Spotlights
ChemSims Project Looks at Online Learning
For the past five years the ChemSims Project (directed by GVSU Chemistry Education faculty Deborah Herrington and Jessica VandenPlas and MSU Chemistry Education faculty Ryan Sweeder and involving several undergraduate research assistants from GVSU and MSU) has been investigating best practices for the use of chemistry simulations and screencasts to support student learning outside the classroom, in an online learning environment. With the recent worldwide move to online instruction, this work became extremely relevant for chemistry instructors across the globe. Herrington, VandenPlas, and Sweeder were able to use the materials developed for the ChemSims project and what they have learned from the studying of these materials to develop additional materials that they used to support their students’ learning of chemistry in Fall 2020. Results of their most recent studies have been published in the Journal of Chemical Education and International Journal of STEM Education . All of the materials developed as part of the ChemSims project and links to other publications from this work can be found on their website (chemsims.com).
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VandenPlas, J., Herrington, D., Schrode, A., & Sweeder, R. (Published online 2021). Use of simulations and screencasts to increase student understanding of energy concepts in bonding. Journal of Chemical Education doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00470
Martinez, B.L., Sweeder, R.D., VandenPlas, J.R., & Herrington, D.G. (2021). Improving conceptual understanding of gas behavior through the use of screencasts and simulations. International Journal of STEM Education. 8(5). doi.org/10.1186/s40594-020-00261-0
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