Invention is chemistry for high school achiever

High school science doesn’t have to be a chore. Just ask Jonathan Utian, the brain behind a unique programme that helps students to unlock their true potential in chemistry.

Pairing his love of science with coding, Utian devoted himself to creating a Java programme that provides a valuable learning experience in a subject that many students battle with. This, in addition to scoring eight distinctions and featuring on the Independent Examinations Board’s (IEB’s) commendable list in his final year of high school.

“In Grade 11, I wrote a programme called Periodic Practice, which was designed to assist Grade 8 and 9 students with the foundations of chemistry – naming and identifying molecules together with their compositions.

“With this in mind, I decided to revamp Periodic Practice in my matric year, this time for Grade 10 and 11 students.”

Periodic Practice generates its own quantitative chemistry questions in a way that mimics the style of questions asked in testing situations, exposing students to the way core concepts are tested before they’re examined. Consequently, any confusion can be addressed well in advance as the programme has a detailed solution tab which walks the student through how the final calculation was achieved.

“They can become more confident in their abilities, which was my initial goal,” says Utian. “Over my high school career, Physical Science became one of my favourite subjects. My early frustration with the subject lead to the development of Periodic Practice, as I wanted to help others avoid the same confusion and frustration I felt when first encountering chemistry orientated concepts.

“Once you understand what’s happening, the true beauty of science emerges.”

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM subjects) are extremely important, says Utian, as they encourage critical thinking and problem solving, the benefits of which run into other aspects of life.

“A majority of my choice subjects were STEM orientated, which positively influenced the way I approached problems and fostered my love for understanding the way things operate,” he says.

“Unfortunately, there aren’t enough students taking higher level maths and science due to the notion that these subjects are too difficult. They are challenging, but anything worth anything in life comes with a challenge.”

Utian believes that if more practical demonstrations and tasks were performed by students in younger grades, it would encourage more of them to take up these subjects as they move into Grade 10.

“They would get a glimpse of the real-world applications of the subjects, which could help them to develop a more positive attitude towards these subjects,” he says.

Following his matric success, Utian looks forward to studying mechanical engineering this year. In spite of the difficulty of doing matric in a pandemic, he believes true success means achieving the goals you set for yourself in spite your challenges.

“Success means managing to keep moving forward even when everything around you seems to have stopped,” he says.