A redesigned physical chemistry course has students using Excel to model the thermodynamic behavior of materials - beginning with the behavior of non-ideal gases.  Students discover equations that represent the behavior of the heat capacity as a function of temperature and build mathematical models of different functions of Cp as a function of T such as ?Cp(T)dT.  Students are then challenged to discover how q, ?H, ?S, ?G, and other thermodynamic properties are related to the changes in the heat capacity as a function of temperature.  The modeling work on the computers is done during the �in class time� and the description of what students should have learned from the modeling exercises is presented on-line asynchronously. Design of the course, lessons learned in teaching it, and student response to the course and its assignments will be presented.

Physical chemistry as a student-centered active learning course

248th National Meeting (2014)

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