This paper presents MATLAB user interfaces for two multiphase kinetic models: the kinetic double-layer model of aerosol surface chemistry and gas--particle interactions (K2-SURF) and the kinetic multilayer model of aerosol surface and bulk chemistry (KM-SUB). Each interface has simple and user-friendly features that allow undergraduate and…

Undergraduate students may possess underdeveloped knowledge about water systems, particularly groundwater. The use of models and modeling have been employed in undergraduate classrooms to support students' learning about water. However, effective modeling requires spatial thinking skills, which undergraduate students may also need to develop.…

As part of COVID-19 preparedness, a student-developed, Android-based app was used as a pre-laboratory learning aid for a molecular modeling laboratory in a first-year general chemistry course. A worksheet activity with trigger codes and questions related to spatial features of transition metal complexes was designed. Using the Transition Metal…

This paper focuses on examining the effectiveness of three-dimensional (3D) computer models on student teachers' academic achievement, mental model construction, and spatial ability used in learning the "atomic models" topic in this study. The students were randomly assigned into two groups: the treatment group (TG) where 3D computer…

We present an accessible implementation of augmented reality projections for the depiction of complex structures and motifs, including atomic orbitals and elemental allotropes. The utilization of a free, cross-platform-compatible, online database of these structures provides the access route for closer examination, either via augmented reality or…

Spatial intelligence is an essential skill commonly used within various fields of science. Students with low spatial abilities frequently struggle to identify, retrieve, and apply key complex abstract information presented as multiple representations to actual three-dimensional natural materials and phenomena. Spatial ability may be considered a…

Technological innovation in science provides complementary tools for exploring new teaching strategies within a pedagogical framework that promotes interaction between the teacher and the learner. This work is based on the implementation of a computer application modeling crystallographic material structures, in order to identify and study the…

This paper presents results from a randomized experimental design replicated over four semesters that compared students' performance in understanding landform evolution processes as measured by the pretest to posttest score growth between two treatment methods: an online interactive simulation tool and a paper-based exercise. While both methods…

Spatial reasoning is defined as the ability to generate, retain, and manipulate abstract visual images. In chemistry, spatial reasoning skills are typically taught using 2-D paper-based models, 3-D handheld models, and computerized models. These models are designed to aid student learning by integrating information from the macroscopic,…

The ray tracing method is widely used in teaching geometrical optics at the upper secondary and university levels. However, using simple and straightforward examples may lead to a situation in which students use the model of ray tracing too narrowly. Previous studies show that students seem to use the ray tracing method too concretely instead of…

The coupling of a student experiment involving the preparation and use of a catalyst for the asymmetric epoxidation of an alkene with computational simulations of various properties of the resulting epoxide is set out in the form of a software toolbox from which students select appropriate components. At the core of these are the computational…

This work addresses and aims to fulfill a very clear need in teaching biosystem engineering. When introducing students to the complexity of soil processes, one of the frustrations that teachers often experience is the impossibility to demonstrate practically, in the lab, some of the concepts and processes discussed in class. Either the experiments…

The College Board's recently revised curriculum for advanced placement (AP) chemistry places a strong emphasis on conceptual understanding, including representations of particle phenomena. This change in emphasis is informed by years of research showing that students could perform algorithmic calculations but not explain those calculations…

This study investigated the development of representational competence among organic chemistry students by using 3D (concrete and virtual) models as aids for teaching students to translate between multiple 2D diagrams. In 2 experiments, students translated between different diagrams of molecules and received verbal feedback in 1 of the following 3…

We describe a simple dynamical model of a one-dimensional ideal gas and use computer simulations of the model to illustrate two fundamental results of kinetic theory: the Boltzmann transport equation and the Boltzmann "H"-theorem. Although the model is time-reversal invariant, both results predict that the behaviour of the gas is time-asymmetric.…