KinChem: A Computational Resource for Teaching and LearningChemical KineticsJose Nunes da Silva Junior,*,† Mary Anne Sousa Lima,† Eduardo Henrique Silva Sousa,†

Francisco Serra Oliveira Alexandre,† and Antonio Jose Melo Leite Junior‡

†Departamento de Química Organica e Inorganica, Universidade Federal do Ceara, Fortaleza, Ceara 60451-970, Brasil‡Instituto UFC Virtual, Universidade Federal do Ceara, Fortaleza, Ceara 60440-554, Brasil

*S Supporting Information

ABSTRACT: This paper presents a piece of educational software covering acomprehensive number of topics of chemical kinetics, which is available free ofcharge in Portuguese and English. The software was developed to supportchemistry educators and students in the teaching−learning process of chemicalkinetics by using animations, calculations, and simulations. Furthermore, thissoftware was thoroughly evaluated by several chemistry educators from manyuniversities in Brazil and abroad; they agreed the software has comprehensivecontent, is easy to use, and should be employed along with textbooks.

KEYWORDS: First-Year Undergraduate/General, Chemoinformatics, Computer-Based Learning, Kinetics, Undergraduate Research

■ INTRODUCTION

During the past few years, popularization of computers andsmartphones along with the wider access to the Internet bystudents have motivated the use of educational software asteaching tools,1 and several educational software packages weredeveloped for improvement of the teaching and learningprocess in all areas of Chemistry.2−11 However, there are only afew software or applications available in the Internet forchemical kinetics, and those are still quite basic, exploring alimited number of topics and mostly not very well presentedand organized. Due to these issues, we have developed astudent-friendly educational software available for downloadfree of charge in Portuguese and English that covers severaltopics of chemical kinetics. (See the Supporting Information.)This software works mainly on interactivity aiming to supportchemistry educators and students beyond textbook to improvethe teaching−learning of chemical kinetics.

■ SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

The software structure and interface was developed followingfive major points:

1. The software should be easy to use.

2. The language should be easy to understand.

3. The content should be comprehensive and suitable for

use in higher education.4. The software should assist the educator in the teaching

process when used in the classroom.

5. The software should contribute to the improvement ofthe teaching and learning processes.

The software KinChem is user-friendly and easy to navigateand was developed using the Adobe Flash platform12 because itallows easy and efficient development of many functionalities,while making it possible to run in Microsoft Windows. Itscontent treats in a pedagogically useful manner manyintroductory chemical kinetics topics encountered in themajority of undergraduate textbooks of general chemistry andin physical chemistry and was organized in 13 different topics:introduction, reaction rates, instantaneous and average rate, ratelaws, order of reaction, integrated rate laws, half-life, Arrheniusequation, collision model, catalysis, homogeneous and hetero-geneous catalysis, and enzymatic catalysis.KinChem uses a combo box to access all chemical kinetics

principles, which are presented through short introductory textsalong with graphical simulations and animations. They wereprepared and carefully designed by aiming to build aconnection to the text and concepts making them easier tobe remembered by the user, facilitating the teaching andlearning processes. For example, the users can simulate graphsby entering variables in the software such as temperature andnature of gases to study the effect on Arrehnius equationsbehavior (Figure 1) or can visualize an animation illustrating amechanism of a heterogeneous catalysis, which occurs inautomotive exhaust (Figure 2).

Published: September 16, 2014

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Additionally, the software offers a quiz containing 30questions covering all topics presented, where they can verifytheir knowledge.

■ METHODOLOGY OF EVALUATIONThis software was evaluated by chemistry educators using anelectronic form containing seven statements (Table 1). Allopinions regarding KinChem were registered using a Likertscale13 for each one of the resources: interface, language,content, and usefulness.

■ KINCHEM EVALUATION BY CHEMISTRYEDUCATORS

KinChem was tested and evaluated by 35 chemistry educators,where 15 of them were from our own university, 16 educatorswere from other 14 Brazilian universities, and 4 educators werefrom 4 universities abroad. The group of evaluators wascomposed of 67% of males and 33% of females, ranging from 1to 42 years of teaching experience in higher education. Thesenumbers are equivalent to an average of 10.1 years of teachingexperience for the evaluators, where 40% had over 10 years ofexperience and 89% had already taught chemical kinetics.

■ RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONCurrently, society has faced a fast growing and widespread useof personal computers and other portable electronic devices,which has caused a clear influence in scientific education.14,15

Some science educators believe computer animations (alsocalled computer simulators), particularly, can have a largeimpact on teaching and learning scientific concepts.16

The traditional chemistry teaching process can become muchmore appealing and effective to students when permeated withinteractive technological tools. Once the visualization ofgraphics such as molecular modeling and animations providea clearer and detailed idea of molecular dynamics andinteractions, it brings a new layer of learning into place.Textbooks usually do not provide enough information to createa clear picture of the phenomenon in the student’s mind.17,18

Figure 1. Section within Arrehnius equation topic. Figure 2. Section within heterogeneous catalysis topic.

Table 1. Distribution of Likert Categories

Chemistry EducatorResponses,a % (n = 35)

Statements for Response TA A M D TD

1. The software is easy to use. 50 44 6 0 02. Language used in the software is easy

to understand.58 42 0 0 0

3. Software contents are comprehensiveand suitable for use in highereducation.

47 42 6 6 0

4. The software can assist the educator inthe teaching process when used inthe classroom.

47 44 6 3 0

5. The software can contribute to theimprovement of student learning.

56 31 11 3 0

6. The use of the software during classcan increase student interest.

44 36 17 3 0

7. The software can be recommended tostudents as a supplementary resourceto textbooks.

58 33 6 0 3

aTA, totally agree; A, agree; M, maybe; D, disagree; TD, totallydisagree.

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Based on this, we decided to develop an organized and broadcontent software on chemical kinetics that could cover the mostcommon topics present in textbooks. This software, calledKinChem, is available free of charge for download at the Website http://www.quimica.ufc.br/KinChem.The majority of evaluators also agreed that KinChem covers

all five major points which motivated its development.Additionally, they also agree that the use of this softwareduring class can increase student interest and should berecommended as a supplementary resource to textbooks (Table1).

■ CONCLUSIONSThis software has been very well scored by all evaluators,showing their overwhelming satisfaction and likely usage ofKinChem in classes as well as an extra online tool tocomplement textbooks. The interactivity and multimediaapproaches offered by KinChem can have a significant impacton the teaching−learning process, where the evaluators and webelieve it can increase student motivation, interest andunderstanding. As this software is available in Portuguese andEnglish, it can reach a much broader audience and help toimprove the teaching−learning process of chemical kinetics.

■ ASSOCIATED CONTENT*S Supporting Information

Two Flash files (English and Portuguese versions); descriptionof the educational software. These materials are available viaInternet at http://pubs.acs.org.

■ AUTHOR INFORMATIONCorresponding Author

*E-mail: nunes.ufc@gmail.com.

Notes

The authors declare no competing financial interest.

■ ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThe authors are thankful to all chemistry educators thatprovided their evaluation of KinChem.

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