Simulated environments for learning real world contexts in chemical engineering

The goal of DEVICE (Dynamic Environment for Visualization in Chemical Engineering) is to facilitate student learning through construction of models and evaluation of the models executing as simulations. In DEVICE, students solve real world problems in a simulated environment with visualizations that help establish the realistic context. The model underlying the simulation is visible, manipulable, and represented in a form that easily connects with the students' theoretical understanding. Students construct their own models to explain the behavior of the system. With DEVICE, we hope to find a middle ground between merely viewing a simulation and building one from scratch where the students are able to actually complete and learn through modeling tasks. The first version of DEVICE allowed students to view, but not manipulate, the model. User tests showed that the models need to be malleable at the modeling level, not just the simulation level.