How to study
Nov 2006
... The key is to know how the reaction takes place. Do the problems in A Guide to Organic Chemistry Mechanisms and be sure you understand the pre-bonds and the curved arrows. If you know that, then you can solve any problem.
I had tried to think how I could tell my class how to study, what they needed to know. I thought that at the lowest level of achievement, I would advise students to only learn the mechanisms. If they didn't understand the mechanisms, then if they encountered a new problem, they wouldn't have any tools to solve it. If they new the mechanism, they would have the tools, but would make errors due to their lack of practice. Then there would be the B students. They would know the mechanisms, and could do some of the problems, but were still prone to errors. The A students understood the mechanisms and probably learned them relatively easily. They could practice the mechanisms on new problems because they had more studying time since it did not take as much time for them to learn the mechanisms initially.
I still think that is the most effective strategy, and that would have been the most effective one in my class because I emphasized solving problems and writing mechanisms. I have been helping other students in other classes who have professors who stress synthesis strategies. I had a student from a big school who had a very good grade in her first semester and I .... She said her professor stressed synthesis problems. I discovered she didn't know anything about the reactions she had to use.
... But I am still nervous about those errors when you see a new problem. I don't know how to get you to avoid those errors. I actually think that people are like basketball players, some people shoot free throws in the 90+% and some people only shoot in the 60+%. Chemistry has a higher percent, but I hear students say afterwards, "Oh, I knew that". It is like the basket, it doesn't move, but it can be hard to hit every time.
I think you should aim at doing as many examples from my book as you can. Don't worry about perfecting one reaction. Just do as many reactions as you can. Cover every type that will be on your test. If there is a reaction not in my book that your professor talked about in class, tell me and I'll write some examples for you.
I had tried to think how I could tell my class how to study, what they needed to know. I thought that at the lowest level of achievement, I would advise students to only learn the mechanisms. If they didn't understand the mechanisms, then if they encountered a new problem, they wouldn't have any tools to solve it. If they new the mechanism, they would have the tools, but would make errors due to their lack of practice. Then there would be the B students. They would know the mechanisms, and could do some of the problems, but were still prone to errors. The A students understood the mechanisms and probably learned them relatively easily. They could practice the mechanisms on new problems because they had more studying time since it did not take as much time for them to learn the mechanisms initially.
I still think that is the most effective strategy, and that would have been the most effective one in my class because I emphasized solving problems and writing mechanisms. I have been helping other students in other classes who have professors who stress synthesis strategies. I had a student from a big school who had a very good grade in her first semester and I .... She said her professor stressed synthesis problems. I discovered she didn't know anything about the reactions she had to use.
... But I am still nervous about those errors when you see a new problem. I don't know how to get you to avoid those errors. I actually think that people are like basketball players, some people shoot free throws in the 90+% and some people only shoot in the 60+%. Chemistry has a higher percent, but I hear students say afterwards, "Oh, I knew that". It is like the basket, it doesn't move, but it can be hard to hit every time.
I think you should aim at doing as many examples from my book as you can. Don't worry about perfecting one reaction. Just do as many reactions as you can. Cover every type that will be on your test. If there is a reaction not in my book that your professor talked about in class, tell me and I'll write some examples for you.