Amending the Exploratory exemplar

Amending the Investigative demonstration

The investigative exemplar was designed, not as a resource which was ready for use, but as a demonstration of how it is possible to use simulations to allow students to take more control over the design and implementation of experiments. As it stands, the application gives the student the opportunity to devise experiments to find out as much as they can about an unknown reaction. It's a very generic task and perhaps not that inspiring to students.Unlike the other training tutorials, this section of the website is not going to tell you how to change the interface, it's going to provide suggestions of how a simulation of this type which allows the students to devise experiments could be used in teaching.

Setting different tasks related to different scenarios

The reaction in the investigative demonstration is set to randomise each time. However, if you have a particular reaction which you wish the students to investigate it is a simple matter to fix the reaction to have the same order, activation energy and pre-exponential factor each time simulation is run (You just change the limits on the maximum and minimum ranges for the randomised variables. To set up additional scenarios you can just save new versions of the simulation.

Adding interesting contexts

In the exemplar, the problem is defined on the introductory screen. It is possible to set the simulation within a multimedia environment and to provide background information and a context for the problem being set within the surrounding multimedia. In such a case you would probably wish to remove the introductory screen from the simulation.

Change level for users of different expertise

Syllabus for all levels of learner emphasise the importance of giving students experience of experimental design. On the face of it,it appears that such freedom would only suit the more advanced student, but it is possible to simply the interface, by limiting the number of different types of experiment students can define, and by ensuring that the questions they are investigating suit their level of expertise.

For instance, to work with students just beginning their study of chemistry, you would probably fix the reaction to simulate one they are likely to undertake in the laboratory and provide them with sufficient resources to devise and undertake experiments to look at the effect of temperature or concentration on reaction rate. References to more advanced topics such as order and activation energy would be hidden from them.