Exploration of Students’ Social Presence in Web-Based Discussion for Conceptual Learning of Organic Chemistry

The current work reports the results of students’ social presence in web-based discussions for their conceptual learning of organic chemistry. The results in this study were collected from the examined students-students, students-instructor, and students-learning materials interactions via the designed web-based discussion. We created an online forum known as “Universal Chemistry Network” to enhance communication among students and teachers in organic chemistry classes. The population comprises four hundred thirty-two (432) 11th-grade students studying chemistry in these combinations. However, a sample of 138 chemistry students was purposively selected from 36 secondary schools located in Kicukiro District in Rwanda. A questionnaire composed of multiple-choice and open-ended questions and a chemistry achievement test were used to collect data. The obtained data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, and interpretive analysis. The results revealed that the use of web-based discussion is a potentially effective teaching method for enhancing student–student and student–teacher interactions in organic chemistry classes. Students appreciated this teaching and learning method as it helped them to search for additional information related to the subject taught and exchange ideas, knowledge, and experiences. The web-based discussion was also found to provide the students with the potential confidence and motivation to express easily their opinions. The repeated measures ANOVA showed that web-based discussion increases students’ academic performance in organic chemistry (p < 0.001, η=0.406)\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\eta =0.406)$$\end{document}. However, there is no statistically significant difference in the mean score between males and females (p > 0.05, η=\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\eta =$$\end{document} 0.27). The challenges faced by students during web-based discussions while learning organic chemistry were also examined.


Introduction
Social presence refers to how individuals interact with each other in an online environment (Lowenthal, 2011). People learn from each other in the community. Based on Vygotsky's idea, sociocultural learning leads to learner-centered and provide active construction of knowledge (Yu et al., 2013). Furthermore, teachers-students and students-students interactions are key aspects of creating and assisting new ideas. Sociocultural learning theory combines the social world and cognitive development. The web-based discussion offers potential interactions between students-students, students-teachers, and exploration of resources and practice, resulting in enhanced knowledge construction. The interaction in web-based discussion increases students' confidence in organic chemistry class (Poole & Glaser, 1999). Webbased discussion should be a suitable method of teaching organic chemistry because it is more flexible and allows for more interactions with students (Sanderson & Field, 2018). It is helpful to use online discussion while teaching organic chemistry since it can continue after class ends, alleviate the issue of resource scarcity, and motivate all students to work anywhere. (Baruah, 2012). According to Zhong (2018), Students' learning initiative and originality in organic chemistry are increased by web-based conversation.
Web-based discussion is essential in the teaching and learning process as it supports a paradigm shift from teachercentered to learner-centered education. It also engages students to learn at their own pace and improves the discussion of learners with others. It was found that the use of traditional group discussion does not provide the efficient resources for students to get complete information needed in their learning, and students become inactive (Bin, 2014). The use of the traditional method of teaching, like lecturing, where a teacher is considered the master of the learning content, affects the students' development of cognitive presence due to time constraints and inefficient guide for all learners, lack of interactive content, and students' misconceptions (Ferdous & Karim, 2019). The application of web-based discussion was found to be among the best solution to those challenges caused by the traditional teaching and learning methods, and it has the added value of allowing the students to express and exchange their ideas and discover the learning concepts.
It has been reported that constructivism in web-based discussion is valuable in teaching and learning, and it is an area that necessitates research continuity (Lefoe, 1998). Via web-based discussion in organic chemistry, interaction is more effective and helps students to understand difficult concepts in this subject, including nucleophilic mechanisms and substitution reactions involving new carbon-carbon bond creation (Rodríguez et al., 2016). Using web-based content is more interesting and encourages students to understand a topic in organic chemistry, including alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, stereochemistry, aromatic compounds, alkyl halides, alcohols, phenols, ethers, aldehydes and ketones, carboxylic acids and their derivatives, amines, heterocyclic compounds, carbohydrates, lipids, amino acids and proteins, and nucleic acids (Al-Salihi & Alobaidi, 2018). It was found that students have a highly positive perception of the utilization of web-based discussion in organic chemistry (Romero et al., 2018).
According to McCauley et al. (2013), some countries have adopted web-based learning and teaching chemistry in their institutions, whereas others have a steady growth of webbased chemistry learning and teaching. The nations in Costa Rica, Europe, and Australia utilize more web-based resources in chemistry teaching and learning than others (Palvia et al., 2018). The American nation-states use more web-based learning (WBL) in chemistry teaching and learning due to their high technology development, internet infrastructures and facilities, the dominance of the English language, the high economic strength of their education sector and stakeholders, and famous brand universities (Kentnor, 2015). European countries also have well-developed web-based learning and teaching chemistry, but some of their countries face linguistic barrier. The UK is the main country in Europe that uses web-based resources more than the others (Casu et al., 2015).
In Asia, web-based resources are applied in massive open online courses (MOOCs), intelligent tutoring systems (ITS), and learning analytics (LA) (Lim, 2018). The developed countries in Africa, like South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria, have adopted the use of web-based learning resources in chemistry, but it is still limited in the remaining countries of Africa. This is due to some challenges, including a lack of innovative technology, low internet connection, and underdeveloped learning institutions (Bagarukayo & Kalema, 2015). Online learning in some countries of Africa is also interrupted by economic and infrastructure difficulties (Nyerere et al., 2012). However, it was demonstrated that the use of the internet could significantly lead to a positive change. In sub-Saharan, the utilization of web-based teaching and learning is used to a low extent. In Rwanda, it is still at an early stage of development, yet most of the institutions in Rwanda's education have an e-learning process on their websites and e-learning platforms, and some learning institutions have forums where students interact and discuss through e-learning materials. Still, the majority of those forums are not actively facilitated, and many are defunct (Umurerwa, 2016). It is in this regard, that the present research aims to explore students' social presence and perception via web-based discussion for their conceptual learning of organic chemistry in secondary schools in Rwanda.

Research Questions
1. How do students interact with themselves, the instructor, and the teaching material in web-based discussion in organic chemistry? 2. What are students' opinions toward web-based discussion in organic chemistry class? 3. What is the relationship between the use of web-based discussion and promoting students' conceptual learning of organic chemistry? 4. What are the challenges faced by chemistry students when discussing organic chemistry via web-based discussion?

Data Collection and Analysis
Data were gathered and analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods. A qualitative approach is useful to discover and explain how and why a particular phenomenon operates as it does in a particular context (Creswell, 2014). In this study, a qualitative approach was used to investigate students' perceptions, feelings, experiences, complex issues, motivation, insight, and familiarity with web-based discussion in teaching and learning organic chemistry. A quantitative approach was used to determine the extent to which web-based discussion develops the social presence of learners in teaching and learning organic chemistry. The mixed method is useful for this study as it provides greater depth and breadth of information that is not possible by using single approaches in isolation (Almalki, 2016). The population used comprised four hundred thirtytwo (432) 11th-grade students who learn chemistry in their combinations from the selected schools in Kicukiro District in Rwanda. A total of 138 students, comprised of 83 males and 55 females, were purposively selected. Those schools were selected due to the purpose of the study and the availability of computer labs and internet connections. Based on the Rwanda Basic Education curriculum, students learn chemistry in all grades of ordinary level (7, 8, and 9th grades) and advanced levels (10, 11, and 12th grades) in the combination of mathematics chemistry and biology (MCB), physics chemistry and mathematics (PCM), and physics chemistry and biology (PCB). Thus, the targets were students learning organic chemistry in 8 and 9th grades of ordinary level and 11 and 12th grade of advanced levels. According to the literature, researchers used 11th-grade chemistry students because most of them highlighted that the challenging topic in organic chemistry is found in 11th grade, as was also stated by different authors, including drawing and representation of organic compounds (Johnstone, 2006), properties of organic compounds (Anderson & Bodner, 2008), aromaticity (Rushton et al., 2008), reaction types, and reaction mechanisms (Ferguson & Bodner, 2008). According to Lorenzo et al. (2012), reaction synthesis, instrumentation, structure, properties, organic mechanism, nomenclature, isomerism, drawing and classification, organic reaction, synthesis, and mechanism are challenging topics in organic chemistry. We designed a web-based discussion nicknamed "Universal Chemistry Network (UCN)" where the account of each participant has been created, and each participant has been logged in by using his/her username and password. Web-based discussions were done for 1 month. Nine organic chemistry topics were available via designed web-based discussion.
The discussed topics were based on alkanes, alkene, alkyne, alcohols, ketones, ethers, esters, carboxylic acids, and amines. The content discussed was mainly based on nomenclature, physical properties, chemical properties, and preparation of organic compounds. After login, every participant got access to the forum. Students and teachers discussed together organic chemistry topics via UCN. Figure 1 below is an example discussion chat during the study.
Likert-scale questionnaires composed of 22 statements, which have four levels of agreement that are 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = agree, and 4 = strongly agree, and open-ended questions were administered to the students to explore their opinions about their interaction with each other, the teacher, and teaching materials via web-based discussion. The data obtained by questionnaires were analyzed in two ways, the data on the Likert scale items were analyzed by using descriptive statistics such as mean (x̅ ) and standard deviation (SD), while the data on open-ended questions were analyzed by using interpretive analysis. On the other side, a chemistry achievement test was used to examine the extent to which web discussion influences students' conceptual understanding in terms of performance in organic chemistry. The test was composed of 50 questions divided per unit and marked out of 100. The obtained data from the chemistry achievement test were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics (repeated measures ANOVA) with aid of Excel 2016 and SPSS 26.
To ensure the content validity of the research instruments, the interview was checked and approved by a team of experts in research and chemistry education from the college of education, University of Rwanda (UR-CE). The recommendations and comments provided were very helpful and constructive to improve the final research instruments. To ensure the reliability of this study before the intervention, the research was piloted in one school (different from the schools involved in this study) with the same characteristics as the schools under the study. The reliability coefficient was calculated by using Cronbach's alpha and was found to be 0.88.

Significance of the Research
This study focuses on the social presence of the students in organic chemistry via web-based discussion. Thus, students need to gain the abilities and skills necessary for the labor market as per Rwanda Basic Education Board (REB) curriculum. Students who are comfortable using online resources will be better able to address challenges in the real world and develop 21st-century abilities. These abilities include teamwork, analytical and critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and innovation. Additionally, it will facilitate collaboration between chemistry teachers and students from other schools in Rwanda, Africa, and other parts of the world. This research will also assist the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC), REB, and school administrators in resolving instructional resource issues and lowering textbook printing costs. It will also assist the researchers in gaining insight, experience, familiarity, and effectiveness of web-based discussion forums in organic chemistry.

Student's Opinions Toward the Utilization of Web-based Discussion in Teaching and Learning Organic Chemistry
To explore students' views, a Likert scale questionnaire composed of 14 statements was used, whereby each statement has four levels of agreement that are 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = agree, and 4 = strongly agree. Table 1 below shows the representative mean score and standard deviation on students' views toward the utilization of webbased discussion in organic chemistry class.
During the analysis, the above-shown results indicated that most students are familiar with the use of web-based discussion in their learning with the x̅ of 3.98 and SD of 0.92. The data are in agreement with Janssen et al. (2009), who found that students have the experience necessary to collaborate with others via web-based discussion. It was also confirmed by Yang and Cornelius (2004), who found that students do a positive experience with web-based discussion in their learning. With the x̅ of 4.20 and SD of 0.90, they responded that they liked their interaction via web-based discussion. It was also confirmed by Serhan (2019), who found that the use of web-based discussion enhances student interaction. In addition, Msonde and Van Aalst (2017) found that web-based discussion increases social interaction. Table 1 Student's views on the utilization of web-based discussion in teaching and learning organic chemistry (N = 138)

Statements Mean SD
It was easy to collaborate with others via web-based discussion 3.98 0.92 I like to interact with other students via web-based discussion in organic chemistry class 4.20 0.90 Web-based discussion is a powerful collaborative tool in teaching organic chemistry classes 3.86 1.16 Web-based discussion helps me to visualize organic chemistry concepts 3.66 1.06 Web-based discussion helps me to share my views and resources with other students and teachers required in organic chemistry 4.07 0.76 Using web-based discussion in organic chemistry is enjoyable 3.77 1.06 The teacher encouraged learners to explore new concepts through web-based discussion 4.07 0.76 Web-based discussion is an excellent collaborative tool for learning organic chemistry than traditional discussion 3.77 0.86 I felt comfortable while discussing organic chemistry with other students via web-based discussion 3.66 0.88 Via web-based discussion, brainstorming, and searching for relevant information were increased 3.66 1.06 I can recommend administrators and other schools to the web-based discussion in teaching and learning organic chemistry 4.07 0.76 Web-based discussion is a powerful collaborative tool. This study indicates that a web-based discussion is a powerful tool that stimulates students' thinking and sharing of information. Students reported that the use of web-based discussion is enjoyed fully with the x̅ of 3.66 and SD of 1.06. As was also confirmed by Mitchell et al. (2005), students enjoy more web-based discussions and have positive views of this kind of discussion. Web-based discussion helps students to visualize the organic chemistry concept with the x̅ of 3.66 and SD of 1.06. The use of web-based discussion encourages students to explore new organic chemistry concepts with the x̅ 4.07 and SD of 0.76. It is in agreement with Onyema et al.'s (2019) research that indicated that webbased discussion encourages students to explore and share ideas.
Students confirmed that web-based discussion is an excellent collaboration tool more than the use of traditional discussion with the x̅ of 3.77 and SD of 0.86. That is in agreement with Helic et al. (2004); Nguyen (2015); Shana (2009), who all found that web-based discussion is an excellent collaborative tool more so than using traditional discussion. Students felt comfortable while discussing via web-based discussion with the x̅ of 3.66 and SD of 0.88. It was also confirmed by Richards-Babb et al. (2015), Salame and Hanna (2020), and Tekane et al. (2020), who found that students have positive opinions about the quality of using web-based discussion in organic chemistry classes. Via web-based discussion, brainstorming and searching for new information were increased with the x̅ of 3.66 and SD of 0.88. Kurt and Emiroğlu (2017) and Tsai and Tsai (2003) also found that the use of web-based discussion encourages students to search for new information. Students appreciated and recommended educators use web-based discussion tools with the x̅ of 4.07 and SD of 0.76. This result is consistent with Khan et al. (2021) research, which recommended educational institutions and policymakers take this onlinelearning process to the next level in a better way of teaching and learning. In addition, Abel et al. (2010) recommended educators and educational stakeholders promote the use of web-based discussion forums as they promote communication and motivate learners. From the analysis, all students scored above the mean. Figure 2 below shows student's percentage scores of their opinions towards the utilization of web-based discussion in organic chemistry.

Social Presence in Web-Based Discussion for Conceptual Learning of Organic Chemistry
To explore the interaction among students themselves, the teacher and learning materials incorporating students' ideas from open-ended questionnaires were used. Students were given a number from S001 to S138. Students reported that web-based discussion is interactive and enjoyable. One student wrote that "through web-based discussion, it was easier to 79 It was easy to collaborate with others via web-based discussion.
I like to interact with other students via web-based Discussion In organic chemistry class.
Web-based discussion is a powerful collaboraƟve tool in teaching organic chemistry classes.
Web-based discussion helps me to visualize organic chemistry concepts.
Web-based discussion helps me to share my views and resources with other students and teachers required in… Using web-based discussion in organic chemistry is enjoyable.
The teacher encouraged learners to explore new concepts through web-based discussion.
Web-based discussion is an excellent collaboraƟve tool in learning organic chemistry than tradiƟonal discussion I felt comfortable while discussing organic chemistry with other students via Web-based discussion.
Via web-based discussion brainstorming and searching for relevant informaƟon were increased.
I can recommend administrators and other schools to the webbased discussion in teaching and learning organic chemistry. Fig. 2 Student opinion percentage score of using web-based discussion in organic chemistry class reflect on ideas of my colleague, and it was also easier to get to know the idea of the another" (S120). Students also reported that web-based discussion improves their communication and interaction. All students were satisfied with on quality of communication and interaction of web-based discussion. One student wrote, "We got the opportunity to share our ideas, experience, and understand other views on a given topic" (S132). Another student reported that "through webbased, our interaction became easier because it was easy to react and share ideas more easily" (S084). It was found that web-based discussion helps students to search for other resources. One student wrote, "using this platform is good because as we are connected to the internet, it was easy to search related information when you uncounted with difficulties during the discussion." (S018). Participants pointed out that the web-based discussion forum gave them a platform to learn from each other through social interaction. In addition, web-based discussion encourages all student to participate in the discussion. One student pointed out that "During the traditional discussion, I refused to answer even though I knew the answer because I'm shy, but through this mode of collaboration helps me to collaborate with my colleague without fear" (S062). The above statements suggest that a web-based discussion forum is a powerful collaborative tool that enhances social learning where learners share their ideas and experiences for a given topic.

Percentage Statements
From the above results, we found that social interaction in web-based discussion is useful in three ways: sharing ideas and experiences, increasing interaction, and problemsolving. The above results also show that the use of webbased discussion encourages students' participation, motivates them, and helps them search for additional information in organic chemistry classes. The obtained results are supported by other authors. For example, the study conducted by Dai et al. (2021) found that the use of online discussion forums enhanced communication and motivation and encouraged students to participate in the discussion of the carboxylic acid sub-topic. Poole and Glaser (1999) found that the organic chemistry online forum helped students to know each other and encouraged participation. These results are also consistent with Romero et al. (2019), who found that web-based tools are useful collaborative tools in organic chemistry that enhance interaction.

Relationship Between Elements of Web-Based Discussion Toward Promoting Students' Conceptual Understanding of Organic Chemistry
The conceptual learning of organic chemistry involves the repetition of actions and intends for students to link concepts with prior knowledge. This section describes how three elements of this study in a community of inquiry (cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence) interact with each other in an online community of learners for the effective teaching and learning of organic chemistry.
Students construct and confirm knowledge in the online community through learner-learner interaction, learnercomputer interaction, and learner-teacher interaction. This is done with effective design, organization, facilitating discourse, and direct instruction of a teacher. Confirmation of knowledge and understanding occur in four phases triggering, exploration, integration, and resolution. At each phase, some indicators show successful construction of knowledge and understanding in a community of learners.  below shows the interaction between cognitive presence, teaching presence, and social presence toward the student's academic performance. Effective utilization of web-based discussion in teaching and learning organic chemistry should help students to construct knowledge in an online community of learners. The development of cognitive presence requires interaction between social and teaching presence. The web-based discussion also needs continuous guidance and facilitation as the independent variable. Successful cognitive demand and better performance of learners in organic chemistry also need students' family background, student experience, and teachers' experience as intervening variables. Web-based discussion is important in the teaching and learning process as it supports a paradigm shift from teacher-centered to learner-centered education and engages students to learn on their own, supporting the connection of learners with others. Different studies indicated that effective use of webbased discussion is one of the best methods in teaching and learning chemistry as it helps students in the acquisition of knowledge and academic outcomes Jayakumar (2017) and Lovatt et al. (2007).

Challenges of Using Web-Based Discussion in Teaching and Learning Organic Chemistry
Regardless of the usefulness of using web-based discussion in organic chemistry class, some challenges are identified. They reported poor internet connection, lack of own computer and smartphone, delay of feedback from the teacher, classroom timetable, writing formula and drawing compounds, loss of concentration, and technical support. Table 2 below shows the samples of students' responses to their challenges while discussing organic chemistry topics via web-based discussion.
The above results are in line with Coman et al. (2020), who found that low technical skills affect effective collaboration in a web-based discussion. This was also in agreement with Crossley and McNamara (2016), who showed that low technical skills in web-based discussion hinder effective communication. And Elida et al. (2012), Aljeraisy et al. (2015), and Bartley and Golek (2004) confirmed the same results.

Challenging Organic Chemistry Topics Difficult to Discuss via Web-Based Discussion
To identify challenging topics difficult to discuss via webbased discussion a Likert scale questionnaire was used, whereby students were requested to rate organic chemistry topics with four levels of agreement that are very difficult = 1, difficult = 2, easy = 3, and very easy = 4. Figure 4 shows how students rate the difficulty of organic chemistry topics via web-based discussion.
During the analysis, we combined very difficult and difficult as difficult and very easy and easy as easy. All students reported that it was difficult to draw organic compounds. One hundred and ten students (79.71%) responded it was difficult to discuss isomerism in the web-based discussion. However, only twenty-eight students (20.29%) of them indicated it was very easy. All students reported that it was easy to discuss the nomenclature of organic compounds via web-based discussion. Ninety-nine students (71.73%) pointed out that it was difficult to discuss reaction mechanisms via web-based discussion, while thirty-nine students (28.27%) showed that it was easy to discuss reaction mechanisms. Ninety students (65.22%) pointed out that it was difficult to discuss the chemical properties of organic compounds, while forty-eight students (34.78%) showed that it was easy for them. All students highlighted that it was difficult to discuss the reaction synthesis of organic compounds via web-based discussion. On the other hand, all students pointed out that it was easy to discuss the classification and physical properties of organic compounds via webbased discussion. The above results identified some challenging organic chemistry topics that are difficult to discuss via web-based discussion, including drawing organic compounds, reaction synthesis, isomerism, reaction mechanism, and chemical properties of organic compounds.

Students Performance on Organic Chemistry per Question by Unit
Figure 5 below shows how students perform each question in the pretest and posttest. Generally, after the intervention of using web-based discussion, the performance of students increased from pretest to posttest except on the Q16, Q17 in the unit of alcohol, Q36 and Q37 in the unit Q2  of ester, and Q44 and Q50 in the unit of amine. Students were less successful on those questions in the posttest than pretest because these questions require additional knowledge of drawing chemical compounds (see Appendix 1). In fact, the failed questions are related to the reaction mechanism, preparation of organic compounds, and chemical properties of the organic compound. Therefore, web-based discussions prompt students' conceptual understanding of organic chemistry, but students need additional knowledge of drawing organic compounds by using electronic software. Figure 5 below shows how students scored questions in the pretest and posttest. These results are in line with O'Dwyer and Childs (2017), who found that students failed organic chemistry due to a lack of drawing skills. It was also confirmed by , who found that students failed organic chemistry synthesis is perceived as difficult by students due to their reliance on memorization of a large number of reactions, reagents, and rules, poor conceptual understanding of the topics, and ineffective teaching methods that do not encourage active learning and student participation. Figure 6 below shows student individual performance in the pretest and posttest. Generally, all students performed better in the posttest than the pretest except student three students, including one female number 23, and two males number 27 and 63. Looking at the factors that cause those failures, we found that those students who failed posttest at a greater rate may be probably caused by lack a of computer skills and continuous revision. (see Fig. 6).

Descriptive Statistic of Pre and Post-test
The descriptive analysis revealed that the mean score of the posttest was increased by 9.85%. In terms of gender, the mean score of males and females increased by 12.41 and 9.99% in males and females, respectively (see Table 3). To test whether there is a statistically significant difference in the mean score of the pretest and posttest of males and females, inferential statistics (repeated measures ANOVA) was used. Table 4 shows an inferential analysis of the pre-test and post-test.
Repeated measures ANOVA revealed that there is a very high statistically significant difference in the mean score of pre-and post-test (p < 0.001) with medium effect size ( = 0.406) . However, the results also revealed that there is no statistically significant difference in the mean score of males and females (p > 0.05) with a low effect size ( = 0.27). Hence, the use of web-based discussion increases students' academic performance in organic chemistry. The obtained results are in agreement with Iyamuremye et al. (2021), who found that web-based discussion increases students' academic performance in organic chemistry with a 0.10 learning gain. This was also supported by Littlejohn et al. (2002), who found that the use of web-based organic chemistry tutorials provide students' appropriate feedback and enhanced student's conception of the structural formula of an organic compound. With a web-based system, time spent grading, recording, and returning paper-based homework is greatly reduced, though initial use of the web-system requires some time for setup (Fynewever, 2014).

Conclusion and Recommendations
The study concludes that web-based discussion is a powerful collaborative tool that enhances interaction among students and teachers. It also found that web-based discussion encourages students to share ideas and experiences, and it helps them to search for additional information on a given topic. The study also highlighted challenging topics difficult to discuss via webbased discussion, including reaction mechanisms, drawing and writing organic compounds, chemical properties, and isomerism. The results revealed that there is a very high, statistically significant difference in the mean score of the pretest and posttest after using web-based discussion (p < 0.001, = 0.406) . However, there is no statistically significant difference in the mean score of males and females (p > 0.05, = 0.27) In addition, challenges faced by students while discussing via webbased discussion were identified, such as poor internet connection, lack of own computer and smartphone, and technical support. The use of web-based discussion is important in the teaching and learning process. However, we need future direction to continue this success, and education policymakers need to formulate policies regarding the usage of web-based discussion in secondary schools. Future work will focus on how webbased discussion enhances students' higher levels of thinking. Web-based discussion in organic chemistry has a wide range of effects on pedagogy, teacher-student interaction, grading, and other parts of the school, such as social life and administration. No matter where, when, or how an online course is offered, all online courses share the fundamental premise that students will study off campus, typically by themselves. 13. What product(s) will be obtained from the acid-catalysed hydration of pent-2-yne?

Students' Performance Test for Organic Chemistry
A Pentanal B Pent-2-one and pentan-3-one C Pentan-2-one D Pentan-3-one 14. Which statement is incorrect about reactions of propene?
A Reaction with Br2 and H 2 O gives 1-bromo propan-2-ol as the main product. B Polymerization of propene gives polypropene, of which the isotactic and syndiotactic forms are commercially valuable. C Reaction with Br2 in the presence of a radical initiator yields 2-bromopropane as the major product. D No correct answer.

Which one of the following statements is incorrect?
A The electrophilic addition of HBr to but-2-ene involves a secondary carbonium ion intermediate. 91 B In the presence of a radical initiator, HBr reacts with but-1-ene to give 1-bromobutane as the major product. C In the presence of a radical initiator, HBr reacts with but-1-ene to give a Markovnikov addition product.
D The major product of the electrophilic addition of HBr to hex-1-ene is 2-bromohexane.
16. Compound X, C4H8O2, has an unbranched carbon chain. An aqueous solution of X has an approximate pH of 3. Compound Y, C3H8O, is a secondary alcohol. X and Y are reacted together in the presence of a little concentrated sulphuric acid to form Z as the major organic product. What is the structural formula of Z?
17. The ester CH3CH2CH2CO2CH2CH (CH3)2 was hydrolysed under acidic conditions. What are the organic products of this hydrolysis?
A Butanoic acid and 2-methylpropan-1-ol B Butanoic acid and 2-methylpropan-2-ol C Butan-1-ol and 2-methylpropanoic acid D Propanoic acid and 2-methylpropan-1-ol 18. An unknown organic compound reacts with sodium to give a combustible gas as one product but does not give a yellow precipitate with alkaline aqueous iodine. What is a possible identity of the unknown organic compound?

Declarations
Ethics Approval The researcher obtained research permission from the University of Rwanda-College of Education and an authorization letter from Kigali City and Kicukiro District.

Consent to Participate
The participants have explained the aim of the study before signing the consent forms to participate in the study willingly. All students have ages above 16 years. We have ensured that the principle of anonymity was respected to guarantee the confidentiality of the collected information.

Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no competing interests. Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
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