Enriching the General Chemistry Laboratory Experience with Pedagogical Simulations

该项目正在开发和评估互联化学课程(CCC)，该课程结合了将视觉表征嵌入到建模环境中的软件，作为普通化学本科生学习活动的核心组成部分。参与课程的学生将化学体系中的单个分子可视化并进行操作，并将其实验操作的结果可视化。该软件使嵌入在二维表示中的信息清晰，并提供分子相互作用的可视化显示供学生观察，以及多种表示，以培养概念理解并强调符号表示之间的联系。该项目的目标是1)设计十个自成一体的学习模块和辅助材料，其中包括CCC模拟作为核心组成部分，以解决学生学习一般化学概念的困难；2)使用嵌入式评估和课堂实践的实地观察来优化模块；以及3)通过准实验研究评估模块对提高化学成绩的有效性，将使用CCC模块学习的学生的成绩与仅使用传统授课和实验室方法学习的学生进行比较。该项目预计将加强关于学生对科学表述的解释和操作的知识库，以及化学教学可视化工具的提供情况，并为新的基于可视化的科学课程的设计提供信息。

This project is developing and evaluating the Connected Chemistry Curriculum (CCC), which incorporates software that employs visual representations embedded in a modeling environment as the core component of undergraduate learning activities in general chemistry. Students participating in the curriculum visualize and manipulate individual molecules in a chemical system and visualize the result of their experimental manipulations. The software makes the information embedded in two-dimensional representations explicit, and provides visual displays of molecular interactions for students to observe, as well as multiple representations to foster conceptual understanding and emphasize connections between symbolic representations. The goals of the project are to 1) design ten self-contained learning modules and supporting materials that include CCC simulations as a core component to address student difficulties in learning general chemistry concepts, 2) optimize the modules using embedded assessments and field observations of classroom practice, and 3) evaluate the efficacy the modules for improving chemistry achievement via a quasi-experimental study that compares the achievement of students learning with CCC modules to students learning from traditional lecture and laboratory methods alone. The project is expected to strengthen the knowledge base regarding student interpretation and manipulation of scientific representations and the affordances of visualization tools for teaching chemistry, as well as inform the design of new visualization-based science curricula.