Description
WHY I WROTE THIS BOOK
Students who perform poorly on organic chemistry exams often report having invested countless hours studying. Why do many students have difficulty preparing themselves for organic chemistry exams? Certainly, there are several contributing factors, including inefficient study habits, but perhaps the most dominant factor is a fundamental disconnect between what students learn in the lecture hall and the tasks expected of them during an exam. To illustrate the disconnect, consider the following analogy.
Imagine that a prestigious university offers a course entitled “Bike-Riding 101.” Throughout the course, physics and engineering professors explain many concepts and principles (for example, how bicycles have been engineered to minimize air resistance). Students invest significant time studying the information that was presented, and on the last day of the course, the final exam consists of riding a bike for a distance of 100 feet. A few students may have innate talents and can accomplish the task without falling. But most students will fall several times, slowly making it to the finish line, bruised and hurt; and many students will not be able to ride for even one second without falling. Why? Because there is a disconnect between what the students learned and what they were expected to do for their exam.
Many years ago, I noticed that a similar disconnect exists in traditional organic chemistry instruction. That is, learning organic chemistry is much like bicycle riding; just as the students in the bike-riding analogy were expected to ride a bike after attending lectures, it is often expected that organic chemistry students will independently develop the necessary skills for solving problems. While a few students have innate talents and are able to develop the necessary skills independently, most students require guidance. This guidance was not consistently integrated within existing textbooks, prompting me to write the first edition of my textbook, Organic Chemistry, 1e. The main goal of my text was to employ a skills-based approach to bridge the gap between theory (concepts) and practice (problem-solving skills). The phenomenal success of the first edition has been extremely gratifying because it provides strong evidence that my skills-based approach is indeed effective at bridging the gap described above.
I firmly believe that the scientific discipline of organic chemistry is NOT merely a compilation of principles, but rather, it is a disciplined method of thought and analysis. Students must certainly understand the concepts and principles, but more importantly, students must learn to think like organic chemists . . . that is, they must learn to become proficient at approaching new situations methodically, based on a repertoire of skills. That is the true essence of organic chemistry.