The purpose of this mixed-method study was to design, use and evaluate
the effect of the computer-simulation (CA-SIM) on students’ conceptual
understanding of hydrogen-bonding phenomena in water. All participants, who
were enrolled in the second semester course in general chemistry, interacted
with the CA-SIM. The appropriate statistical analyses were used to determine if
students with different levels of prior knowledge (PK) learned differently from the
CA-SIM environment as gauged by their chemistry knowledge and their mental
models. Also, an established instrument (survey of perceptions) plus interviews
with selected student volunteers (qualitative themes) were used to gauge their
perceptions of the CA-SIM learning environment