Improving Students' Understanding of Molecular Structure through Broad-Based Use of Computer Models in the Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Lecture

Several articles suggest how to incorporate computer models into the organic chemistry laboratory; but relatively few papers discuss how to incorporate these models broadly into the oiganic chemistry lecture. Previous research has suggested that manipulating physical or computer models enhances student understanding; this study demonstrates that by simply viewing the appropriate manipulations performed by an educator on a computer model during a recitation period, students in both semesters of introductory organic chemistry performed significantly better on a post-test measuring understanding of molecular structure than those who did not view the computer models (OCHEM 1, p = 0.005, d = 0.98; OCHEM 2, p = 0.035, d = 0.75). The post-test results were also analyzed by topic: the topics that displayed the most significant differences in student scores were bond angle (OCHEM 1, p = 0.0003, d = 1.28; OCHEM 2, p = 0.03, d = 0.77) and 3-D properties (OCHEM 1, p = 0.06, d = 0.64; OCHEM 2, p = 0.04, d = 0.72), such as chirality and conformation. While having a dedicated computer laboratory and software for student use might be too costly for some institutions, displaying computer models during lecture is an inexpensive way to achieve significant gains in students' understanding of molecular structure.