Molecular modelling for pre-academic chemistry education: Opinions of experts, teachers and students on an initial curriculum unit sketch

Abstract

In science education, students should come to understand the nature of models and modelling. Students often have trouble understanding advanced features of modelling. It is not a trivial task to design learning materials resolving these learning difficulties. In this study we designed a curriculum unit sketch for learning molecular modelling for pre-academic chemistry education, a type of modelling which uses software tools to calculate molecular properties. We focused primarily on the process of modelling and used the scientific practice of malaria drug design as a context for learning. The design of the curriculum unit sketch was guided by five criteria: Scientific soundness & authenticity, Student engagement, Student knowledge base, Software usability, and Feasibility. Experts, a teacher and students were interviewed to assess to what extent the design criteria were fulfilled. All of the respondents considered the curriculum unit sketch a good basis for further design of teaching material. For each criterion, there was further room for improvement. For instance, the ‘Scientific soundness & authenticity’ criterion can be further improved by making parts of the sketch have a larger focus on drug resistance. Nevertheless, this study shows that a pre-academic molecular modelling curriculum unit can potentially be designed to be both usable in class and engaging to students.