Physical Chemistry in Practice: An Interactive Multimedia Web-DVD Companion for the Physical Chemistry Course

Purdue University, West Lafayette IN

Investigators

Abstract

Chemistry (12) With funding from an NSF CCLI-EMD grant, we have successfully developed a proof-of-concept prototype DVD (digital video disk) for physical chemistry. We are now creating a full version of the DVD, with developing 8 new modules and updating the 2 modules created for the prototype. The complete 10-module DVD would be a multimedia program that will allow students in undergraduate physical chemistry to see the practical, experimental applications of the concepts they are learning in the course. Each module of the DVD would explore a scientifically significant research project being carried out in a research laboratory in academia or industry, with current and relevant applications. The video medium would be used to provide high-quality programs about the research that include lecture information by the principal scientist and laboratory footage to demonstrate the research in action. The video program is supplemented with numerous high-end 3-D animations and graphics to assist in teaching the concepts. In addition, a unique Web interface to the DVD allow us to include HTML documents containing background theory and interactive problems for the students. These problems are based on the actual research being carried out, including authentic data from those experiments for the physical chemistry students to analyze. This Web-DVD interface is the first of its kind for an educational application, and would serve students with different learning styles by providing a combination of approaches for learning the material.