Some thoughts on designing multimedia courseware as a tool for enhancing process and thinking skills in chemical education

Abstract

The importance placed on a 'process-led' curriculum in science and chemical education does suggest a need for effective teaching and learning of science process skills such as manipulative, observation and inference skills. Besides, the ability to establish the connections among the three levels of understanding, namely, macroscopic, microscopic, and symbolic is also a difficult task for students. Shortcomings such as time constraints, safety factors, the limitations of textbooks in providing minimal visual images of macroscopic or microscopic events, and limited learning experience especially in the area of thinking skills do exist. As such, this paper concentrates on the enhancement of both process and thinking skills through interactive multimedia design including visualizations, for example, computer graphics or animations; videos and graphic organizers.