An interactive virtual laboratory addressing student difficulty in differentiating between chemical reaction kinetics and equilibrium

Abstract

The Reaction Rate vs Equilibrium Interactive Virtual Laboratory (IVL) has been developed to address a common student misconception in analyzing and designing chemical reactors—the difference between reaction kinetics and reaction equilibrium. The IVL allows students to make meaning of the difference between reaction rate and equilibrium by exploring their dependence on temperature. The design is to create a cognitive conflict between their observations of how reaction rate and equilibrium depend on temperature. In the IVL, students are guided through a set of 20 frames where they are asked to respond to questions that ask them to predict, observe, or reflect on phenomena related to the specific concept while manipulating the molecular simulations. The Reaction Rate vs Equilibrium IVL is embedded within the Concept Warehouse (available at http://cw.edudiv.org/) and the instructors can access student responses to the questions as well as an automatic grading system can be used for student assessment. In this study, the IVL was implemented in a junior‐level chemical engineering thermodynamics studio class. Data sources included responses from 82 consenting students during their work with the virtual laboratory and a survey completed the day after. We examined student responses to the summative conceptual question pair near the end of the IVL to determine whether students understood the main concept. We found that 57.1% clearly understood the concept. In addition, students indicated that they found group work beneficial when using the IVLs and appreciated the visual and dynamic representation of molecular phenomena.

Adaptation of Physical Chemistry Course in COVID-19 Period: Reflections on Peer Instruction and Team-Based Learning

“…When students were asked if they would have performed better if they had developed the activity alone, only 17.6% answered positively (no significant difference was found between TBL-Groups and PI-Groups students). The students perceived the collaborative work in this environment as an opportunity to make progress, as reported by Koretsky . However, PI-Group students reported that they had more opportunities to contribute to the group effort, due to the reduced number of members in the groups.…”

“…Experiences in developing chemical kinetics concepts during the COVID-19 pandemic are also interesting to report here. Virtual laboratories were proposed as interactive experiences to understand concepts of chemical kinetics and an opportunity to work collaboratively . Other studies explored students’ experience during the pandemic to develop concepts of chemical kinetics: making analogies between social distancing and the collision cross section of a chemical reaction and between virus propagation and second-order reactions .…”

“…Virtual laboratories were proposed as interactive experiences to understand concepts of chemical kinetics and an opportunity to work collaboratively. 27 Other studies explored students' experience during the pandemic to develop concepts of chemical kinetics: making analogies between social distancing and the collision cross section of a chemical reaction 28 and between virus propagation and second-order reactions. 29 Another study proposed simple experiments using cell phones 30 or conventional photo cameras 31 with materials available at home, allowing students to measure kinetic parameters by themselves.…”

The Implementation of Virtual Labs in Aerospace Structures Education

“…Since the initial introductions of the VL concepts, research on the effectiveness of VLs confirmed that properly designed virtual simulation tools can enhance students' learning processes [9], [10]. As a result, VLs have been implemented and/or studied across the wide variety of disciplines, such as life science (e.g., biology) [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], physical sciences (e.g., physics and chemistry) [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], mathematics/computer sciences [21], [22], [23], [24], [25], and engineering [26], [27], [28], [29], [30]. However, we will need to be careful when using the term "virtual lab" since there is no set definition for "virtual lab."…”

Information Classification Algorithm based on Project-based Learning Data-driven and Stochastic Grid

“…The simulation laboratory is a kind of simulation experiment environment supported by computer software and hardware technology and realized by software development tools [2]. By developing a series of simulation experiment components to simulate and reproduce the experimental environment, experimental equipment and experimental process, the experimenter can get rid of the bondage of the actual experimental conditions, feel the experimental information interactively, and realize the experimental process in a near real way under more convenient and fast conditions [3]. In the simulation laboratory, the experimental objects and equipment are either reproduced or simulated vividly, and the experimental process is completely controlled by the experimenter [4].…”