LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 4, 2005) -- Robert B. Grossman, professor of chemistry in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, and Raphael A. Finkel, professor of computer science in the College of Engineering, have devised a new “teaching assistant” that allows students to electronically test their skills in drawing elements in organic chemistry classes.
The Electronic Program for Organic Chemistry Homework (EPOCH) computer program, which Grossman describes as being like a “drawing tablet,” also speeds the process of grading the test papers of undergraduate organic chemistry students.
Developed with funding assistance from Prentice-Hall, one of the nation’s leading educational materials publishers, Grossman has graded UK students with the system for the past two semesters. “Automatic grading is a huge advantage to the program,” said Grossman, who teaches two sections of undergraduate organic chemistry classes of 150-200 students each semester.
Prentice-Hall is expected to market the chemistry testing system.
The vast majority of Grossman’s students are not chemistry majors, he said. Many are in biology, pre-pharmacy or in physician’s assistant programs. “There are far too many students to collect all their homework and grade it,” he said.
“When we started this project two and a half years ago,” Grossman said, “We found there was nothing out there like this for teaching organic chemistry.”
“Organic chemistry is a graphic language,” Grossman said. “We like for students to do illustrations and apply principles to solving problems.”
In the EPOCH program, a student uses the “drawing tablet” to draw an organic chemistry molecule such as ethyl alcohol in response to a posed question. After a student submits a response, the program gives the student immediate feedback about whether the response was right or wrong.
“The student isn't told what the right answer is,” Grossman noted. “They have to keep trying until they get the right answer. But the system also tells them why their answer is incorrect so they can learn from their mistakes.”
Looking at the test scores on the computer also allows the professors using the system to decide what to review in the classes, Grossman said. “Lots of times the students come up with answers you just wouldn't believe,” he commented.
“We log all the wrong answers to allow an instructor to devise new feedback for unanticipated different responses.” A key factor with the program, Grossman pointed out, is that “it teaches the students the reasoning process … this is why you got the wrong answer; this is why you got the right answer.”
Grossman, who has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Princeton University and his doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said EPOCH is being used by at least one other institution of higher education, Allegheny College in Pennsylvania. From 1992-1994, Grossman was also a NATO-NSF post-doctoral fellow at the University of Cambridge.
An article by Grossman about EPOCH, who is also well known on the UK campus and in Lexington for his enthusiasm for bicycling, has been published in the Journal of Chemical Education, a journal of chemical and engineering news.
In 1999, the UK professor’s book, “The Art of Writing Reasonable Organic Reaction Mechanisms,” was published by Springer-Verlag. The book is now in its second edition.
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