Research on undergraduate chemistry students' reasoning in kinetics and equilibrium contexts suggests that students tend to approach quantitative problems algorithmically and may not reflect on the relationship between mathematical models and particulate-level behavior. Here, we discuss how our research on students’ construction and use of mathematical models in kinetics and equilibrium contexts informs our design of collaborative learning activities in an undergraduate general chemistry course. By using interactive simulations as scaffolds for helping students visualize the particulate level, our goal is to help students use mathematical models with deeper understanding of how these models relate to particulate-level models.

Supporting students' reasoning with mathematical models through simulation-focused collaborative learning activities

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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