| Review: |
The two CD ROMís contain computer graphics and animations of chemical concepts, which were developed at the University of Washington over the last few years. They are designed to be used by a lecturer with a projector in a lecture hall or by small groups of students at a computer monitor. The author states that there have been highly favourable responses to the graphics from both students and staff, at a number of test sites. The reviewer has not had the opportunity to test them on students yet. On my Mac Performa 5200CD (16Mb is recommended) there were no problems, when all other programs were removed and virtual memory was turned off. There were frequent crashes otherwise. The 25 page manuals on disk (and an explanation page contained in each module ) give full details on memory and other requirements for operating the programs smoothly. The General Chemistry disk contains modules on matter, atomic structure and orbitals, bonding, intermolecular forces, gases, solids and crystals, reactions and thermodynamics. The Organic Chemistry disk contains the following modules: introduction, bonding and molecular orbitals, organic bonding, intermolecular forces and properties, conformation and stereochemistry, organic reactions, peptides, proteins and other complex and biomolecules. All the modules are completely stand alone units and can be copied onto a hard disk for more convenient presentation in a lecture. Navigation through a module is very easy. There are forward and backward buttons, as well as a navigation menu to take you immediately to certain points. Some modules have an additional page with a full flow diagram of the module, from which you can click to any screen directly. My only criticism in this regard isof the presence of a next screen topic button at the top of the screen, which competes in prominence with the graphics labelling that particular screen. This can be confusingat times and I would prefer all the navigation buttons perhaps in a bottom bar, clearly away from the screen topic information. Sometimes the screens can become rather cluttered at the end of sequences, so it will be necessary for the lecturer to explain clearly each step along sequences. Of course, it is vital for a lecture presentation, that the lecturer is very familiar with the flow of the graphics and has prepared integrated discussion and questions to accompany the graphics at relevant points. It is then easy to jump to particular sequences, repeat animations or show alternate models in response to student queries. In fact, I thought one of the strong points of the graphics, was the number of representations or models available to illustrate many concepts. This is very useful for students to relate symbols written down on paper to other sorts of diagrams and models they come across. Additional modules of models and exercises, with their own comprehensive 20-30 page manuals are available for each disk. These contain a range of model files in standard ěpdbî format to be used with the freely available RasMol program. A very detailed series of exercises covering simple molecules, bond types, structural formulas, isomers, VSEPR, polar molecules, crystals and coordination compounds is provided for the General Chemistry disk. The Organic Chemistry disk contains exercises on displays and geometries, structural formulas, alkyl groups, conformations, cycloalkanes, alkenes, chirality and SN2, SN1 and E2 reactions. Extensive cross references to Solomons (Sixth edition) are given.
The two CDís then are the result of a dedicated effort to produce good computer graphics to improve lecture presentations.. As is usual with these detailed resources, a significant commitment from the lecturer is required to use them to their full advantage. Given the time to do this, I believe lectures can be considerably enhanced. I recommend the two CDís highly. |
