A rubric that embodies the key features of the process-oriented, guided-inquiry learning (POGIL) model was subjected to systematic study of validity and reliability. Nearly 60 college instructors used the rubric to evaluate four intentionally modified versions of an established POGIL activity. The modifications strengthened or weakened key…

This article shows the potential for using video responses to specific questions as part of the assessment process in an organic chemistry class. These exercises have been used with a postbaccalaureate cohort of 40 students, learning in an online environment, over a period of four years. A second cohort of 25 second-year students taking the…

A new approach to teaching method assessment using student focused qualitative studies and the theoretical framework of mental models is proposed. The methodology is considered specifically for the advantages it offers when applied to the assessment of inquiry-based teaching methods. The theoretical foundation of mental models is discussed, and…

An in-class molecular modeling exercise is described. Groups of students are given molecular models to investigate and questions about the models to answer. This exercise is a quick and effective way to review nomenclature, stereochemistry, and conformational analysis.

The utilization of the simple and traditional vector model-based product operator formalism is highlighted. It is seen as a critical device in the area of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometry for a comprehensive analysis of spin coupling and quantum coherences.

The molecular modeling was used to reinforce more general skills such as deducing and drawing reaction mechanisms, analyzing reaction kinetics and thermodynamics and drawing reaction coordinate energy diagrams. This modeling was done through the design of mechanistic puzzles, involving reactions not familiar to the students.

Several data-analysis problems could be addressed in different ways, ranging from a series of related "local" fitting problems to a single comprehensive "global analysis". The approach has become a powerful one for fitting data to moderately complex models by using library functions and the methods are illustrated for the analysis of HCI-IR…