Collaborative Research: Constructive Chemistry: Problem-based Learning Through Molecular Modeling

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This collaborative project between Bowling Green State University (a doctoral granting research university), Dakota County Technical College (an Associates degree granting 2-year school), and The Concord Consortium (a nonprofit educational research and development organization) is developing and examining a technology-based pedagogy that is challenging students to create their own molecular simulations covering a wide variety of basic concepts in general chemistry, physical chemistry, biochemistry, and nanotechnology. The curriculum materials, called "Constructive Chemistry" are based on The Concord Consortium's Molecular Workbench which provides the graphical user interfaces for authoring visually compelling and scientifically accurate, interactive simulations. Each instructional unit is posing one or more problems that can be solved using molecular simulations and their analytic tools. For example, students are investigating why average kinetic energy, rather than average speed, of molecules provides a microscopic interpretation of temperature. They are discovering deviations from the Ideal Gas Law as a function of the properties of the constituent gas molecules. They are designing a molecular sieve, a fuel cell, or a nanofabrication procedure. The students are achieving these accomplishments through a scaffolded process that is enabling them to both learn science content and modeling skills, while also building their understanding of the basic chemistry concepts. This project is allowing science to be taught as a verb, rather than a noun since 'doing science' is a compelling and effective way to learn. Enabling the process of exploration, creation, and invention, the students are applying theories, testing ideas, and synthesizing knowledge. By constructing molecular simulations, students are learning abstract concepts and reshaping their intuition. The project is utilizing computational chemistry to support student design and problem solving and is transforming how state-of-the-art computational tools are used to support student learning at all levels. The approach being developed is readily implemented by any course worldwide and is taking advantage of the widely used, freely available, Molecular Workbench resource.