also the inherent nature of the course and the material. In this course you can only earn grades by obtaining the required point totals by studying as suggested here, please don't ask me to award you a grade just because you worked hard.

Unfortunately, I have also found that some people just aren't destined to do well in Organic, no matter how hard they and I try together (this is certainly an important contributing factor to the plots above), and you may have to accept that you are one of them. Not everybody is good at everything, I certainly am not! I am sure there are many coures taught at ASU that I would not get an A in.

Don't let reading this give you the wrong impression of Organic Chemistry, it really isn't all bad! Many people do very well in my courses and tell me that they really enjoyed them. You never know, this could be you!

Don't let reading this give you the wrong impression of Organic Chemistry, it really isn't all bad! Many people do very well in my courses and tell me that they really enjoyed them. You never know, this could be you!

Specific Suggestions

1. A SPECIFIC SUGGESTED STRATEGY. It is important that whatever strategy you use, it must be very systematic and rigorous, you need to know exactly what you are supposed to know, and you need a method to determine whether you know it yet. A suggested way to make sure that you know what you are supposed to know is detailed in the following small movies. They refer to second semester material, but if you are a first semester student the principles still apply.

Part 1 : The Reactions | Part 2 : The Mechanisms | Part 3 : The Concepts

Of course, these suggestions relate only to how to deal with the notes. As you have now heard too many times, probably, your PRIMARY study tool is WORKING PROBLEMS!

2. MEMORIZATION. In this course you WILL have to do SOME memorizing. There is nothing wrong with SOME memorization, it is a part of any academic study. A course that was all memorization would obviously be boring. Organic isn't like this, however, you can't work everything out from first principles either.

Let's look at an example to see how to handle the memorization aspect of studying, taking first learning the functional groups as an example from first semester organic, and learning the reactions as an example from second semester organic. My suggestion is not to memorize them (yet!). If there is something you need to memorize, DON'T START by memorizing the facts first, instead, start by working problems that USE the information.

For the functional groups, you would solve as many problems as you can that require you to identify functional groups, e.g. click HERE. Work these problems with your functional notes open in front of you (otherwise you wouldn't be able to do them). In this way you learn how to solve these kinds of problems, you learn to see the functional groups in different contexts and you practice what you will be asked to do on a test. Same thing with the reactions, work as many problems as you can with a summary of the reactions in front of you so that you can get as many problems completed as possible.

By doing this you will learn quite a few of the functional groups and reactions without having to memorize them. If you try to memorize the facts before doing the problems it will be like memorizing names out of a telephone book, it will be boring, and because it is not in context, you won't remember them as well. By doing problems first you will see the context, you will do some of the memorization "by default".

There will always be some details of the functional groups or reactions (particularly the reagents) that you will just have to memorize. This next part may sound a but shocking, but I would leave the memorization part until just before the test. I don't actually care if you "cram" some factual information for a test because even if you forget it immediately afterwards, you will learn it all eventually if it is important just by continuing to use it throughout the semester.

So, how to do the final memorization part? You have to be both systematic and also rigorous about this. There is a method that I think will be useful to a lot of people. I know that it is useful because it worked for me when I took organic chemistry many years ago! It is most easily explained in a movie (below), which is for the case of functional groups.

Learning Functional Groups

And similarly below for the case of the reactions. Note that although we do most of the reactions second semester, you will still need a strategy like this to learn those reactions that are covered in first semester organic.

Learning Reactions