(1090)INTEGRATION OF WET LABS, COMPUTATIONAL LABS ANDLECTURES IN UNDERGRADUATE CHEMISTRY EDUCATION

摘要

This paper reports the use of different kinds of multimedia in a blended general chemistry course as astrategy to achieve a better integration of the theory and practice and improve students’ motivation tolearn chemistry. After researching and comparing different types of virtual lab packages available,three types of web-enhanced experiences were tested in this study. The first type of virtual labsconsisted of freely available computational labs developed by the Concord consortium that wereassigned during the online sessions and to substitute for some of the wet labs. The computational labschosen for this study included: the atomic structure, chemical bonds, molecular geometry,intermolecular attractions, solubility, chemical reactions and stoichiometry. The second type of virtuallabs were assigned during the weekly online-session of the course, and consisted of simpleapplications and extensions of the topics covered in the face-to-face lecture sessions of the course.Topics covered by this second group of virtual labs included: renewable energy, properties ofelements, when is water safe to drink? and where in the US is acid rain most severe?. A third type ofweb-enhanced activities combined simulations with relevant information posted by the US governmentagencies to allow students to find out relevant information about radioactivity and radon,electrochemistry and corrosion or cement and concrete chemistry. This study provides evidence thatintegrating the use of wet labs, a variety of virtual lab experiences and lectures in the undergraduatechemistry classroom may facilitate students’ learning and critical thinking by providing them with anopportunity to design and repeat their own laboratory experiments and apply or extend lecture topicsto real-life examples. Importantly, the choice of virtual labs and the methods used to integrate thosevirtual labs into the undergraduate chemistry curriculum seem to be critical to trigger the studentinterest in learning chemistry topics and to culminate in an efficient learning experience.