The goal of this project is to develop and evaluate internet-based hypermedia tutorials for undergraduate chemistry courses. The specific objectives are (1) to develop hypermedia resources that increase the effectiveness and efficiency of student learning and retention, (2) to evaluate and refine hypermedia designs for maximum student use and efficacy, and (3) to evaluate the accessibility of hypermedia educational materials via the internet for students and educators inside and outside the university. The main advantage of hypermedia educational materials is the ability to link a topic to related and/or remedial material. Having immediate, in-context remedial help will improve the effectiveness and efficiency of a student's study time, and will also reinforce the understanding of basic concepts. The links themselves illustrate the interrelatedness of different topics and the importance of basic principles. Funding of this project will allow expansion of our current hypermedia tutorial for instrumental analysis to sophomore-level analytical chemistry and freshman-level general chemistry classes. The chemistry tutorials are viewed with NCSA Mosaic, which is an internet-based hypermedia browser. It is a multimedia viewing tool with versions for Unix, Windows, and Macintosh operating systems. Since this project is accessible world-wide via the internet, it will provide an educational resource for undergraduate chemistry students; K12, vocational, and college-level educators; and for the public at large. The hypermedia design and internet access concepts that are learned by evaluating and refining this project will facilitate the creation and distribution of effective hypermedia resources for science education in chemistry and other disciplines.
