Software resources for remedial physics teaching in UK university chemistry departments

Abstract

There is a substantial minority of students who do not have the necessary physics background to tackle parts of most first year physical chemistry courses and for whom some kind of remedial action is required.
Software tools have been developed to address the problem with priority being
assigned to topics most frequently occurring in the curricula. After discussion with colleagues, the topic of ‘Particles and Waves in Chemistry’ was selected. The tools consist of simulations (and high quality diagrams with relevant animations) designed to accompany tutorials or workshops. They are not ‘stand-alone’ programs and assume that the teacher has covered the basic groundwork. In this way, the material does not impose any learning style and should be treated as a simple resource similar to an illustration or photograph. Substantial numbers of numerical problems (in practice, an infinite number) are included for use as reinforcement learning tools – a technique that has been shown to be extremely effective in tackling specific numerical shortcomings.
Given that the overwhelming majority of the targeted students have chosen to avoid physics, great care has been taken to ensure that the context enclosing the materials is identifiable as chemistry only.