Cooling
curves of melts provide a wealth of information regarding
latent heat, heat transfer, the Gibbs phase rule, and mass transfer
kinetics during phase transition. In this study, a computer-based
activity was designed to deepen upper-level undergraduate students’
comprehension of the intricate phase transition process. This activity
primarily employs mathematical modeling methods based on conservation
of energy and crystallization kinetic equations to derive a mathematical
relationship between temperature and time during the supercooling
phase transition of a single-component metal. Mathematics teaching
software GeoGebra was utilized for graphing and comparing the derived
mathematic model with experimental data. Following the activity, students’
learning outcomes were evaluated using a questionnaire. The average
score was 86.87 for the first round of students and 88.26 for the
second round of students. Incorporating mathematical modeling of cooling
curves into physical chemistry laboratory teaching has resulted in
noticeable enhancement in the student’s learning. Overall,
this activity effectively enhanced students’ comprehension
of mathematical modeling, computational skills, and problem solving
skills. The activity significantly enriches students’ comprehensive
understanding of cooling curves and associated experiments in physical
chemistry.