International Higher Education Teacher Award ^2024/25

Similar to other fields, modern education in chemistry cannot be performed without the support of electronic tools. E-learning supports the understanding and homework of all students. Furthermore, e-learning facilitates the academic studies of otherwise disadvantaged people, e.g. people with reduced mobility. Unfortunately, in organic chemistry, the use of common e-learning tools is limited because they do not allow the active drawing of formulas in the web browser environment, and the answers are realized only in verbal form. This is a crucial handicap, as one of the most important skills a student can have after completing an organic chemistry course is to understand the ‘language of formulas’, i. e. to be able to estimate chemical and physical properties from a formula and use a structural formula to explain various chemical processes. At the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, we created a portal containing an interactive electronic exercise book on organic chemistry that offers practicing organic chemistry in the required form (https://och.vscht.cz/). The portal includes electronic exercises in which students respond by drawing structural formulas of products and intermediates or by drawing reaction mechanisms. Importantly, answers can be driven in 3D mode to support stereochemistry exercises. The answers are checked automatically and evaluated (in examination mode). Alternatively, a suggestion is offered to help students find and understand the correct answers (in educational mode). New questions may also be entered into the system, allowing the contributions of any registered users, e.g. teachers from other institutions. The exercise book is based on Chemaxon’s Marvin JS program and, in addition to teaching organic chemistry, allows students to become familiar with one of the most widely used web-based molecular drawing programs. The Organic Chemistry Portal has been created to operate the exercise book, which envisages the launch of other applications in the future. The portal and exercise book have been fully operational in both Czech and English since 2018/2019. Since 2018, the portal has gained almost 30,000 users, including 2,500 users of the English version (source: Google Analytics).

Methodology

The creation of quality electronic teaching aids is one of the priorities of modern education. The development of computer technology and networks currently makes it possible to create electronic materials at a level that was unimaginable even a few years ago. One of the most important skills that a student should acquire by completing an organic chemistry course is understanding the ‘language of formulas’. To master this skill, it is absolutely necessary for students to draw formulas themselves. Unfortunately, this feature was recently banned from web electronics because there were no tools available that would allow one to draw easily and comfortably in a web browser environment. Fortunately, this situation has changed recently, and there are several possible tools that allow for this functionality. First, we created the novel Organic Chemistry Portal, which allows the inclusion of other interactive aids. In terms of operation, the portal has two parts. The part for students—the interactive exercise book on organic chemistry—was developed to practice and test knowledge. The administrative part allows teachers and other authorised persons to fully edit individual questions, topics and categories. The second part played an important role at the beginning of implementation, as it allowed us to introduce 200 questions for testing the system. To ensure the correctness and homogeneity of all questions, a three-stage system of control was implemented for newly inserted questions. First, two team members checked every new question. Then, a student tested the questions by drawing answers through the system. Finally, the supervisor rechecked the questions. In every step, notes were taken and questions were corrected if necessary. After programming and testing all tools, other questions were implemented to increase the total number to 600. Later, various users added more questions, eventually achieving a total of 856 questions. After performing the first testing round in Czech, we started to implement the English version. Now, the system is bilingual and ready for additional languages. The electronic exercise book on organic chemistry enables both the practice of organic chemistry and its testing through an electronic test. The student can choose from two difficulties (basic and advanced), and the exercise book can further narrow the field of organic chemistry to be studied (or from which the student wants to be tested), both in terms of reaction mechanism and class of compounds. It is also possible to practice nomenclature, stereochemistry, synthesis or general phenomena in organic chemistry. The student answers the individual questions using chemical formulas, which the student draws with the Marvin JS drawing editor from Chemaxon. This electronic exercise book is unique in terms of providing the possibility of answering in the form of formulas, as other web programs usually only allow a text answer. The student’s answer is checked immediately, and if it is incorrect, a brief help message appears to assist the student in correcting the answer. An important functionality is monitoring students’ answers. Once a sufficient sample of wrong answers has been collected, this programming function will allow ‘tailor-made’ help for a specific wrong answer. When testing, students can choose the number of questions. If the exercise book is used in study mode, the student can also display the correct answer after an incorrect answer. In examination mode, neither the correct answer nor the help is displayed. The test is evaluated at the end, with students again able to compare their answers with the correct ones. For work outside the Internet, it is possible to print a selected group of questions in PDF format. Depending on the choice of mode, it is also possible to print help or answers. Thus, this creates an exercise book on organic chemistry with easily updatable content. Drawing answers using the Marvin JS drawing program is intuitive; however, since this program is likely to be the first time many will be using a structural editor, the portal includes a brief tutorial for drawing basic types of structures. In addition, practicing and mastering working with the structural editor will prepare students for further work with internet databases that use similar or identical editors (e.g. Reaxys).

Tools, equipment, technology used

The application’s backend was written in Python using the popular Django framework. The application itself shares some functionality and a database with popular organic chemistry applications, which enables developers to share resources and time. The front-end chemical drawing is done with the Marvin JS editor, created by Chemaxon. Drawn data is sent in the background to Chemaxon’s web services running in a Tomcat container on our servers, is processed to a canonical chemical format and is then returned to the user’s computer to show whether the answer is correct. Minor processing is also done in JavaScript directly on the client’s PC using the popular JQuery library. Implementation of these tools allowed us to program and set up a unique tool for practicing/learning/testing organic chemistry. This tool is exceptional in its concept, thanks to the possibility of directly drawing chemical formulas, which are immediately checked. The portal also actively helps students correct answers. From the teachers’ point of view, we programmed interactive formulas for adding and editing new questions/answers, making the portal easily implemented in any institution. It is also important that the portal with the exercise book is regularly backed up at the application and database levels. A set of probes reports possible errors and monitors the portal’s functionality, thus ensuring the smooth operation of the portal. Last but not least, a set of statistical tools (Google Analytics) monitors operation, which enables the effective improvement of the portal based on the obtained traffic statistics.

Outcomes and outputs, main results

A) Teaching material. The electronic exercise book has been implemented as an official learning tool at the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, for basic and advanced courses of organic chemistry, which involves about 1,000 students every year. Typically, the exercise book is used during seminars (two hours each week of the semester) as a source of suitable exercises and homework. Teachers simply need to send students the number of suitable problems. Furthermore, it is easy for teachers to select suitable problems by using selection criteria (level, type of problem, class of compounds, reaction mechanism). B) Entrance examination. The system was used for examinations during admission procedures and was implemented in a writing exam organised online for students abroad. Here, students were recommended to check/practice the drawing interphase before the exam, which was easy as the interphase is available everywhere on the Internet. C) Examinations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students used the system for practicing/testing during the COVID-19 pandemic. As an electronic tool, the system was used as previously prepared, without the need for any updates. D) Tool for printed exercise book preparation. Several times, the portal’s electronic exercise book and management system were used to prepare printed exercise books for seminars. It is very easy to select the topic, level and type of problems. Then, a workbook with the selected problems is readily available in PDF form for printing or sending to students. Furthermore, if necessary, correct answers can be implemented either in a printed book or separately.

Lessons learnt

A very important aspect when using our electronic exercise book is to consider the suitability of a selected group of students. The exercise book and its use in teaching are suitable for university students in fields focused on chemistry and biochemistry. These students are expected to work with an editor to write formulas, as they will use databases based on the same editor in their further studies and professional activities. As for high school students, the use is suitable for practice in optional chemistry seminars, where there is a high precondition for students continuing their studies in the natural sciences. An important aspect of using our exam/entrance exam system is providing students with information to make them familiar with the editor. While working with the editor is not complicated, it is not advisable for a student to see the editor for the first time during an online exam. It is appropriate to offer a model test in which the student is forced to draw all types of answers, including electronic formulas, stereochemistry and ionic compounds. All seemingly problematic aspects are addressed in the form of a tutorial, which is available on the portal.

Adaptability and sustainability of the best practice (for other institutions)

The electronic exercise book on organic chemistry can be easily used by other institutions. From the point of view of students, no change should be made, and each student with internet access can use it. Teachers can use the system as is or adapt questions/topics/levels according to their needs, and we provided a tool within the portal to help with customisation. Furthermore, the system can be used not only for organic chemistry but also for other chemistry courses where drawing structural formulas is important (e.g. for general and inorganic chemistry). Our colleagues from the Department of Inorganic Chemistry, UCT Prague, adapted the system for practicing/teaching electronic formulas within a basic course. In general, the same approach can be used for all disciplines with graphical output.

Promotion of best practice

Our electronic exercise book on organic chemistry has been announced via e-mail/links sent to selected institutions in the Czech Republic and to some abroad. The target group includes universities teaching organic and general chemistry, as well as high schools and grammar schools with students focused on natural sciences. The other important target groups are chemistry teachers at all levels and students applying to study chemistry/natural sciences at a university. These groups can use the exercise book when preparing for entrance examinations.

Scope and impact

• Course/department level
• Faculty level
• Institutional level
• Cross-institutional level
• National level
• EU/EHEA/International level

Being international and working on an internet platform, our electronic tool is relevant not only for our institution (cross-institutional level) but also for all institutions in the Czech Republic (national level). The tool is also available in English, making it relevant on an international level as well (EU, EHEA, international level). Organic chemistry is a crucial discipline not only for chemistry students but also for most students of the natural sciences. Thus, our electronic exercise book is relevant for all institutions and faculties and not just for one department only. Our institution (University of Chemistry and Technology) has approximately 1,000 students each year at both the bachelor’s and master’s levels who are potential users.

6.1 Digitalization

• Innovative, novel methodology in using digital tools/devices in teaching
• Innovative use of digital administration tools
• Digital skills development and assessment both general and profession-related, embedded in course design, in teaching and assessment
• Novel digital solutions (tools, frameworks, devices, tasks to enhance efficiency and motivation)

Reasoning: Our electronic exercise book uses a novel digital teaching approach, which is based on a collection of broadly used and available molecular drawing programs and our extensive question database. This teaching approach allows for creating a unique digital tool for internet online/offline teaching or examination by directly drawing structural formulas and reaction mechanisms, which are evaluated online by a machine. Furthermore, this approach familiarises students with a drawing program used in che

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6.2 Internationalization

• Courses offered to international multicultural students both online and offline

Reasoning: The portal allows various language versions to be easily implemented, which is important because starting a career in chemistry is easier in one’s mother tongue. Being multilingual, the system helps students switch to English, thus contributing to their professional language skills development.

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6.3 Inclusion and diversity, universal design

• Inclusive course design, universally designed divers activities to meet special students' needs
• Innovative teaching methodology for inclusion and meet diverse student needs
• Alternative, flexible assessment methods for students with special needs

Reasoning: This electronic tool enables interactive teaching and the practice of organic chemistry without the constant assistance of a teacher. In addition, the internet version is available almost everywhere, even when using a mobile phone. This will make learning easier for disadvantaged people, such as students from remote locations or people with reduced mobility.

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6.4 Sustainability

• NOT RELEVANT

Reasoning:

3.3 Public contact datas

Name	Email address	Website
Radek Cibulka	cibulkar@vscht.cz	https://uoch.vscht.cz/