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Teaching Organic Chemistry at the American University of Beirut Through the COVID-19 Pandemic

Received: 22 September 2020     Accepted: 9 October 2020     Published: 11 November 2020
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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has single-handedly overturned a traditional lecture-based educational system at universities on a global scale. The required abrupt move to an online platform for education has caused tremendous challenges for educational systems in general and specifically also in the chemical sciences. In Lebanon particularly, the COVID-19 pandemic raked havoc on a country entrenched in popular uprising and riddled by an economic collapse observing unprecedented devaluation of the national currency. In this situation, the move to online education had caused tremendous stress and burden for faculty and students raising the need to develop mitigation strategies by embracing reduction in material and a careful consideration of students’ mental health. This commentary presents the author’s experience of delivering undergraduate Organic Chemistry courses at the American University of Beirut (AUB) through the COVID-19 pandemic, during the spring and summer 2020 semesters. While the author’s pre-recorded lectures of Organic Chemistry I were vital to the online delivery of course material, this commentary particularly highlights the inclusion of supplementary online assignments that include: videos to illustrate a covered organic chemistry concept, instructional videos to explain a multiple choice question (MCQ) of their creation, a cartoon to exemplify an organic chemistry concept, a cartoon to reflect on studying organic chemistry during the COVID-19 pandemic and a group assignment that allowed students to assume social responsibility.

Published in Science Journal of Education (Volume 8, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.sjedu.20200806.11
Page(s) 133-138
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

COVID-19 Pandemic, Organic Chemistry, Online Assignments, Cartoons, Transformative Education

References
[1] Danjou, P.-E. Journal of Chemical Education 2020, 3168.
[2] Fung, F. M.; Lam, Y. Journal of Chemical Education 2020, 2573.
[3] Healy, E. F.; Blade, G. Journal of Chemical Education 2020, 3163.
[4] Goodman, A. L. Journal of Chemical Education 2020, 3441.
[5] Fontana, M. T. Journal of Chemical Education 2020, 3358.
[6] Clark, T. M.; Callam, C. S.; Paul, N. M.; Stoltzfus, M. W.; Turner, D. Journal of Chemical Education 2020, 3413.
[7] Crucho, C. I. C.; Avo, J.; Diniz, A. M.; Gomes, M. J. S. Journal of Chemical Education 2020, 3211.
[8] Milligan, J. A. Journal of Chemical Education 2020, 3206.
[9] Burnett, J. W.; Burke, K. A.; Stephens, N. M.; Bose, I.; Bonaccorsi, C.; Wade, A. M.; Awino, J. K. Journal of Chemical Education 2020, 2793.
[10] Guglielmi, G. Nature 2020.
[11] Khoury, P.; Azar, E.; Hitti, E. JAMA 2020, 324, 548.
[12] Author's YouTube Channel: YouTube.com/bilalrkaafarani (accessed September 2020).
[13] Achi, D. E.; Halabi, N. M.; Kaafarani, B. R. Science Journal of Education 2019, 7, 107.
[14] Video of the chirality concept covered by Zeina Al-Khalil. https://youtu.be/hx1-CU6fm_s (accessed September 2020).
[15] Video of a song by Amir Jaber Chehayeb covering IUPAC naming of alkanes. https://youtu.be/NErZ5JyAhdA (accessed September 2020).
[16] Video of a song by Joanne Rita El- Haddad covering absolute configuration. https://youtu.be/5G0Z8rT5LE8 (accessed September 2020).
[17] Roesky, H. W.; Kennepohl, D. Journal of Chemical Education 2008, 85, 1355.
[18] Anon Science 2001, 292, 2223.
[19] A comic collaboration between C&EN and ChemScrapes cartoonist Brendan Burket, thttps://cen.acs.org/sections/sketch-chemistry.html (accessed September 2020).
[20] Video of selected cartoons illustrating organic chemistry I concepts covered in the Organic Chemistry I course at AUB through the COVID-19 pandemic during the spring 2020 semester. https://youtu.be/tmcQ-XLUVY4 (accessed September 2020).
[21] Video of selected cartoons illustrating studying organic chemistry at AUB through the COVID-19 pandemic during the spring 2020 semester. https://youtu.be/NZhyW4CpjIM (accessed September 2020).
[22] Elmer, T.; Mepham, K.; Stadtfeld, C. PLOS ONE 2020, 15, e0236337.
[23] Group 1 video: https://youtu.be/pFA7HD2Gfc4. Group 2 video: https://youtu.be/R5FGa_Qlo1w. Group 3 video: https://youtu.be/fzDnKQgW1NY. Group 4 video: https://youtu.be/fSDpxa2vaLU (accessed September 2020).
[24] Pienta, N. J. Journal of Chemical Education 2019, 96, 1053.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Bilal R. Kaafarani. (2020). Teaching Organic Chemistry at the American University of Beirut Through the COVID-19 Pandemic. Science Journal of Education, 8(6), 133-138. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjedu.20200806.11

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    ACS Style

    Bilal R. Kaafarani. Teaching Organic Chemistry at the American University of Beirut Through the COVID-19 Pandemic. Sci. J. Educ. 2020, 8(6), 133-138. doi: 10.11648/j.sjedu.20200806.11

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    AMA Style

    Bilal R. Kaafarani. Teaching Organic Chemistry at the American University of Beirut Through the COVID-19 Pandemic. Sci J Educ. 2020;8(6):133-138. doi: 10.11648/j.sjedu.20200806.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.sjedu.20200806.11,
      author = {Bilal R. Kaafarani},
      title = {Teaching Organic Chemistry at the American University of Beirut Through the COVID-19 Pandemic},
      journal = {Science Journal of Education},
      volume = {8},
      number = {6},
      pages = {133-138},
      doi = {10.11648/j.sjedu.20200806.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjedu.20200806.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjedu.20200806.11},
      abstract = {The COVID-19 pandemic has single-handedly overturned a traditional lecture-based educational system at universities on a global scale. The required abrupt move to an online platform for education has caused tremendous challenges for educational systems in general and specifically also in the chemical sciences. In Lebanon particularly, the COVID-19 pandemic raked havoc on a country entrenched in popular uprising and riddled by an economic collapse observing unprecedented devaluation of the national currency. In this situation, the move to online education had caused tremendous stress and burden for faculty and students raising the need to develop mitigation strategies by embracing reduction in material and a careful consideration of students’ mental health. This commentary presents the author’s experience of delivering undergraduate Organic Chemistry courses at the American University of Beirut (AUB) through the COVID-19 pandemic, during the spring and summer 2020 semesters. While the author’s pre-recorded lectures of Organic Chemistry I were vital to the online delivery of course material, this commentary particularly highlights the inclusion of supplementary online assignments that include: videos to illustrate a covered organic chemistry concept, instructional videos to explain a multiple choice question (MCQ) of their creation, a cartoon to exemplify an organic chemistry concept, a cartoon to reflect on studying organic chemistry during the COVID-19 pandemic and a group assignment that allowed students to assume social responsibility.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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Author Information
  • Department of Chemistry, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

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