Designing a Mobile Application

This paper describes the development of a mobile application (app) created as a learning tool to help organic chemistry students increase their conceptual understanding of a given topic. The learning needs of organic chemistry students studying the unit “functional groups” were first identified, appropriate learning theories were chosen, and then a working prototype of the mobile application “TsoiChem©” was designed and created using Apple’s iOS Software Development Kit. An iterative development process incorporated several learning theories along with the chemistry students’ feedback into the app’s design so as to best leverage the multi-touch feature of the device. This paper also discusses the preliminary data on the effectiveness of the design elements on student perceptions of the app and students’ conceptual understanding. Future directions for the app and this study are also presented.