The aims of teaching laboratories is an important and ever-evolving topic of discussion amongst teaching staff at teaching institutions. It is often assumed that both teaching staff and students are implicitly aware of these aims, although this is rarely tested or measured. This assumption can lead to mismatched beliefs between students and…

Student feelings towards the laboratory component of an introductory chemistry unit were evaluated in an action research study, over a three-year period at the University of Western Australia. In 2013 we found that the percentage of students with negative feelings towards the laboratory increased over the duration of a semester. In 2014 we…

This study reports on science student perceptions of their skills (scientific knowledge, oral communication, scientific writing, quantitative skills, teamwork and ethical thinking) as they approach graduation. The focus is on which teaching activities and assessment tasks over the whole programme of study students thought utilised each of the six…