THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MULTIMEDIA ORGANIC CHEMISTRY MODULE: SN1 AND SN2 REACTION MECHANISM

A quasi-experimental study with non-randomised control group pretest-posttest was conducted to determine the effects of teaching method using the Interactive Multimedia Chemistry Module (IMCM) for the topic of Stereochemistry and Mechanism of Nucleophilic Substitution Reactions SN1 and SN2. This module is a tool that helps teachers in their teaching to visualise organic mechanism and stereochemistry of nucleophilic substitution reactions. This module also offers an interactive animated learning environment. The sample of the study consists of two groups of an experimental and a control group. A total of 74 students from Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, who took Introductory Chemistry II (TKU1023) course for Semester 1 2009/2010 session, took part in this study. The experimental group underwent lectures with the help of IMCM module while the control group underwent lectures through oral explanations using white boards and video imager. ANCOVA analysis [F (1, 72) = 48.6, p 0.05, eta- squared = 0.41] indicated that the teaching methods using IMCM module enhanced students’performance in learning the topic of Stereochemistry and Mechanism of Nucleophilic Substitution Reactions SN1 and SN2 as compared to the conventional teaching method. The survey conducted on 92 students taking chemistry course, 55 students of Organic Chemistry course (TKO2013) and 37 of the Introductory Chemistry II course (TKU1023) showed that the respondents have positive perceptions on the suitability of the module to be used in teaching and learning of the topic Stereochemistry and Mechanism of Nucleophilic Substitution Reactions SN1 and SN2. The research findings explained the pedagogical impact of IMCM module in the teaching and learning of Organic Chemistry. Moreover, suggestions on technical improvement and development of IMCM module for other organic chemistry topics were recommended.