Rick Mullins
Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH
June 18, 3:30 – 4:30 PM, EDT
Rescue the Chemist:�Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Organic Education Resources
Class format
Traditional lecture, but with active learning
Think/pair/share
Supplemental Instruction
Review sessions before exams
Students can text for assistance
Students work problems at the board
View my role as both coach and teacher
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Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Class goals
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Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Grading
Four midterm exams
Comprehensive final exam
Mastering homework graded for correctness (many chances)
Submitted homework to Canvas graded for completion
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Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Reason for change
Dr. Kendra Denlinger
Xavier University
www.organicers.org
Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Implementation
Implement in one of two sections to allow comparisons
Use specs grading for first five chapters/fundamental concepts
Students in traditional class would take a standard Exam 1
Completing specs would allow students to earn a grade for Exam 1
Implementation via a “video game:” Rescue the Chemist!
www.organicers.org
Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Rules of the game
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Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Rules of the game
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Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Rules of the game
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Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Rules of the game
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Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Calendar
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Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Level 1: Grit, growth mindset, how to learn organic chemistry
Topics
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Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Level 2a: Drawing Lewis structures
Level 2b: Hybridization, bonding, molecular orbitals
Level 2c: Resonance
Topics
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Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Level 3a: Line angle drawings and carbon substitution
Level 3b: Newman projections
Level 3c: Chair conformations
Level 3d: Functional groups
Topics
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Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Level 4a: Identifying acids and bases
Level 4b: Keq, pKa values, and arrow pushing mechanisms
Level 4c: Structural effects on acidity
Level 4d: Lewis acids and bases and mechanism
Topics
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Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Level 5a: Gibbs free energy, enthalpy, and entropy
Level 5b: Equilibrium and reaction coordinate diagrams
Level 5c: Bond dissociation energies, radical stability
and arrow pushing mechanisms
Topics
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Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Anatomy of a level
Which attempt?
Fundamental
skills…
…increasing difficulty…
…application of skills.
Easy to grade,
when possible.
Something fun! ☺
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Three chances
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Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Earning the three chances
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Completion data
Number of students (out of 24)
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Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Most challenging levels
Level 1: Grit, growth mindset, how to learn organic chemistry
Level 2a: Drawing Lewis structures
Level 2b: Hybridization, bonding, molecular orbitals
Level 2c: Resonance
Level 3a: Line angle drawings and carbon substitution
Level 3b: Newman projections
Level 3c: Chair conformations
Level 3d: Functional groups
Level 4a: Identifying acids and bases
Level 4b: Keq, pKa values, and arrow pushing mechanisms
Level 4c: Structural effects on acidity
Level 4d: Lewis acids and bases and mechanism
Level 5a: Gibbs free energy, enthalpy, and entropy
Level 5b: Equilibrium and reaction coordinate diagrams
Level 5c: Bond dissociation energies, radical stability
and arrow pushing mechanisms
www.organicers.org
Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Outcomes
Raw scores
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Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Outcomes
Percent of enrolled students taking final exam
Traditional – 88%
Specifications – 89%
GPA across sections
Traditional – 3.06
Specifications – 2.93
Percent of students to study abroad in Spring
Traditional – 8.2%
Specifications – 29%
www.organicers.org
Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Outcomes
Faster-developing student-student and student-professor relationships in specifications class
Specifications students attended more office hours
Specifications students went to the board more often during review sessions
When we were finished with specs, students asked if they could continue
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Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Outcomes
“I figured out that reading and working problems and watching videos was helping me do better on my second try, so decided to just do that from the start.”
www.organicers.org
Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Future Efforts
Implement specifications grading across the entire semester of Organic I.
Write quizzes for all levels (chapters) of Organic I.
Assess performance in specifications graded class on standardized ACS exams (first semester and two semester) more rigorously.
www.organicers.org
Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Acknowledgements
Dr. Kendra Denlinger
Xavier University
Dr. Emily Kerr
St. John Fisher University
Dr. Jennifer Muzyka
Centre College
Dr. Alexey Leontyev
NDSU
Dr. Justin Houseknecht
Wittenberg University
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Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Questions?
mullinsr@xavier.edu
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Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Most challenging levels
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Specifications Grading
ALOC Online Workshop 2025
Most challenging levels
Most challenging levels
Most challenging levels
Most challenging levels
Sample Levels