Email this article Staff and student opinions of the inclusion of practical work in higher education chemistry courses in England: What are the perceived objectives and outcomes?
Abstract
Practical work is seen as an essential part of science courses. However, practical work is very resource intensive and in the current HE environment, in which academics will inevitably find themselves teaching more students with fewer resources, it is important to justify the cost in terms of educational benefit and so the objectives must be clear.
This report describes the results of a survey of students undertaking chemistry undergraduate courses and staff in Higher Education chemistry departments in England. These surveys aimed to ascertain the range of practical work being carried out, alongside staff and student opinions of practical work. It also examined the reasons why practical work is included in undergraduate courses and what students take away from participating.
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Gagan, M. (2008) Review of the student learning experience in chemistry, Higher Education Academy Physical Sciences Centre.
Bennett, S. W., Seery, M. K. & Sovegjarto-Wigbers, D. (2009) Practical work in higher level chemistry education, in: I. Eilks & B. Byers (Eds) Innovative methods in teaching and learning chemistry in higher education. Cambridge: RSC Publishing, 85-101.
Domin, D. S. (1999) A review of laboratory instruction styles, Journal of Chemical Education, 76(4), 543-547.
Bennett, S. W. & O'Neale, K. (1998) Skills development and practical work in chemistry, University Chemistry Education, 2(2), 58-62.
Kelly, O. C. & Finlayson, O. E. (2007) Providing solutions through problem-based learning for the undergraduate 1st year chemistry laboratory, Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 8(3), 347-361.
Domin, D. S. (2007) Students' perceptions of when conceptual development occurs during laboratory instruction, Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 8(2), 140-152.
Bruck, L. B. & Towns, M. H. (2009) Preparing students to benefit from inquiry-based activities in the chemistry laboratory: Guidelines and suggestion, Journal of Chemical Education, 86(7), 820-822.
Kirschner, P. A., Sweller, J. & Clark, R. E. (2006) Why minimal guidance during instruction does not work: An analysis of the failure of constructivist, discovery, problem-based, experiential, and inquiry-based teaching, Educational Psychologist, 41(2), 75-86.
Johnstone, A. H. & Al-Shuaili, A. (2001) Learning in the laboratory; some thoughts from the literature, University Chemistry Education, 5(2), 42-51.
Cooper, M. M. & Kerns, T. S. (2006) Changing the laboratory: Effects of a laboratory course on students' attitudes and perceptions, Journal of Chemical Education, 83(9), 1356-1361.
Kirschner, P. A. & Meester, M. A. M. (1988) The laboratory in higher science-education - problems, premises and objectives, Higher Education, 17(1), 81-98.
Carnduff, J. & Reid, N. (2003) Enhancing undergraduate chemistry laboratories. Cambridge: The Royal Society of Chemistry.
Reid, N. & Shah, I. (2007) The role of laboratory work in university chemistry, Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 8(2), 172-185.
Hanif, M., Sneddon, P. H., Al-Ahmadi, F. M. & Reid, N. (2009) The perceptions, views and opinions of university students about physics learning during undergraduate laboratory work, European Journal of Physics, 30(1), 85-96.
Kirschner, P.A., Meester, M., Middelbeek, E. & Hermans, H. (1993) Agreement between student expectations, experiences and actual objectives of practicals in the natural-sciences at the Open University of the Netherlands, International Journal of Science Education, 15(2), 175-197.
Belt, S. (2008) Chewing things over in the laboratory, paper presented at the Variety in Chemistry Education Conference 2008. Dublin City University. Available online, accessed 25.9.2010.
Sneddon, P. H., Slaughter, K. A. & Reid, N. (2009) Perceptions, views and opinions of university students about physics learning during practical work at school, European Journal of Physics, 30(5), 1119-1129.
Meester, M. A. M. & Maskill, R. (1995a) First-year chemistry practicals at universities in England and Wales: aims and the scientific level of the experiments, International Journal of Science Education, 17(5), 575-588.
Belt, S. T., Leisvik, M. J., Hyde, A. J. & Overton, T. L. (2005) Using a context-based approach to undergraduate chemistry teaching – a case study for introductory physical chemistry, Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 6(3), 166-179.
Elliott, M. J., Stewart, K. K. & Lagowski, J. J. (2008) The role of the laboratory in chemistry instruction, Journal of Chemical Education, 85(1), 145-149.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29311/ndtps.v0i7.466
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
New Directions in the Teaching of Natural Sciences
eISSN: 2753-4138