A Study On The Difficulties And Causes Of Organic Chemistry In Freshmen

With the implementation of the new curriculum standards, chemistry teaching content for senior students has changed. Part of the original organic chemistry for Senior Two in next semester was advanced to Senior One in next semester. What’s more, new requirements are proposed for teachers’teaching and students’learning, which is undoubtedly a new challenge for teachers and students.The author focused on her own internship for Senior One in a senior high school in Shenzhen and found that students have difficulties in Chapter3, organic chemistry, Compulsory2, which they have never experienced before. To explored the reasons for this phenomenon, the author took Senior One science students as research subjects and adopts a variety of methods to investigate students’specific teaching and learning of compulsory2, organic chemistry in order to conduct a thorough investigation for difficulties students have in learning organic chemistry. It included the following specific survey methods and processes:Firstly, the author observed and recorded teachers’teaching and students’learning in the classroom in order to observe students’learning attitude and approach.Secondly, routine tested for organic chemistry in Chapter3, Compulsory2were used. And the author made an analysis of the unit detecting paper to identify students’ difficulties in organic chemistry.Thirdly, the tested subjects are distributed questionnaires to investigate students’ organic chemistry learning situation in the beginning in order to find out reasons which affect beginners’organic chemistry learning.Fourthly, the author conducted interviews for student representatives to understand their mental activity when learning organic chemistry, and four chemistry teachers were also interviewed to find long-term problems existed in students’organic chemistry learning.After finishing the investigation and analysis of the survey data and information, the author summarizes the survey resulted and found that there are mainly four aspects which make Senior One students have difficulties learning organic chemistry initially: students’thinking and learning strategies still remain in the learning mode of inorganic chemistry, which is the largest difficulty for Senior One beginners; Senior One students’ initial contact with organic chemistry makes them cannot construct new knowledge system of the original structure, which makes them cause confusion and memory disorder; students have difficulty in learning organic chemistry, which generates fear of learning and a strong psychological pressure. Moreover some students have mental weariness and they do not develop good learning habits; teachers do not pay enough emphasis on students’difficulties and obstacles in organic chemistry learning. Besides, teaching strategies are not timely and appropriately adjusted.After the analysis of the survey results, the author believes that teachers should note the following issues when have an organic chemistry teaching:Teachers should pay attention to the students’psychological changes, use modern teaching methods and models to adjust teaching strategies, communicate with students, and train students to develop good learning strategies and habits.