5. The Nomenclature of Organic Compounds 5.4 Conclusions on Nomenclature of Organic Compounds Package

The findings show that the package is well designed and that students showed a marked increase in confidence after just one hour working with the package. The majority of students required no help and the small number that did request help were asking mainly for help with the subject matter. The learning outcomes, as evidenced by the pre and post test results, confirm the views of the students themselves, by showing that there was a significant increase in learning in 3 out of 4 institutions and at the 4th site students did improve their scores but the results were just outside accepted levels of significance. The majority of students have improved their knowledge and skills in the subject but the package has been of particular value to the poorer students who began with 40% or below, thus confirming its role as a remedial and revision package. Student remarks are generally very favourable but further attention is needed in introducing the package. Many students appear to be unaware of the importance of punctuation in compound names and further explanation, either within the package or by the teacher, on the expectations of the package would help to alleviate students' frustrations in this area. Secondly, study patterns outlined in this study appear to show that students require more direction when approaching a CAL package, if they are to approach the learningtask more creatively. Suggestions on which sections must be worked through and how to assess if you need to work through other parts could help students to avoid working through the material in a totally linear fashion. Inviting students to work together in small groups may help to create more dialogue between students, whose tendencies to work in isolation may not always be desirable.