Name of Recipient

James Mendez

Description of Funded Activity

The goal of this project was to recreate a series of chemistry teaching tools used in the 1800s and recreate them for modern use. Using a 3D printer, Dr. James Mendez and students recreated crystal models that would have commonly been made of wood 200 years ago.

Models such as these have been shown to improve student comprehension. To do this they studied historical images from IU and other colleges. The final 3D models have now been used in the second semester of introductory chemistry at IUPUC.

As part of their use, Dr. Mendez provides a short history of teaching tools and how this relates to how chemistry professors taught the subject at IU in the 1800s. The results of the project were also presented at the American Chemistry Society meeting in Orlando, FL during the Spring 2018 semester.

Campus

IUPUC