Mole Calculations Paul Groves. Think Moles Soitware, South Pasadena. CA 91030 Hardware: Apple I1 family Software: Applesoft. DOS 3.3 Components: One double-sided disk instructor's guide, labels for backup copy Level and Subject: High school, mole calculations
Summary Ratlngs: Rsvlewer Reviewer
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Ease of Use: SubjectManer Content: Pedagogic Value: Student Reaction:
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Very Gocd Fair
This disk and documentation are an interactive chemistry education package for helping the high school teacher help students understand mole calculations. The materials include documentation concerning both the educational and technical aspects of this package. The four programs on the double-sided disk are 1) The Student Tutorial, 2) The Teacher's Aide, 3) Calculation Drill, and 4) Moles in Space. The objectives are t o help the student learn what a mole calculation is, how t o recognize mole calculation problems, and haw t o solve these orohlems. The ducumentatim rs 5G pages long, but youdu nut have turead mmt irf it right nwny in order tostart using theprogram. In fact, if you are familiar with a n Apple computer and educational software in general, you
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would not have t o read any of the documentation to operate the programs with success. There are complete directions for a novice including how to make backup copies of the orieinal disk. You are eneouraeed t o make as many cupwr as you mrght nerd f w your use. I f y w want only une of the fvur prugrams trn a second disk, all of the necessary files can be transferred with the help of the technical notes. Screen dumps are included throughout the notes, so you never have t o guess what the authors are describing. If an instructor desires detailed technical notes (an annotated listing uf the program4 explain. inr the files. w o r u ~ t ~ n c\ariables, s. etc.), they may b c u r d r r d f u r iivcdollars f n m the company. The Student Tutorial makes good use of color, but it is not necessary to have a color monitor t o use the program. It will take a student about one class period t o work thraueh this oroeram. The design reminds
At one point in this program the student is measuring out an order of golf halls as an analogy to working with the mole. The program is designed so that when the student reaches the rieht .. ouantitv, the oroeram .. ..eoes on, thus not dilowing th~.atuaenttheupportunity to rnakr an error. 1 wwld rather 3er the rtudetnt makr an error 2nd then be informed where he/she had gone wrong. The Teacher's Aide is a lecture aide for use in a classroom setting. A script is included for a teacher who is not comfortable with this type of presentation. The program is a series of "slides" similar to those found in thp ~ I P I . ~ O Uprogram. % I t wuuU make n gmd ~ n r r c d ~ ~ r rior i o nstudrnts just gettrng startd o n chip concept. l'tfimunately. I did n8,t receive these materials for evaluation until after I had taught these concepts in my own classes last fall. I plan to use them from now on as an integral part of my teaching strategy an the mole.
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The Calculation Drill allows from one t o six students to practice on mole calculations simultaneously. Groves has taken into account a broad spectrum of teaching and learning styles in designing this package. This program leads to a spirit of competition among the students, but a t the same time to one of cooperation. Students must work together; otherwise, they cannot move ahead t o new problems. If a student is having difficulty, others will help h i m h e r understand so that the entire group can move ahead. Students will need a periodic table and calculator, although a calculator function is available by pressing the " E S P key. This would be rather cumbersome for more than one or two people t o use. I like this feature, for i t seems foolish to he sitting in front of a "super calculator" using a handheld five-dollar unit to perform the calculations. One criticism here is that the space bar must be used far a negative sign. Only answers with correct units (mole, gram, liter, and particle) or their standard abhreviations will he accepted. The student must also use the correct number of sicnificant figures. The Moles in Space Game can be played only after a student solves three problems correctly in a timed situation. The first problem requires grams to moles conversion, the second, moles t o grams, and the third liters t o moles. There are two modes for judging correct answers. In one, skill in estimating an answer to +lo% is developed. I find with the advent of calculators and the demise of slide rules, most students can no longer successfully estimate answers. I have seen some outrageous answers, hut since they came from a calculator, students did not bother t o question them. I personally plan to use thismode in my teaching most of the time. The other mode emphasizes accuracy (f2%) in calculating. Either a silent version or a n arcade-type sound version is available by menu choice. With 15 computers in one computer lab, I'll
In This Issue Reviewer
Computer Leaning Package Review Paul Groves,
Mole Calculations
Dale F. Wolfgram Redos
James D. Books Bernice G. Segai, Chemistry. Experiment and Theory New Volumes in Continuing S e r i e s Monograph Titles of Interest
A140
Journal of Chemical Educatlon
140
have my student choose the silent version. The game aspect of the program has a "mole" catching meteors from space. I personally find this the most difficult part of the entire package, hut I have seen my students do very well. The length of time one gets to play depends upon the speed with which the three questions are answered. Forty pages of the documentetion are educational notes. I t is obvious from these notes that Groves is a master classroom teacher as well as a good program designer and programmer. I would like t o quote from the philosophical introduction t o these notes: "Effective instruction must he a human activity. The teacher and student must work together in a human way if the student is going t o learn effectively new concepts and skills. The teacher, especially in this day of technical innovation and increasing use of visual and sound media, must pay attention to maintaining the human aspect of teaching and learning." These programs are not designed t o he simply another computer program but are designed to become part of a teacher's plan t o teach this concept, which students often find difficult. Groves gives several pages of notes to show a teacher how he approaches the teaching of the mole concept. Since his style is very similar t o mine, I will have no difficulty in adapting this program for use in my classroom. I would like to see "weight" changed t o "mass." Also he refers to Avogadross number rather than Avogadro's constant. These are very minor criticisms. I helieve the list of prerequisite concepts should be an a handout t o students. I t is good for the teacher t o have this, but I feel such information should he available to students. I also believe that the behavioral ohjectives list should he given to students. According to the instructions, if there are insufficient computers for the class (5-15 for a class of 30), groups of students can rotate through work stations. Materials are provided to aid this plan. Another thing which Groves suggests is a way these programs could he used for home study. I think we will see more and more of this type of computer use in the future. Pages 17-51 of the teaching materials include overhead masters, test questions with answers, work problems, card activities, work sheets, and a laboratory activity. The test questions could be machine copied without having t o be retyped. The overhead masters are printed on one side only, so there is nonhleed through" of the back side when copied. This is just another example of the care with which this package was put together. Is this package oerfect? No. but i t comes closer than most sottwnre on ;he mnrket today. The hllowm!: are rtrme mggertions which Grows mrght consider in futurr rrvisions of these programs. I do not like t o have to go through the entire introductory section and logo each time when I boot the disk. I'd like the ootion of skiooina .. - this. At the end of the ~ o l e in i Space program, the note t o "Run Hello" is on the screen for a very short time. Students may miss this note. The control of the mole in this game is also a little obscure to me. I have a feeling i t might not he to most of my students. I have difficulty in figuring out how t o interact with the program a t a couple of points. Perhaps a "help" command could alleviate this confusion.
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The promotional material did not indicate what the company's preview policy is. I might suggest the notes and documentation be made available to potential buyers for a minimal cost so teachers could get a feeling for what they are buying. This cost could then be deducted from the program cost if a teacher orders the software. In one respect it is unfortunate that this software is marketed by a new company. As a result, many high school chemistry teachers will miss these programs. In my estimation these programs are worthy of wide distribution and use. I cannot think of a single piece of software I use that will get as much use as this one. Dale F. Wolfgram Grand Blanc High School Grand Blanc, MI 48439
Review II This package offers to meet three ohjectives: 1)What a mole calculation problem is, 2) How t o recognize mole calculations problems, 3) How t o solve mole calculation problems. I t consists of a doeumentation packet and a dauble-sided master diskette. The author eneourages the purchaser t o make hackups of the original. Though the master disk has the program sections stored on both sides the author eneourages the user to use a separate disk for each side of the master. The doeumentation consists of a n extensive packet of 55 pages. I t gives directions for running and using the programs, copying and booting programs, and educational notes. Section three of the doeumentation, Education Notes, gives the author's philosophy of computer-assisted instruction. Groves discusses his techniques for introducing the mole concept, the prerequisites that students should have mastered, and a list of performance (behavioral) objectives, and means for integrating "Mole Calculations" into classroom instruction and home instruction. This aspect of the documentation is unusual. Most commercial programs provide little insight into the author's techniques far employing his software. Additionally, t h e doeumentation provides worksheets, background information, teaching tricks, ideas and observations about moles, and mole calculations. The materials provided can he used tomake several overhead transparencies, quizzes, and test questions. The information provided about the magnitude of a male certainly supplies a wide variety of examples of the size of Avogadro's number. The worksheets provided, when used in conjunction with t h e laboratory experiment, teacher's lectures, and the diskettes, should lead students t o a grasp of the mole concept. In examining the programs on side one, Males in Space is the most fun. However, the student tutorial which takes approximatelv 40 min to eomolete is where the indepth rrvirwer hegin; The rtudenu and I f w n d rheruhroutmwa little tiring. Mcwmg around a flnahmg currvr wrork thin. It takea too much time to move the cursor around the screen; a simple carriage return would ~~~~~~
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suftire. W e got 30 frustrated that one of rhe studrnrs just pushed Reset. In addition, we noticed that the old ahheviation ml war used instead of the newer form mL. My aide and I reviewed the next section. The directions encourage the instructor t o use the sample dialogue supplied on pages 12-14, and it would have been helpful if the author had included the page numbers on the diskette. As I reviewed this subroutine, i t soon became apparent that the author and I do not think alike. I was not able t o figure out what he wants t o he done with some parts of the Teacher's Aide graphics. Nowhere is the option for generating solutions t o the demonstration problems available from within the program. Examining the Calculations Drill was even more frustrating for us. On several occasions, correct answers were entered and the program told us to check the number of significant figures. When we reentered the same numbers and dimensions, the program congratulated us for having it "Absolutely Correct." On some occasions. I was off hv 0.001 g, and it refused to accept my anawe;. In genenl. the critirirm rhnr my students and I would make of this program ia that it demands a degree of exactness which is unrealistic. The new Moles in Space Game is more challenaina for the students and the instructor, andthk students seem to enjoy it. There seems t o he potential in this program if the author could develop a method of jumping around from part to part as well as correcting the other faults. J a m e s D. Redos Montgomery Blair High School Silver Spring, MD 20907
ChemlMry, Experiment a n d Theory Bernice G. Segal, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. New York, NY, 1985. xxiv 999 pp. Figs. and tables. 19 X 26 cm.
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"Chemistry, Experiment and Theory" is a general chemistry text written far the science majors who have not only completed a n excellent chemistry program in the secondary school hut also have retained much of the information and understanding of those chemical orincioles. The text is well written and includes a significant number of examole nrnhlems that are worked in detail with a full explanation of each step in thr thinkmg prorera. A refreshmt: appruarh to rearhmg chennical prmcrplcs wa, a major goal of the author when writing the text, as stated in the preface, and the goal was challenged adequately. Each chapter includes a clear and brief introduction to each principle, supported with one or more example problems. A very complete summary and a set of questions conclude the chapter. The questions are af three types: 1)a set that reviews the principles of eachsectionof the chapter, 2) a s e t of multiple choice questions, and 3) a set of eomprehensive-type prohlems. All three sets are essentially prohlem-oriented with a fewer number of questions designed for a
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Volume 63
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Number 5
May 1986
A141
