Confucius, “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” I believed the greater the intellectual contribution a student made to their learning, the more they would understand.

Why should you learn reaction mechanisms? You have to be able to solve one problem in order to solve another with the same mechanism. Here are three pages of problems for you to download and print. They go from easy to the style of problems in a textbook.

*Minisampler Part A
*Minisampler Part B
*Minisampler Part C
*Minisampler Part D

Print Part A and do them. Then print Part B and do them. They are the same problems, but some information missing. Then do Part C. They are like the problems in a textbook.

I think that learning comes on the end of your pencil. I always found it easier to remember directions if I drove somewhere than if I was just riding along. I think my brain is more engaged. Drawing the curved arrows and structures on paper makes a better mental connection.

It should only take about five minutes to do Part A. The dashed lines are 'pre-bonds'. You must add the curved arrows consistent with where bonds are made or broken. Then, do Part B, which will take a bit longer, but you should still be able to handle it. If you understood Part A, you should be able to do Part B. (You could repeat Part A again if you need to.) If you can do Part B, then tackle Part C. These are a simpler versions of the problems you’ll find on your homework, quizzes, and exams. They'll also take the most time to solve. (Students often made several copies of each page to practice.) The key to success is in writing the solutions. You are training your brain to solve these problems. I think this is a very good way to study.Now you should know how a reaction takes place. Your next challenge is to apply that mechanism to a new problem in your textbook.