We had some time left over this year after finishing the regular curriculum, so I added on a short organic nomenclature unit. Tim Hunt and the Open University team maintain an outstanding Moodle plugin that uses the JSME Molecular Editor to accept student line drawing input, convert it to a SMILES string, and check it against a "right answer" SMILES string. The editor runs on Javascript and works on every platform I've tried, including Chromebook and iPad.
There are 130 total questions in my item bank:
21 alkanes and haloalkanes (e.g. "Draw 2,3-dimethylbutane")
16 alkenes, alkynes, and their halogenated derivatives (e.g. "Draw trans-2,3-dichlorobutane")
29 molecules with functional groups (e.g. "Draw propane-1,2,3-triol")
10 molecules with multiple mixed functional groups (e.g. "Draw 1,6-diphenylhexan-3-one")
27 questions of the type "Give the systematic IUPAC name for the molecule in this picture"
All questions are based on systematic IUPAC nomenclature (e.g. ethanoic acid) for the sake of consistency, and do not award credit for preferred or common names (e.g. acetic acid).
I use Kahoot to review before tests and Moodle for quizzes, but sometimes I want the same question set for both. After spending way too much time typing the same questions twice, I made an Excel file based on the official Kahoot! upload template and wrote a second tab that auto-formats the text to work with XML parsers like VLE Tools. This allows you to easily convert the question list to Moodle XML, which can be imported to Moodle question banks and is also recognized by several other e-assessment platforms.
Running labs is without a doubt one of the best parts of teaching chemistry, but grading papers is among the worst. Here's how I outsourced that part of my job to a computer, saving hours of work per week and providing instant feedback on student work at the same time.
I've developed a bank of over 1,000 original chemistry assessment items for Moodle. Question types include multiple choice, click and drag, and calculated questions with randomly generated numbers in the prompt. (In fact, for nearly every question in which students must make a calculation, new random numbers are selected for every attempt by each student.)
Covered topics include:
Intro to Matter (lab safety; SI (metric) measurement; accuracy & precision; states of matter)
Atomic Theory (historical development of evidence for atoms; atomic structure; arrangement of electrons in atoms)
Chemical Relationships (chemical periodicity and periodic trends; bonding and compounds; intermolecular forces)
Chemical Quantities (counting atoms; chemical formulas)
Chemical Reactions (chemical equations; simple chemical reactions; energy changes in reactions)
With a little bit of advance preparation, you can program Moodle to correct students' lab calculations. This has a number of distinct advantages:
students receive immediate feedback
greatly reduced teacher workload
students who don't score well initially can reattempt different versions of a practical exercise
allowing repeat attempts promotes a growth mindset
reduces cheating and copying by providing students with individualized problems
Example problem
Students are asked to use a volumetric flask to prepare a solution of either sodium chloride, potassium chloride, or potassium nitrate, with the solute being selected at random for each student who attempts the problem. The expected concentration is randomly chosen and may range from 0.02M to 0.08M.
Advance lab preparation and Moodle setup
To set this up, create a quiz question of the "Calculated" question type; make one question for each solute type (for example, three questions, one each for KCl, NaCl, and KNO3). A day before students are to complete the practical exercise, you'll need to prepare several solution samples of each at various concentrations, test their conductivities with a probe, plot a standard curve, and calculate a linear fit. Your R2 for each trendline should be over 0.99.
Use the equation as the Answer 1 formula. If you like, you can award partial credit for answers with varying accuracies by entering the same formula for Answer 1, Answer 2, Answer 3, etc., but using an increasing relative tolerance and decreasing grade for each subsequent box.
When students finish preparing their solutions, they will test the conductivity and enter it as their answer to the "quiz question". The computer will then evaluate it using the standard curve formula that you prepared. Students should be invited to re-attempt the problem as many times as they like--it's great practice!
Downloads
Here is a Moodle XML file that you can import into your own site using the Import link under Question Bank. You'll still need to make your own standard curves and change the answer formulas accordingly. I have three separate "quiz questions", one for each solute, and I make a Moodle quiz that selects one at random from the category, but you could easily use just one of them (say, sodium chloride) to simplify things.
Here is the Excel file I used to plot my standard curves. You can see there's a little variation in the linear regression from year to year, which I suspect is due to slight changes in the quality of our lab's deionized water over time.
