Making Chemistry as Organic as Possible
By Jackson, a Peer Tutor
Transitioning from general chemistry to organic chemistry was possibly the biggest hurdle I faced in my college career. It felt like every time I mastered one of the concepts a vastly different concept would be put in front of me. To remedy this issue, I needed to improve as a student and a learner, and that required me to employ various techniques to change my studying.
Developing a Growth Mindset
To shape up my studying skills I had to ask myself some difficult questions that take more than yes or no answers. “Why do I want to succeed at this course?” was a question that motivated me to look at my long term goals. In asking myself that question I put myself in a forward thinking mindset that encouraged me to focus on my goals. After I knew why I wanted to succeed, I had to figure out how I was going to succeed. That’s where careful study and exam prep came into play.
Learning mechanisms is one of the earliest challenges organic chemistry students face. I knew I was not alone in struggling to grapple with this difficult idea, but I knew that I could do it. Putting myself into a growth mindset enabled me to learn from my mistakes and push forward through difficult situations. Popularized by psychologist Carol Dweck, a growth mindset means acknowledging that it takes time and effort to become an expert in a subject. Without practice, no expert could have reached the spot they are today. A growth mindset can be contrasted with a fixed mindset. In a fixed mindset, the student restricts their ability to develop by believing they are incapable of becoming an expert in a subject matter. Students with fixed mindsets tend to react poorly to criticism and crumble under pressure.
Developing my growth mindset in organic chemistry was not an overnight task. It took effort to get a question wrong on an exam and then ask myself “What can I learn from this?” Many times, I would miss questions that I thought were easy points on an exam. Although it’s easy to tell myself I would have known the answer had I taken the test again, it was much more beneficial to study the questions I missed and talk to people I trusted about how to approach similar problems. I would often bring my exams to the research lab I work in and talk to the graduate students about how I could better answer difficult questions.
In my experience, free response questions were more often than not the biggest point drainers from exams. Those types of questions were an adjustment to get used to, because I had to answer questions about how chemistry worked as opposed to what I remembered from my notes. After I identified the weakness I started using metacognition and Bloom’s taxonomy to guide my understanding of class material. Metacognition is the act of thinking about how you think, making it useful for identifying knowledge gaps while you work. To test myself when I think I filled the knowledge gaps, I turned to Bloom’s taxonomy, a hierarchy of question types ranging from recall to creating. The peak of Bloom’s taxonomy represents a deeper understanding and appreciation of subject material. As I improved my understanding of tricky subject material I moved up the pyramid, eventually reaching the ability to create my own practice problems and even come up with my own reaction schemes based on problems I’d done in class. By creating my own exam level practice problems I proved I had a solid understanding of course material and an ability to predict what kinds of problems may be on an exam.
Finding the Time for Breaks
Another thing I needed to learn to improve my study habits was how to take healthy, meaningful breaks. Organic chemistry is a complicated subject, and it was important to me that I found some time to do some fun things in between long study sessions. My favorite thing to do was go for long walks to clear my head. Over my years in Chapel Hill I’ve been lucky to find many locations where I can get some alone time and relax. A few of my favorite spots are the arboretum, the clearing behind the Dean Dome (not on game days), and the upper tiers of Kenan Stadium. When I realized that organic chemistry could wait an hour while I took care of my mental health, my anxiety about the class decreased tenfold.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t study in the spots I loved to chill out in. I needed to keep that distance between school and life. As a result I had to find spots on campus where I could focus on work and prepare myself for success. It was a long, iterative process to find a nice quiet spot where I was able to succeed. The first spot I tried was my living room. The pros to working here was that it was right next to my bedroom, so I could study late into the night and not have to stress about walking back to the dorm. The downside was that I was right next to my Xbox, and the urge to play video games was constantly present. Even when I could control myself and not play Fortnite, the idea was still in the back of my head. I also had a lot more distractions from suitemates coming in and out of the living room. Because of this I needed to find a different spot to get my work done.
The next spot I tried out was the undergraduate library. On weekends, I would wake up early in the hopes of snagging a private study room and cross my fingers that no one would show up to kick me out. I loved the opportunities to practice drawing out long mechanisms on the large whiteboard. The issue I had was that it got lonely in there sometimes. I would occasionally have friends from other majors come by and join me, but I needed a space to work with a team dedicated to organic chemistry.
I found this space on the second floor of Davis Library. This haven provided a location where I could consistently meet up with friends who were also taking the course. Whenever I showed up I would find a friend who was motivated to succeed in organic chemistry, and together we would work together to solve challenging textbook problems. Teamwork is an important skill to build as an organic chemist; no great discovery has ever been made in a vacuum. Every time I worked with someone else, I came away with a stronger knowledge of the course content and a deeper bond with one or more of my friends.
One spot that was an iffy place to study was the communal study rooms in my dorm building. Every now and then I could find a quiet hour in the study room and knock out a few assignments. The only downside is that it was usually a loud, noisy area with lots of foot traffic. Although the group study rooms weren’t always conducive to general learning, they were convenient, so I worked in the rooms for last minute emergencies or taking practice exams.
Staying On Task and Avoiding Distractions
When exam season hits, it hits hard for orgo students. Part of that comes from balancing organic chemistry practice with studying for other classes. The other part comes from balancing organic chemistry with fun and social activities. One thing that has benefitted me over the course of my journey is this resource from the Learning Center’s tip and tools page. By taking just 10–15 minutes at the beginning of each of my weeks and mapping out what I wanted to accomplish that week, I was able to effectively manage my time. Some people benefit from setting a rigid schedule, and that is also a valid way to manage time. Personally I benefited from less rigid planning due to the increased flexibility in my schedule, but everyone has a planning method that is optimal for them.
When I would study orgo, I would find it easy to get distracted. Distractions are a natural part of life that are difficult to avoid. In this digital age it seems near impossible to avoid looking at a screen for more than ten minutes. Procrastination is a slippery slope that can lead to stress, unhappiness, and lower grades. I’ve battled my fair share of procrastination demons, and have developed tools to get past them. It was easy to avoid thinking about complicated mechanisms by losing myself in another episode of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” but the longer I spent watching the gang’s antics, the less time I spent drawing mechanisms and developing an understanding of course content. To change my binge watching ways I had to turn my favorite TV show into a reward I would give myself for jumping over challenging hurdles in my orgo journey. Another technique I used was the Pomodoro method. I would set a timer for 25 minutes and make a vow to only work during those 25 minutes. After my time was up I would give myself five minutes to go on social media, text friends and family, and generally goof off. YouTube videos such as this one can also be used in place of a manually set timer, though sometimes I like to give myself longer breaks for consistently following the Pomodoro method.
Many students consider organic chemistry to be nothing more than a weedout class. They view it with fear and contempt, and dread having to attend the lecture. With the strategies I discussed throughout this blog post, you can take orgo by the horns and show it who’s boss. It takes time, dedication, and figuring out the right approach for you.