Implementation of Molecular Visualization Program for Chemistry Learning

This study aims to investigate the implementation of molecular visualization programs for improving students’ understanding of concepts in chemical bonding. Chemistry learning in chemical bonding was conducted using molecular visualization program ACD/ChemSketch and Avogadro program. Several topics in chemical bonding include molecular geometry, polarity, bond angle, bond length, intermolecular forces and predicting boiling points. This study employs quasi-experimental research One Group Pretest – Posttest design. The subjects of this study were 46 students of undergraduate program in chemistry education department at Universitas Sanata Dharma. This study use test (pretest and pretest) and questionnaire to assess students’ perception of implementation of ACD/ChemSketch and Avogadro in chemistry learning. Implementation of ACD/ChemSketch and Avogadro in chemistry learning of chemical bonding gave an effect on students’ understanding based on paired t-test (sig < 0.05) and Kruskal-Wallis (sig < 0.05) test. The percentage of students is 45% with the medium N-gain category and 65% with the high N-gain category for ACD/ChemSketch program. It is 38.46% with the medium N-gain category and 61.54% with the high N-gain category for Avogadro program. Students show positive response to the implementation of ACD/ChemSketch and Avogadro program regarding their understanding, motivation and prospective skill for becoming teachers. Molecular visualization program helps the students to understand the chemical bonding topic.

Development of Guided Inquiry based E-Learning Teaching Material on the Intermolecular Forces Enriched with Molview

The intermolecular force is one of the chemistry topics covered in the high school curriculum in Indonesia. As the characteristics of chemistry concepts in general, intermolecular forces concepts can be presented in the three levels of chemical representations (microscopic, symbolic, and macroscopic). Currently, chemistry teaching materials are available in Indonesian schools mostly have limited support for helping students to visualize the molecular aspect of intermolecular forces concepts mainly in the form of three-dimensional space (3D). This study aimed to produce an E-Learning teaching material enriched with 3D Molecular Visualization. The product (teaching material) in this study is presented by considering the syntax of guided inquiry-based learning. The product was developed with the procedure adopted from Lee and Owens, including assessment/analysis, need assessment, front-end analysis, design, and development. The product is valid and suitable to be applied in online chemistry teaching. However, further study to investigate the effectiveness of this product empirically need to be explored in the future.

UnityMol prototype for FAIR sharing of molecular-visualization experiences: from pictures in the cloud to collaborative virtual reality exploration in immersive 3D environments

Motivated by the current COVID-19 pandemic, which has spurred a substantial flow of structural data, the use of molecular-visualization experiences to make these data sets accessible to a broad audience is described. Using a variety of technology vectors related to the cloud, 3D and virtual reality gear, how to share curated visualizations of structural biology, modeling and/or bioinformatics data sets for interactive and collaborative exploration is examined. FAIR is discussed as an overarching principle for sharing such visualizations. Four initial example scenes related to recent COVID-19 structural data are provided, together with a ready-to-use (and share) implementation in the UnityMol software.

Teaching Structure with Molecular Visualization Tools. A Crash Course from Small Molecules to the HIV-1 Protease for Undergraduate Students

One of the challenges in the teaching of chemistry to students in higher education is their introduction to the visualization and molecular depiction software, deepening thus their understanding and creating new conceptions in the physical and biological sciences. This paper describes the implementation of a learning unit for 1st and 2nd semester undergraduate students (that were not previously exposed to molecular visualizations) in agricultural technology for chemistry and biochemistry courses respectively. A series of educational activities are presented beginning with the use of simple molecular models as plastic and wooden balls for atoms and sticks for bonds, to enhance the previous knowledge of the 2-D structural conformations. The students are introduced in depth to the theory of chemical bonding, molecular shapes, and polarity. This represents a continuum of increased complexity in inquiry-based learning, starting from simple molecules and ending with the exploration of the shape and function of a protein molecule, such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 protease; Thus easily leads to the study of the interactions between this protease and inhibitory drugs, via freely-available software tools. The gains in the students’ understanding and help for future courses and their career are analyzed.