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Modules have been developed for three introductory science courses: General Biology, College Physics and General Chemistry. The educational objective of each module is to develop or enhance conceptual understanding and critical thinking skills using a fictional yet plausible environment through which concepts from Biology, Chemistry and Physics can be explored. Each module contains three basic elements: an introduction, interactive activities, and assessment activities (exercises/conceptual test), so students have the opportunity to apply the concepts they have learned and measure their progress before taking the tests. The exercise section involves cognitive skills such as knowledge, application, analysis or synthesis. Many of the exercises provide some sort of feedback that varies with the users’ responses according to pre-identified misconceptions. In cases where users show poor skills or lack of fundamental knowledge, the module guides them through a problem solving analysis, and sends them back to an applicable exercise. Students should go through these modules in synchronization with the class discussion and laboratories. All three modules communicate with each other to reinforce the integration of concepts from the three main disciplines, so students have the opportunity to test their mastering of specific interdisciplinary concepts. UPR-Rio Piedras was the lead institution in this initiative.

The Biology Module
The biology module introduces students to the study of the photosynthesis process and consists of three sections. The first takes place in planet Earth, and the second and third take place in a space station. The second section has three tutorials enhanced with animations that lead to the third section (virtual experiments in the scientific laboratory). The interactive activity involves oxygen production, radiation manipulation and data collection. The purpose of the exploration is to get an insight of the photosynthesis process and the measurement of photosynthetic yield. These electronic materials include a test so students can monitor their progress.

The Physics Module
The Physics module introduces students to the two-dimensional nature of rocket motion, however, to reach this point the students need to master some fundamental concepts in Kinematics and Dynamics, so they have the pre-required knowledge to be able to understand the basic principles of Aerodynamics. In the kinematics section two dialogs are presented to increase motivation and discuss the principles and practice of scientific research; three tutorials to acquire conceptual background information, and four virtual exploration activities that include instrument manipulation, control of variables, and data acquisition and processing. The main objective of the kinematics section is to assist students in conceptual understanding of position, distance, displacement, speed, velocity, acceleration, and the corresponding mathematical descriptions. The dynamic section includes two dialogs and two interactive exploration activities, one in vectors manipulations and the other leads to the understanding of Newton Second Law. Both sections have assessment activities (interactive exercises with feedback, a conceptual test given as a pretest and a content test given as post test). In order to maintain the coherence and continuity of each section all the elements are integrated into a stand-alone computer module that can be used by itself or as part of the whole. The assessment criterion is based on the students’ ability to correctly apply the relevant concepts to define the critical parameters needed for launching a space rocket. The controlled rocket motion in two dimensions, gives the groundwork for analyzing and understanding the principles and dynamics of sub-orbital rocket flight.

The Chemistry Module
The chemistry module introduces students to the study of heat transfer and measurement. Heat transfer is studied from two perspectives: in physical processes and in chemical processes. The physical processes are discussed in the section dedicated to the water heater and electricity consumption; the chemical processes are discussed as the heat associated to the caloric content of foods and the combustion reaction related to the bomb calorimeter. The module includes five tutorials, twenty interactive exercises that focus on the development of problem solving skills, two exploration activities that involve instrument manipulation and data collection, and two interdisciplinary epilogs. The module aims at developing conceptual understanding of heat, temperature, specific heat, heat capacity and to practice problem solving techniques involving numeric exercises. The module includes a significant number of illustrations.

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