Abstract

After teaching few chapters of organic chemistry, we found that students were unable to outline the synthetic pathway or predict unknown organic compounds. And the main problem is they were unable to visualise the linkage of different classes of compounds. Thus, we have developed a Chameleon Concept Map (CCM) method to help students resolve their problems by promoting a visualisation of transforming one functional group to another functional group. In other words, it was a combination of 7 individual mind maps. 56 respondents were selected from the PST students. They were divided into low, moderate and high achiever groups. The study spanned 5 weeks in a class that met twice a week. The material covered was chemical reactions of aliphatic compounds in organic chemistry. This study was carried out in two stages. The instruments used were Pre- and Post-Tests (I & II), questionnaire and semi-structured interview. Findings showed that the mean scores of 3 achiever groups increased in the tests after the CCM method was introduced, from 1.11%, 2.93% and 18.33% to 60.37%, 72.00% and 98.33% for low, moderate and high achiever groups respectively. Data analysis of questionnaire indicated 95.47% agreed to the effectiveness of CCM method. Furthermore, the interview session also showed positive responses and feedbacks. As a result of the positive findings, we have innovated the CCM into a self-help guidebook to guide the students to construct their own CCM steps-by-steps.