Organic Chemistry YouTube Writing Assignment for Large Lecture Classes

This work describes efforts to incorporate and evaluate the use of a You Tube writing assignment in large lecture classes to personalize learning and improve conceptual understanding of chemistry through peer- and self-explanation strategies. Although writing assignments can be a method to incorporate peer- and self-explanation strategies, this method is not often incorporated in large lecture classes and lower-division science courses. This work primarily focuses on a You Tube video script writing assignment where a student selects an organic chemistry concept and describes how they would teach or creatively explain the concept to their fellow classmates using real-world examples in a popular You Tube video format. In a more elaborate version of the assignment, students then proceed to make a You Tube video based on this written assignment. Subsequent details and feedback about the assignment are also presented.