Benchmarking problems used in second year level organic chemistry instruction

Investigations of the problem types used in college-level general chemistry examinations have been reported in this Journal and were first reported in the Journal of Chemical Education in 1924. This study extends the findings from general chemistry to the problems of four college-level organic chemistry courses. Three problem typologies were used as lenses for evaluating the instructional problems. Results of this study include frequency of problem types and comparisons drawn between results in organic chemistry and those in general chemistry. Most notably, a higher percentage of conceptual problems were found in organic chemistry than reported for general chemistry. Implications for use of problem typologies in benchmarking curricular materials are discussed.