VirtuTutor 2 - Theory of Distributed Systems

Adaptive Virtual Tutor for Chemistry Study Preparation 2 (VirtuTutor 2)

Beginner chemistry students need a lot of practice to internalise basic laboratory operations and routines. To aid with this problem, past project groups developed the VirtuChemLab. In this virtual reality application, students can practice in a safe environment which is independent from available lab space and independent from the availability of advisors. It is a project by students for students.

About

Term

The project group starts in SS 2025 and ends in WS 2025/2026.

Study programme

The project group is open to students in the Computer Science and Computer Engineering Master's programme.

An example experiment

The virtual tutor greets the student to the VirtuChemLab.

Entering the lab

The student enters the VirtuChemLab where they are greeted by the virtual tutor. For their first experiment, the student wants to do something simple. Today, they will dissolve sodium hydroxide in water and observe how this leads to an increase in temperature.

The student in the VirtuChemLab takes some sodium hydroxide with a spoon and puts it on the scales.

Preparing the sodium hydroxide

The student starts by fetching the sodium hydroxide container, a spoon and a watch glass. They place the glass on the scales and weigh the correct amount of the substance. The inexperienced student does not zero the scale and just does the necessary correction in their head. Currently, the tutor is not yet able to point out how this is wrong.

A thermometer inside a beaker filled with some solution shows a temperature of 30°C in the VirtuChemLab.

Preparing the beaker

The student then fetches a beaker, fills it with water and places a thermometer inside. Then, they proceed to add the sodium hydroxide. The VirtuChemLab does the necessary computations to simulate the real reaction. Thus, one can see the rise in temperature on the thermometer.

The student in the VirtuChemLab holds a beaker filled with some solution and looks towards a wall.

Cleaning up

After they are done, the student must dispose of the solution in the correct container. Currently, the student does not get assistance with that in the VirtuChemLab.

A virtual tutor for the VirtuChemLab

As one can see in the example above, we already have the basis of a virtual tutor. In this project group, we want to expand on this idea. For this, we want to focus on three main points:

Assess the performance of students
Have the tutor give positive and negative feeedback at appropriate times
Learn to adjust the tutor’s behaviour based on student’s needs and performance

Below, you can see how this will translate to our example from above.

Our vision

Entering the lab

For this part, the tutor does not need to do anything different. It welcomes the student and introduces them to the experiment.

The virtual tutor tells the student that they need to zero the scale to get accurate measurements.

Preparing the sodium hydroxide

While preparing the sodium hyroxide, the student does not zero the scales properly. Here, the tutor should recognize the mistake and lecture the student on the proper usage of the scales. The tutor gives the student a low score on this part of the experiment and takes note that they struggle with the operation of the scales.

The virtual tutor praises the student for doing this step of the experiment correctly.

Preparing the beaker

Here, the student does everything right. Thus, the tutor should give some positive feedback to encourage the student. Previously, the student did not get the reassurance that they performed these steps correctly. The tutor gives the student a better score for this part of the experiment.

The virtual tutor tells the student that the solution they are holding belongs in the container for alkaline solutions.

Cleaning up

In the end, the student was unsure about how to dispose of the solution. With an improved tutor, the student could ask for advice which the tutor should provide the student with. Then, the tutor could take a note that the student still needs more practice in determining which disposal container to use.

Scope of the project group

For now, we aim to make the virtual tutor ready for two or three experiments in the VirtuChemLab. All of these experiments are already fully implemented, what needs to be done is to adjust the tutor accordingly.

What we have

Our last project group already laid the foundations of the virtual tutor. Hence, things like speech input and output and rudimentary movement and animation of the tutor is already implemented. Furthermore, the group introduced rigurous logging of all events in the VirtuChemLab such that the tutor can observe what is happening in order to react properly. Additionally, the group also worked on having the tutor read the experiment instructions and intervene upon the detection of errors, e.g., when a students leaves a chemical container open for too long.

What we want

We want to improve the current state of the tutor by making it much more adaptable. This means that the tutor should closely monitor the actions of a student, grade their skills and adapt the tasks and reponses accordingly. For example, a new student might need much more help to assemble the gas burner. In that case, the tutor should notice that and give detailed instructions on how the burner needs to be set up. Analogously, when the tutor knows that the student is good at setting up the gas burner, it should give fewer hints as to not annoy the student.

Enthalpy change of a solution

This is the experiment seen in the example above. One simply dissolves a substance in water and observes the change in temperature.

Galvanic cell

In this experiment, one builds a battery by setting up two different solutions which are separated by a porous membrane and which have metal plates resting inside them. Students can see the battery working by measuring the voltage between the two metal plates.

A beaker filled with water stands upon a gas burner in the VirtuChemLab. Above it is a window showing the current time and temperature.

Boiling point determination

In this simple experiment, students shall compare the boiling temperatures of destilled water with that of salt water. There, one can see how the boiling point is influenced by the chemical composition of the solution.

Implementation

Unity

The VirtuChemLab is implemented using the Unity game engine. You don’t need any prior knowledge of Unity, you will get the opportunity to familiarize yourself with Unity during the project group. Similarly, you do not need to know C# beforehand.

Learn more about Unity

Interdisciplinarity

Photo of Hendrik Peeters. — Hendrik Peeters Chemistry didactics

What is your role in the project group?

The chemistry didactics group of Prof. Fechner is very much interested in the VirtuChemLab and how it can improve teaching chemistry students in their first semester.

Since programming is not our forte, we act as a form of customer to the project group students which can help us to realize our ideas. I always found this cooperation to be very fruitful. I also think that it’s very intersting to the students as – like work in the industry – the customers aren’t computer scientists.

What level of chemistry knowledge do you expect from the students?

None! Both me and my colleague Marvin are always eager to assist with any chemistry-related questions which might come up. Hence, the project group students do not need any knowledge about chemistry.

What do we offer?

A broad range of topics

You can work on topics in the field of 3D graphics, game engines, graphical user interface design, usability, user testing, artificial intelligence and natural language processing.