VisChem: Building mental models of the molecular world using interactive multimedia

Abstract

Understanding chemistry involves being able to link what one sees substances doing in the laboratory, to what one imagines is happening within these substances at the invisible molecular level. Only then can these ideas be communicated using abstract symbolism (e.g. chemical formulas), terminology and mathematics. The VisChem multimedia resources (QuickTime animations and video) explicitly link these three levels – the molecular, laboratory and symbolic. Research in chemical education over the last 20 years has revealed that many students have unacceptable, incomplete or non-existent mental models of chemical substances and processes at the molecular level. This problem is considered a major cause of misconceptions in chemistry, and is one reason why many students do not engage with the subject. In this poster session we will demonstrate some of the VisChem molecular-level animations (see http://vischem.cadre.com.au/). However, multimedia resources that promote meaningful learning should require ‘cognitive struggle’, facilitated through engagement, rather than by passive reception. We will describe how the animations are presented in live teaching contexts, and incorporated into interactive multimedia resources, to build mental models of the molecular world through meaningful ‘cognitive struggle’.