Exploring the effect of computer-supported visualization on 2D and 3D chemical structural formulas identification

Abstract

This study aims to explore how computer-supported visulaization affect how well students identify chemical structural formulas. To collect data for this study, a chemical structural formulas conceptual questionnaire, event-related potential experiments and interviews were administered to eighteen university students majoring in chemistry. The results showed that (1) students with strong visualization used more visual-spatial strategies to identify 3D computer models; (2) students with lower visualization often used similar imagery intelligence and strategies for identifying 2D chemical structures as 2D computer models; (3) most students used similar strategies to identify 3D computer models and 3D chemical structures. This study suggests that event related potential (ERP) technology could reflect the visualization of students and help further studies to explore the effects of visualization abilities on science learning.