It is often difficult for students to develop an intuition about molecular processes, which occur in a realm far different from day-to-day life. For example, thermal fluctuations take on hurricane-like proportions at the molecular scale. Students need a way to visualize realistic depictions of molecular processes to appreciate them. To this end,…

The authors have developed a computer-based learning module on the unit cell of various types of crystal. The module has two components: the virtual unit cell (VUC) part and the subsequent unit cell hunter part. The VUC is a virtual reality simulation for students to actively arrive at the unit cell from exploring, from a broad view, the crystal…

Describes the design and development of a computer simulation and accompanying software to teach the scaleup of chemical processes to chemical engineering students at Penn State. Collaboration on the instructional development team is described, software modules are explained, and students' evaluations of the system are reported. (LRW)