My company, Simulators For Teaching Ltd., (Sim4t) produce software that simulates scientific instrumentation and experiments for chemistry, physics, biology and general science students at universities, colleges and schools.
Before going further, perhaps I should say a little about the article cover image. It certainly is striking and makes an eye-catching intro to this post. However, it’s purpose goes beyond that. It shows the production of a rainbow, a natural phenomenon, which serves to split white light into its component colours. A monochromator, one of the working parts of a spectrophotometer, although via a different process, ultimately produces a similar outcome, splitting and allowing selection of the constituent colours and wavelengths of light. Thus, the photo is intended to symbolise our secure online platform Simulators for the Web, (Sim4Web) where a spectrometer simulator is hosted in “the computing cloud”.
So, some of our simulations, are held in an online virtual laboratory in “the cloud”, and can be accessed via our Sim4Web portal:
The software is also available in downloadable form from our website:
This article highlights some potential uses & benefits of using chemistry simulations.
Enabling Students
Sim4t currently offer 7 online experiments that include topics such as quantitative and qualitative analyses and chemical kinetics. We provide a teaching pack that covers one complete experiment: included is a scientific instrument simulator (for example, the online version simulates an Ultraviolet-Visible Absorption Spectrometer) and an experimental procedure that guides the user through its operation. Lecture notes covering the theory of the experiment under study are also provided. Accordingly, a student can weigh out virtual materials, prepare solutions and generate user specific data which can then be analysed to produce physical constants, all without leaving their computer screen.
Virtual sample preparation is shown in the following video:
The virtual reaction between crystal violet & sodium hydroxide is featured below:
The simulator can generate user specific data and allow the chemical kinetics to be monitored from which students can, ultimately, derive rate parameters for the reaction.
In this way, the simulations enable students to perform a complete online experiment without entering a tradition teaching lab.
Enabling Educators
With the Sim4t teaching pack, we have enabled educators to complement in-person teaching with our simulations: for example, the School of Chemistry at University College Cork was looking for cost effective ways for advancing their practicals but in a new and dynamic way, so the simulation experiments were ideal.
Similarly, the Department of Chemical Sciences at the University of Limerick, a customer of ours since 2018, had to design 5 undergraduate laboratory practicals as part of a new module. They have subsequently managed to advance how they teach and connect with over 30 additional chemistry students to their existing lab cohort, per semester, using our simulation software and thus, ultimately, improving teaching efficiency.
Our online simulations have allowed institutions to deliver distance learning to their students during the Covid-19 pandemic, which permitted home study and helped to break the isolation of lockdown.
Flexibility
The key word in terms of how an institution may use our technology is flexibility:
As a replacement for lab classes; classes can be expensive due to instrument and building costs and staff time. We can offer a full online experiment for a fraction of the cost of a real lab.
The software can be used as a pre-lab exercise, or training, to make students use their actual lab time more efficiently, or students can have some “extra lab time” by using the simulator to follow up on things introduced in a formal lab class. The online system could be used for distance learning and part-time students, which will overcome logistical problems associated with delivering education to this population. The software can be used to promote self-study and independent learning amongst students and provide efficiencies in both staff time and how lab facilities are used, as highlighted earlier by staff at the University of Limerick. The choice is up to each individual institution.
Increase Diversity & Inclusivity
Simulations could be used to boost recruitment and attract both home and overseas students to a particular institution: for example, as a “taster” of what a science course is really like. This idea could be extended further to provide an online “short course”, or mini project, in which students are given credits for a degree course before formal matriculation: this is likely to be particularly powerful in attracting overseas students, who may not have the funds or opportunity to travel to an institution for traditional open/visit days.
Benefits of using this model in recruitment, for both students and institutions, are manifold: for example, students, after completion of online simulation projects, would have “credits in the bank” for their prospective degree course before registration. For universities, this may be a valuable home/overseas recruitment tool in order to attract students in a very competitive market.
Ultimately, online simulations have the potential to increase inclusivity and diversity and bring science to the attention and reach of a population (both home and overseas) who, previously, may not have had the opportunity to consider a university education.
So, can simulations and online experiments “do it for you” and solve your particular challenges in delivering science classes? I would love to hear from you!