Office of the
Chief Information Officer

Home

Index to Current and Past Years

Contact Us

Christopher Hadad

By Emmett Crawley

Christopher Hadad, associate professor of chemistry, is involved in cutting-edge technology development in and out of the classroom. In addition to his course work, Hadad is involved with the Environmental Molecular Science Institute and the Byrd Polar Research Center to help scientists understand chemical reactions and the effect they have on pollution in Ohio.

In his organic chemistry classes, Hadad is integrating technology to change the nature of how chemistry is taught, as well as how students learn chemistry. For his Chemistry 252 course, for example, Hadad collaborated with Associate Professor Todd Lowary and other Chemistry Department staffers, Steve Parker, Patrick McCarren, and J. Alex Feng (referred to as the organic resource development team), on the concept and development of a number of online resources.

One of the resources they developed, with financial support from the Chemistry Department and a Technology Enhanced Learning and Research (TELR) grant, is a series of electronic flash cards, which help students learn and practice many aspects of organic chemistry.

Covering more than 17 topics, such as alcohols, amines, nitriles, ethers and epoxides, the flashcard decks use a multi-step synthesis that poses questions, indicates reactions, and gives answers to the questions. Each time a student visits any flashcard deck, the deck is automatically reshuffled.

This is just one example of how Hadad and his colleagues are using technology to enhance teaching and learning. In other organic chemistry courses, for both graduate and undergraduate students, Hadad relies on his department's Web server, as well as WebCT (the primary Web-based course management system supported by the College of Math and Physical Sciences, Health Sciences, OSU Lima Campus, and the Office of Information Technology) to supplement his teaching. Students are able to download notes, interact among themselves and with faculty via e-mail, and receive answers by visiting a frequently asked questions Web site.

Hadad says technology is clearly changing the nature of how students learn chemistry. "It's moving content changes from a static process to one of defining goals the students wish to pursue. Students become more active in technology-supported classrooms," he notes, and adds that technology is providing him with the opportunity to move from simply streamlining the way things have always been done to really imagining things he would like to do. Instead of relying solely on traditional paper and pencil tests for evaluating learning, he says in his technology-enhanced courses he can now evaluate learning in multiple ways because students are able to present their knowledge in a variety of formats.

One of the actions Hadad is contemplating is how to use technology to enhance chemistry lab courses. Although he believes the sheer number of lab components currently prohibits distant teaching and learning for chemistry lab courses, he believes that "there are components of lab courses that can be enhanced through technology." Additionally, Hadad would like to see an online module of molecular structures developed, using rotation and life-like features. Currently, Hadad and co-developers are working on an online computational chemistry module to enhance a graduate course in computational chemistry.

Hadad is a member of the TELR Coordinating Council, NTSC College Math and Physical Science, and serves as liaison for computer support and Web page design in the department of Chemistry.

For more information on the Chemistry Department, visit www.chemistry.ohio-state.edu.