Development of a Dynamic and Interactive Simulation for the Concept of Limiting Reactant

Abstract

The use of simulations in science teaching has increased in the last decade. For example, PhET, a
popular suite of research-based interactive computer simulations for teaching and learning STEM
concepts, has continue to increase the number of simulations and transform old ones from Java
to HTML5. Carefully designed simulations are extremely helpful for teaching and learning
because they can provide: (i) visualizations, for example at the microscopic level, not possible
otherwise, (ii) a low-cost alternative to physical experiments, and (iii) reproducibility of results in
less time compared to a physical experiment. However, simulations are still needed for many
science topics, or the ones available do not provide accurate or relevant representations or
features. The Science Education Research Group has developed a dynamic and interactive
simulation in the context of chemistry for the limiting reactant concept to help students
understand the submicroscopic level. The simulation was written in Action Script 3 (AS3) using
Adobe Flash and incorporated the following features: correct size of the chemical species,
counters for species in the beakers, visualization of the random movement of the species,
visualization of the product formed, among others. The presentation will focus on the
development of the simulation and the results of the pilot implementations of the simulation
with undergraduate students in chemistry.