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Visualizations of molecular structure and dynamics are widely used in chemistry classrooms, although the research findings needed to make informed decisions about how best to select and use these materials often are not available. Much of the research on educational uses of visualizations that was conducted in the past does not provide the information needed for today’s students. Collaborations among the research communities of cognitive science, education, and physical and life sciences are helping chemical education researchers to study the instructional uses of visualization techniques, particularly visualization and animation of the particulate state of matter. These collaborations reveal how students perceive and interpret various kinds of multimedia presentations and molecular animations and show how to develop design principles for creating and using effective chemistry visualizations. This paper describes how research studies on multimedia-based learning and molecular visualizations have changed over the past 35 years. It addresses what types of research questions will be useful and examines research methods developed for investigating them.
Loretta L. Jones (Thu,) studied this question.