Enhancing Chemistry Curricula through Molecular Modeling: A Multi-Campus Consortium Approach

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Chemistry (12) This project is a joint effort by four chemistry departments in the University of Alaska system to improve the access of UA chemistry students to modern computational chemistry tools. Chemistry faculty at these sites, which include UA campuses at Fairbanks, Anchorage, Juneau, and the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, do have some experience using molecular modeling software. However, most of these small chemistry departments by themselves lack experience using molecular modeling in the teaching setting, they lack colleagues within their sub-disciplines to discuss specific molecular modeling issues, and they lack the financial resources and technical background to install the necessary hardware and software on a department-wide scale. Thus the UA consortium was formed to provide mutual technical support concerning how to solve specific molecular modeling problems, to exchange ideas and methods for incorporating molecular modeling in the chemistry curriculum, and to choose the best hardware and software for installation in undergraduate computer labs. The PIs settled on a common hardware standard and the HyperChem molecular modeling system to facilitate communication throughout the UA system. Communication also is fostered by setting up a Web site (www.hyperalaska.edu) as a centralized information exchange site for Alaska chemistry faculty, or others nationwide, regarding teaching or research applications of molecular modeling. UA chemistry faculty are adapting molecular modeling methods in their curricula in various ways. These are designed to: (1) enhance the mental picture of molecularity among introductory level students (Jones, ChemConf 96), (2) create unifying cross-disciplinary connections among upper division students enrolled in discipline-specific chemistry and (in some cases) biology classes (Martin, J. Chem. Ed., 75, 241, 1998), and (3) critically benchmark computational chemistry results against experimental results, such as those obtained in NMR, IR, thermochemical, chromatographic, kinetic or other experiments (Yarger, J. Chem. Ed., 74, 243, 1997; Wolfson, J. Chem. Ed. 73, 1026, 1996). The across-the-board implementation of molecular modeling described here is expected to significantly strengthen chemistry learning by providing new motivation for students to undertake learning, a new conceptual route to learning, and significant and interesting learning goals for both students and teachers.