Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. --Thomas Alva Edison, 1903 You don't have to be brilliant to survive organic chemistry, but you have to be willing to work at it.
If there is no struggle, there is no progress. --Fredrick Douglass, 1857 You don't learn from easy things. Only hard tasks help you grow intellectually.
"Unlike history or philosophy, chemistry cannot profitably be read chapter by chapter but must be vigorously attacked with a dozen sharp pencils and a ream of inexpensive paper close at hand. When information is used to solve problems, it rapidly becomes part of your knowledge." -- Rodger W. Griffin, Jr., organic chemistry instructor
"Griffin was right, but add an eraser to your organic chemistry study equipment. An eraser is essential because you will explore, and exploring means taking wrong turns and making mistakes. Mistakes lead to a deeper understanding of what is right, what is wrong, why some things work and other don't. Don't be afraid to make mistakes, and wear out an eraser or two." --Dr H.
The "O" in O-Chem does not mean zero work or zero effort. In fact, this may be one of the toughest and most rewarding courses you take as a UCLA student. You must immerse yourself in chemistry to fully understand and appreciate it.
Enlightenment is not instantaneous. It requires thought and reflection.
Successful mastery of organic chemistry requires a thorough grounding in fundamental, grass-roots concepts. We will emphasize this approach in lecture, discussion sections, and exams. Organic chemistry is a "pyramidal" subject, meaning new material is usually built on older material. You will need to have a good grasp of many of the concepts from your general chemistry classes. Do not hesitate to review your general chemistry concepts as needed.
Organic chemistry cannot be mastered by pure memorization. Although a small amount of memorization may on occasion be required, you should always be searching for conceptual explanations and patterns of logic in the material. A thorough mental chewing of the material will aid in later digestion. A paradigm shift away from memorization to conceptual understanding will alter your perspective of organic chemistry from one of the hardest courses you'll take at UCLA to one of the most logical. (In most cases, if you are memorizing material then you have missed the conceptual points of the lecture on that material.) Here are some organic chemistry study hints.
Exams will emphasize the material that is new since the last midterm, but do not neglect the older foundations. Consider the exams to be cumulative in nature. Exam questions will be designed to probe your mastery of not only the fundamentals, but how you apply these concepts to draw conclusions. The questions will consist of a variety of formats, often requiring words and chemical structures. Look at old Hardinger exams and practice problems (included as part of each lecture unit's Concept Focus Questions and Practice Problems, also called CFQ & PP; find these in your course Thinkbook) to get a feeling for question format as you study.
You must take responsibility for your own learning. Although my role as instructor can be defined in many ways, your job as a student is to learn the concepts. An active, responsible learner seeks not to limit what they should know, but embraces and conceptually consumes as much material as possible. Knowledge is power; arm yourself with it!
I (Dr H) view my role as a coach, much like a sports team coach. I'm here to guide your development and suggest what skills and knowledge might be useful, but whether or not you win the game depends upon your skill, your level of effort and your dedication to the course.
Because you must take responsibility for your own learning, there is no graded homework. Between the CFQ & PP (many of which are drawn from old Hardinger exams) and textbook problems there is plenty of practice for the student who is willing to work at his or her own pace. (If you think this is too many problems, then only do every other one, or every third one. The Concept Focus Questions are much too important to skip at all.) I should not have you force you to study with the threat of graded homework. It is up to you to set your own pace. Experience has shown that students who take responsibility for their own learning through self discipline perform better in organic chemistry than students who depend on an instructor to force them to do the work.
It has been said that industry looks for the following in its employees: curiosity, vision, understanding, communication and productivity. These are also features of a student who not only earns a good grade in organic chemistry, but leaves the course with a deep understanding and appreciation for the material. To rephrase, a good student...