Organic Chemistry I

Reviewed by Ratanmani Joshi, Professor, Tidewater Community College on 2/23/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The text covers most areas and ideas of the subject and does provide good glossary.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

There are very few errors, but overall it is accurate and unbiased.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The book is quite relevant, since it covers most basic concepts of Organic chemistry I for freshman and sophomore students.

Clarity rating: 4

Book content is very clear, but some more example could have been included for practice purpose.

Consistency rating: 5

All terminologies mentioned in the test are very well explained.

Modularity rating: 5

I really like the way sections are broken for each chapter.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

Book organization/ structure/flow are good except certain topics are omitted out. For example in the spectroscopy chapter, the author should have included introduction of mass spectroscopy also along with IR and NMR.

Interface rating: 5

No interface issues.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

Few grammatical error but overall concepts can be understood.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

No cultural relevance in the book.

Overall the book is really good a an OER option. Covers major concepts of Organic Chemistry I for students. However more practice problems could be included with each chapter.

Reviewed by Hermann Christine, Chair, Full Professor, Radford University on 1/10/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

This textbook covers most topics in the first semester of the year-long Organic Chemistry sequence. More examples of IR and NMR interpretation and nomenclature examples are needed. Many topics are not covered in much detail such as nomenclature and VSEPR. An index, glossary, and many end of chapter problems would be useful.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The material that is presented is accurate.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

Real world examples would improve the textbook, as students want to know how this relates to their real life. The topics that are included are the basics of organic chemistry.

Clarity rating: 4

The text is written so that it is easy to understand. However, the numerous typos distract from the text. The examples that are present are illustrated well. However, many more examples and problems are needed.

Consistency rating: 5

The textbook is consistent throughout in style. Color pictures explain topics well.

Modularity rating: 5

The headings and sub-headings are excellent. Many more examples are needed for students. All students need many examples to understand the topic.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The topics are presented in a logical manner. However, more examples are needed to explain the concepts.

Interface rating: 5

The images are clear and easy to read. Table of contents is easy to follow.

Grammatical Errors rating: 3

Numerous typos are in the textbook. For example, carbocation is labelled carocation

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The chemistry topics are listed typical for an organic book. These are facts and not related to culture.

It is a basic organic book for the first semester of Organic Chemistry. However, it does not give enough explanation or examples for many topics.

Reviewed by SATHIAMOORTHY BALASUBRAMANIAN, Chemistry FACULTY, Rochester Community & Technical College on 12/11/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This text book covers all the chapters required for 1st semester of Organic chemistry course. It is comprehensive yet precise in outlining the various concepts involved.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

Appears accurate and error free on basic reading.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

This text book is highly relevant for understanding the fundamentals of Organic chemistry course. The various concepts are well organized and explained in detail. This book can be used by a student to self teach the principles in Organic chemistry.

Clarity rating: 5

This text book is easy to understand and is supplemented by excellent examples. I would specially highlight the various examples given in the text book as they are the tools which lead to clear understanding.

Consistency rating: 5

Is consistent throughout

Modularity rating: 5

The author has well thought out the various sections in the text book. One can use any of these sections in providing assignments to students.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Well organized and easy to understand. It has a connect from one concept to another likewise from one chapter to another.

Interface rating: 5

There aren't any interface issues.

Grammatical Errors rating: 3

There are grammatical errors in tense used but it shouldn't be an issue in understanding the concepts being dealt in the book.

Cultural Relevance rating: 1

Not applicable

A well written organic chemistry text book for Freshman and sophomore students. Some grammatical errors need to be corrected but that doesn't cause issues in understanding the concepts being dealt. I would surely recommend students to utilize the examples and questions given in this book for further practice and better understanding of principles of Organic Chemistry

Reviewed by Maggie Bump, Senior Instructor, Virginia Tech on 5/23/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

This text covers half of the standard undergraduate Organic Chemistry concepts and reactions and is reasonable coverage for one semester of the course.
The text does not address polymers, pharmaceuticals, biomaterials, or green chemistry. These evolving areas will need to be incorporated by the professor.
Inclusion of an index, glossary, and summary of reactions would be a great addition.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Content is accurate and unbiased.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The material included is up-to-date coverage of longstanding principles and reactions, content that does not change quickly.
Real-world applications, such as vinyl polymerizations used on a large industrial scale, are not included but would improve the relevance of the text material.

Clarity rating: 4

The text is written at a level appropriate for freshmen and sophomore Organic Chemistry students. Examples and Common Error boxes are useful and well placed.
The grammatical errors are distracting and may cause minor issues for some learning styles.

Consistency rating: 5

The text throughout the chapters is consistent in style and in level of both content and presentation of the content.

Modularity rating: 5

Chapters and subheadings are used effectively to make the text divisible into pre- and post- class readings, or for adapting the order of the material for customized coverage.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The topics are presented in a logical order and clear fashion.

Interface rating: 5

The text is free of significant interface issues. Images appear clear and navigating between the table of contents and embedded links is logical and smooth.

Grammatical Errors rating: 3

There are several small grammatical errors, mainly verb tense and noun pluralization. These are distracting, but not inhibitory to understanding the content.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The chemistry is presented in a scientific manner. There are not statements of opinion, and there are not examples that are culturally insensitive.

For a new teacher of the subject, challenges include limited practice problems, no test questions, and no ‘fun facts’ showing real world examples.
I am going to offer this text as a resource in my class this fall because it is well organized and written at an appropriate level, but I have been teaching the course for 20 years. I have developed resources for my classes, so having only this text is a fine fit for my class. I will use my notes, practice problems, homework sheets, and examples with this text.