Chemical Education in the Era of Chemistry 4.0: Development Methodology for Virtual Laboratory Courses in Organic Chemistry

As part of CrossLab, a collaborative German project to develop cross-reality laboratories in STEM education, this chapter presents VirtualLab, a pioneering work to improve chemistry education. This chapter provides an overview of the relevant theoretical background, introduces the basic classical laboratory course, and shows important steps of the technical and pedagogical redesign using Unreal Engine 5. Given the inherent limitations of conventional chemistry laboratory courses, which preclude experiential learning (including hands-on experimentation and learning from failure) due to safety constraints, the revamped laboratory curriculum seeks to furnish undergraduate students with essential practical laboratory skills in a student-centred manner within a secure virtual environment. In the long term, the further development and distribution of VirtualLab may also create new opportunities to increase the attractiveness of chemistry laboratory lessons in school and encourage students to take up chemistry studies at university level.