Evaluation of Chemistry Tutorials

There are several very well designed Tutorials available as additional resources for the Chemistry text called Chemistry, the Science in Context.

http://www.wwnorton.com/college/chemistry/gilbert2/tutorials/interface.asp?chapter=chapter_05&folder=heating_curves
The publisher refers to these tutorials as "Chem Tours" and the "Chem Tours" have been designed by a company called Science Technologies.

Each tutorial begins with an introductory statement defining the key concept being explained in the tutorial. Usually an image is also shown and this image is often chosen to link to some prior learning or prior understanding. For example, in the tutorial on perecnt composition of compounds, the first visual shows the percent composition of elements in the earth, a concept the students already understand. One of the most exceptional tutorials I have ever used is their tutorial on heating curves as it relates to phase changes. The tutorial shows a curve, a graph and an animation of the molecular view of the arrangement of water molecules. There is a point marked with a red dot on the graph and the curve and students can watch how the point moves as the temperature of the water chanes and how this change affects the molecules. The way the images are tied together is key to the enhanced understanding generated by the tutorial versus a more standard approach. The educational value makes these tutorials a very worthwhile resource. In the ideal sense they might be used either to introduce a lesson, or to wrap a lesson or both. Students learning is enhanced by these tutorial because the students get key concepts, with visuals, often with analogies in way that is easy to see and interesting to use. At the end of the tutorial the last five or so pages are questions and answers in the drill and practice style. Students recieve immediate feedback to their answers and also get help if needed. The opportunity to review is also available and so a click takes you back to the section of the tutorial where the concept was explained.

I think tutorials can be very useful for many different kinds of learners. Students that need more time to process can benefit by reviewing these tutorials on their own at their own pace. This is a tremendous advantage to these students that will miss certain key ideas in a class that is moving through aterial very rapidly as many do today.