What is ODYSSEY?

ODYSSEY is a new computer learning environment for introductory and general chemistry (high schools, colleges and universities). Benefiting from the performance improvements in personal computers over the last several years, ODYSSEY takes full advantage of modern processor speeds to deliver on-the-fly calculated molecular simulations for chemical systems (on the time scale of picoseconds). ODYSSEY's fully developed chemistry activities provide students with an environment ideal for discovery-based (active) learning. Students not only benefit from seeing 'real' chemical systems in motion and at the molecular level, but are also encouraged to explore fundamental chemistry concepts in activities which often require changing system parameters (temperature, volume, and system compositions), and in this way ODYSSEY activities function like an electronic laboratory. An advanced yet easy to use interface allows for sampling a wide assortment of properties and provides easy to use plotting features, enabling students to quantify data associated with activities and student worksheets.

As ODYSSEY topics and activities act as an electronic lab, an extensive library of Molecular Models (> 1000 entries) functions as an electronic stockroom. Included models range from a sample of the Martian atmosphere to a strand of DNA, from a cholesterol molecule dissolved in chloroform to a sample of liquid nitroglycerine. This diverse collection allows instructors the flexibility to create an almost limitless pool of classroom demonstrations, and equally as important, it enables the inquisitive student
to further explore and discover.