Nomenclature and Drawing Organic Molecules: Learning the languages of chemistry at the university

LORENZO, M.G; POZO, J. I.

CHEMISTRY EDUCATION. RESEARCH AND PRACTICE IN EUROPE

Lugar: IOANINA, GRECIA; Año: 2006

1109-4028

·          Lorenzo*, M. G. & Pozo, J. I., Nomenclature and Drawing Organic Molecules: Learning the languages of chemistry at the university, CERP, Chemical Education Research and Practice (30/06/06) (ISSN 1109-4028) This paper analyses the learning of symbolic notation in organic chemistry. The problem of drawing organic compounds from their names was studied by means of three consecutive experiments. Nomenclature system, class of compounds, alkyl group, and number of carbon atoms were considering as independent variables. Two types of analysis were carried out on the freshman students´ answers to paper-and-pencil tests for each experiment. a) Influence of the different variables used on correct answers. b) Types of errors in wrong responses. In every case we employed ANOVA and the T test. 121 university students from a first course of organic chemistry participated in the experiments. IUPAC systematic names significantly generated more correct answers than trivial names. Error nature depends on the nomenclature system involved. Recognition mistakes were more likely for trivial, and more syntactic errors were made for IUPAC nomenclature. However, overall number of errors increased in both nomenclature systems for iso-alkyl groups, and for the class of ethers. The implications of these results for the teaching of nomenclature systems in freshmen university classrooms are discussed. Key words: organic chemistry, nomenclature, chemical languages, university