Computer Facilitation of Concept Acquisition Interesting and useful applications of the computer as an instructional tool have been developed a t Drake University. Each of the three programs described here deals with a specific type of learning activity that must be mastered by astudent in a chemistry curriculum: (1) RS, learning of a skill through repeated drill; (2) KMVMAX, learning of data reduction techniques; and (3) GROUP 1 and 2, learning of laboratory techniques and deductive reasoning from experimental results. RS (written in Fortran) is an interactive drill program designed to aid students in mastering the specification of R or S configurations a t a ehiral center. Difficulty in making such assignments in symptomatic of the more general problem of visualizing three dimensional structures. RS uses two-dimensional cross-formula representations as an intermediate step in developing the necessary three-dimensional mental picture. The program randomly generates a c h i d center and presents a cross-formula representation of the molecule. The student is led step-by-step through the process of specifying configuration. Thus skill in visualizing three-dimensional structures is enhanced as a necessary skill is practiced. KMVMAX (written in Basic) is an instructor-operated program that generates laboratory-type data for an enzyme kinetics experiment. Students in biochemistry courses often have difficulty with data reduction in such experiments. Use of simulated data to practice these calculations prior t o actually carrying out a kinetics experiment alleviates this problem. The program output is individual data sheets analagous to the observations recorded in the laboratory; concentrations of s t ~ ~ k s o l u t i o of n senzyme, substrate, and buffer; volumes used in preparingreaetion solutions; and % Tdata a t various times after initiating the reaction. The datamay be used to caleulateK, and V,,,. (Thereis less confusion and moreconfidenee when the exoeriment is oerformed if oractiee calculations have been done orevinuslv.) ,. (;tl~t.i' I and G t l & I l ' 2 !writtc!; :n Furtrani a r t simulat~mrof the ilc~ni~wr~vennnly~iis~.hr#nv for the 4 v r r and rvppcr catiun vrvupi The srudrnts are rrqu~rrdtu d r + their u w n experimental pn>r~dure 11). a p w f w n ~whit rcngrnrs are to he ucrrl \\'hen tlrnislwd w r h rulrerimmral ubsvrvatiuni, they must dedurc the ~ , m p c , s m moi them tunknown m s c h r ns is possible) a t various points in the analysis. Conceptual questions are interspersed with the experimental information to emphasize the theoretical basis of the separations, e.g., manipulation of acid-base equilibria. All of these programs make imaginative use of the computer as a teaching tool in different types of learning activities. Copies of the programs and sample output are available from the authors on request. p~
Presented in part a t the ACS Workshop on Computers in Chemistry, 111, Montclair, New Jersey, June, 1977. R. A. Eades C. H. Douglass University of Minnesota L. E. Brown Minneapolis, Minnesota Drake University Des Moines, Iowa
Volume 56, Number 6, August 1979 1 545
