1. Misconceptions In Organic Chemistry
W.E. Harris Teaching Workshop
Concepts and Misconceptions in Chemistry
May 24–25, 2012

2. Misconceptions in Organic Chemistry
That you can succeed in organic chemistry by memorizing
That you *must* memorize to succeed
That organic chemistry is an impossibly hard course
That you can just study the night(s) before the exam and don’t need to do regular homework
That doing/reading/seeing something once is enough to learn it
That concepts from general chemistry don’t apply
That organic chemistry is not related to [my] field of study (oil, lubricants, medicine, biology, nutrition, environment, etc.)

3. Misconceptions in Organic Chemistry
Rings are “special”. Reactivity of 2-chlorohexane will be completely different from reactivity of chlorocyclohexane! Because it’s a ring!
Molecules bounce back-and-forth between resonance structures. So resonance arrows are just a special case of equilibrium arrows.
Students tend not to appreciate that scientists use models as tools. They’re not a perfect depiction of reality. 3