Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed on educational institutions the need to adapt to remote learning. During this period, students faced difficulties with accessing online classes, content, motivation and emotional aspects. The mobile phone was the device most used by students to participate in classes and continue their studies.

In this context, a didactic proposal was created to teach and learn stereochemistry. It was applied in an Organic Chemistry class composed of undergraduate students.

In the teaching and learning of organic chemistry, especially in the study of stereochemistry, understanding of the structure and the application/importance of enantiomers (chiral compounds) are essential. In structural terms, all organic molecules with asymmetric structures are called chiral. Two chiral substances are named enantiomers when one of them has a Chemical structural formula equal to the mirror image of the other, and they are not overlapping. Enantiomers of the same organic molecule can play different roles in nature.

Aiming to engage and motivate students, as well as to seek profitable teaching and learning strategies for the context of remote learning, we created a didactic proposal for teaching and learning Chemistry, involving the study of the biological importance of chiral compounds a topic that makes up the studies of stereochemistry. In this work, we aim to report the application of the didactic proposal and the evaluation of its development by the students.

It was applied in an Organic Chemistry class composed of pre-service teacher undergraduates in the Natural Sciences (Biology and Chemistry), in the second semester of 2021. The didactic proposal was applied and evaluated in the context of remote learning (synchronous and asynchronous classes) because of the restrictions to face-to-face classes in the pandemic times. Digital Technologies were used to mediate the didactic proposal activities,devices as mobile phones and computers, as well as some applications (“Google Meet”, “Google Drive”, App “Explain Everything” and App “ModelAR Organic Chemistry”.
The evaluation of the developed activities was carried out through a questionnaire.

Google Drive was used to store information and materials to support the development of research and the didactic proposal; the “ModelAR Organic Chemistry” application was used to build the three-dimensional structure of the studied organic molecules; “Explain Everything” was used to create an interactive and multimedia presentation, which was prepared by each of the students of the class, as teaching material that compiled and organized all the information, materials and knowledge acquired during the development of the study on importance of the chiral compounds, and was used for the presentation of the final activity of the didactic proposal in an online class. After the final presentation, the students evaluated the didactic proposal.

This activity consisted of a fruitful educational activity in the context of remote learning. Details of the steps of the didactic proposal, its development and evaluation will be presented in the paper.

Acknowledgements:
This study was supported by the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rio Grande do Sul (IFRS), IFRS/Fapergs.

Keywords:

Remote learning, Chemistry education, Organic chemistry.