Visualization of three-dimensional (3D) elements has always played a huge role in chemistry education. At the same time, it is a challenge to teach with most representations being shown in two-dimensional (2D) media. With the recent rise of extended reality (XR) that includes virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) technology in higher education, attempts have been made at presenting 2D representations to students in a manner that is easier to understand. However, the effectiveness of said attempts has limitations. Our AR project has developed a free-to-use mobile application "Nucleophile's Point of View" (NuPOV) that aims to address these limitations. By allowing users to not only view chemistry concepts in an AR setting but also interact with them by hand, they are able to learn and understand at a deeper level through an individualized and selfdirected learning experience. Our study has shown that such an approach proved to be relatively well-received by students.
Attending classes and sleeping well are important for students’ academic success. Here, we tested whether early morning classes are associated with lower attendance, shorter sleep and poorer academic achievement by analysing university students’ digital traces. Wi-Fi connection logs in 23,391 students revealed that lecture attendance was about ten percentage points lower for classes at 08:00 compared with later start times. Diurnal patterns of Learning Management System logins in 39,458 students and actigraphy data in 181 students demonstrated that nocturnal sleep was an hour shorter for early classes because students woke up earlier than usual. Analyses of grades in 33,818 students showed that the number of days per week they had morning classes was negatively correlated with grade point average. These findings suggest concerning associations between early morning classes and learning outcomes.
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