Common approaches to teaching organic reaction mechanisms involve showing static images on Powerpoint slides or drawing reactions out by hand, but neither method represents the dynamic nature of chemical reactions. Animations provide the opportunity to convey at least some elements of reaction dynamics, and Organic Chemistry Flashware animations explicitly show the movement of electrons and molecular motion. Although these animations were created using best practices from the visualization literature, student learning while using them has not been well studied at the behavioural level or the neurological level. This presentation will focus on students’ use of these animations for learning chemistry’s language. Preliminary research into using brain imaging to explore the individuals’ learning process will also be discussed.

Exploring learning outcomes when using multimedia for chemistry reaction mechanisms

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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