Authoring a TopHat E-Book from Existing Videos: An Explanation and Results from Two Years of Flipping an Organic Chemistry Course

Abstract

During six years of flipping college organic chemistry with a combination of online videos and assigned textbook readings, students sometimes complained when the content coverage and quality differed between the book and videos, obliging students to “hunt” through both resources. As educational tools, videos can leverage the dual-channel visual/auditory centers of the human brain. However, videos do not have the searchable elements of print textbooks and can only be read through closed captioning, limiting accessibility for those with hearing loss. Separately, print texts have the advantage of physical tactility but lack audio, online accessibility, or the lightweight portability of modern electronics. Thus, to develop a better combination of both mediums, we created a book with content identically matching an updated video library. This was done in eight months from the videos by using an online software called Maestra to produce a written transcript, which was edited and converted to a digital “e-book” using the TopHat interface. Although prior publications in this Journal have discussed TopHat e-books, none have explained how to create one. This report provides clear instructions and video references on how to do this, along with structural details about our e-book and how it was integrated into two full-year iterations of college organic chemistry. Themes from anonymous student feedback are also discussed, including strengths and weaknesses of this specific e-book design and the use of TopHat generally, in anticipation of establishing patterns of best teaching practices with e-book platforms in flipped chemistry courses.