dark blue stylized banner background with text 'REAL CHEM'

REAL CHEM

REAL CHEM helps students discover chemistry’s role in their world and recognize their potential to shape it. Through cinematic video, interactive activities, and personalized feedback, students actively learn to think like chemists, connecting classroom ideas to real people, real problems, and real careers.

Developed by the Center for Education Through Exploration at Arizona State University and the Open Learning Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University, REAL CHEM integrates over 15 years of learning science and instructional design to make chemistry meaningful, relevant, and engaging.

students in a chemistry classroom

Students at the Center

Students connect chemistry to real people, real problems, and real careers. Interactive activities and personalized feedback help them see both chemistry’s relevance and their own potential to shape the world through chemistry’s application.

a student answering a question on the computer and getting feedback

Informed by Learning Science

REAL CHEM is built on more than 15 years of experience in learning science and instructional design. Every activity is designed to make chemistry meaningful, engaging, and responsive to how students learn.

two students interacting with a digital simulation while the teacher is at the board

Designed for Multiple Modalities

Cinematic video and interactive courseware work alongside instructor-led discussion and practice. The result is a flexible experience that connects independent exploration with in-person, online, and/or hybrid learning.

Chemistry Concepts Connected to Real-World Challenges

Sponsors and Partners of the ETX Center

National Science Foundation Kamehameha Schools Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation NASA Department of Education Wells Fargo Howard Hughes Medical Institute