Phun and Molecular Workbench

Students, especially visual learners, often have great difficulty in grasping abstract scientific properties, and therefore are prone to avoid the continuation of such courses in the future. Students feel that the study of the sciences is not relevant to their lives and cannot visualize real-life applications for the subject matter. According to the National Science Foundation, fewer students enter and complete engineering programs. In 1983, over 441,000 students enrolled in full-time engineering programs, but the figure only reached 367,000 in 1994.

Through the generosity of the Motorola Foundation and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) (Molecular Workbench) and commercial advertisements (Phun), students and teachers have access to interactive, web-based programming that models complex mathematical and physics concepts in simplistic and entertaining activities. Engaging simulation activities, such as Phun and Molecular Workbench allow teachers to feed the curiosity of potential future mathematicians, chemists, and physicists. These high-quality, free (!!) educational programs assist students in developing high-level scientific skills through holistic and concrete applications for once complicated concepts (which undoubtedly turned potential science students away in the past due to frustration and inaccessibility to these simulations). Not only do the programs increase skill-level, but they foster interest in the subjects.

Phun is described as a “2D physics sandbox” in which participants construct objects and environments in order to observe their interactions and consequences of variations, such as adding hinges or springs, or manipulating properties such as friction or density. I viewed a well-designed video tutorial in order to build a brick wall and a catapulting machine. Step-by-step instructions allowed me to use properties of mechanics and physics to modify my machine. My machine was somewhat effective as it catapulted a sphere at the wall, knocking down half of it. Phun was addicting because I continued to alter characteristics of the machine in order to knock down the wall. After a little over an hour into the activity, I succumbed the Phun force and decided it was time to throw in the towel and move on.

The Molecular Workbench/Nanotech activity is more outwardly technical and, in my opinion, not as entertaining as Phun. Molecular Workbench imposes a fixed environment while Phun was much more open-ended in this particular aspect. In Molecular Workbench, the user manipulates variables, such as positive and negative charges within the environment, to physically see the results of such changes.

Both Phun and Molecular Workbench provide valuable learning opportunities through technology in which users “learn by doing”. Both are engaging and interactive and will capture the attention of students who are eager to truly understand the sciences.