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

鲍灵格林州立大学（一所授予博士学位的研究型大学）、达科塔县技术学院（一所授予两年副学士学位的学校）和康科德联盟（一家非营利性教育研究和发展组织）之间的合作项目正在开发和检验一种基于技术的教学法，该教学法挑战学生创建自己的分子模拟，涵盖普通化学、物理化学、生物化学和纳米技术。课程材料，称为“建构化学”是基于协和联盟的分子工作台，它提供了图形用户界面，用于创作视觉上引人注目的和科学上准确的交互式模拟。每个教学单元都提出一个或多个问题，这些问题可以使用分子模拟及其分析工具来解决。例如，学生们正在研究为什么分子的平均动能，而不是平均速度，提供了温度的微观解释。他们正在发现与理想气体定律的偏差是组成气体分子性质的函数。他们正在设计分子筛、燃料电池或纳米制造程序。学生们通过一个脚手架式的过程来实现这些成就，使他们既能学习科学内容和建模技能，同时也能建立他们对基本化学概念的理解。这个项目允许科学作为一个动词而不是一个名词来教授，因为“做科学”是一种令人信服和有效的学习方式。在探索、创造和发明的过程中，学生们运用理论、检验思想和综合知识。通过构建分子模拟，学生们正在学习抽象概念并重塑他们的直觉。该项目利用计算化学来支持学生设计和解决问题，并正在改变如何使用最先进的计算工具来支持各级学生的学习。正在开发的方法很容易在世界范围内的任何课程中实现，并且利用了广泛使用的，免费提供的Molecular Workbench资源。

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.