New Directions in Teaching Introductory and Organic Chemistry

Abstract

To resolve several problems that arise in the teaching of hybrid atomic orbitals (HAO) and the valence-shell electron-pair repulsion (VSEPR) model, we propose an original way to present molecular structures, beginning with an analysis of the teaching of lone pairs without HAO and VSEPR. Our purpose in eliminating completely the HAO and VSEPR models from introductory and organic chemistry is to avoid erroneous concepts about the distributions of electronic charge within molecules. We provide a general design to teach the basic curriculum of chemistry in the future without HAO and VSEPR.