ERIC Number: EJ1327804
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Feb
Pages: 7
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0021-9584
EISSN: N/A
Challenges Encountered and Students' Reactions to Practices Utilized in a General Chemistry Laboratory Course during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Journal of Chemical Education, v99 n2 p1053-1059 Feb 2022
The unforeseen COVID-19 pandemic forced educational institutions to shift to a remote or distance-learning mode. As a result, classes were offered online, and this shift in teaching modality presented great challenges, especially in teaching laboratory courses. While several options are available, we evaluated the use of (i) videos of lab demonstrations, (ii) Microsoft PowerPoint slides with voice-over recordings that were prepared to guide students further in the particular procedure of the experiment, and (iii) kitchen-based experiments that students could perform at home for our General Chemistry I laboratory course that was offered in an asynchronous modality during the Summer session. The students were surveyed for feedback, comments, and reactions to the use of these different practices. On the basis of student comments, it was found that the videos were beneficial to illustrate important aspects of each experiment, with some students commenting that it made them feel as if they were actually performing the experiments themselves. The kitchen-based experiments, on the other hand, allowed students to experience performing hands-on experiments and helped them observe and relate to concepts (such as classifying matter, making physical measurements, employing units and significant figures, preparing solutions, calculating moles and molarity, and employing separation techniques) that were discussed in the lecture portion of the course.
Descriptors: Student Attitudes, Chemistry, Science Laboratories, COVID-19, Pandemics, Distance Education, Video Technology, Teaching Methods, Science Instruction, Hands on Science
Division of Chemical Education, Inc. and ACS Publications Division of the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 800-227-5558; Tel: 202-872-4600; e-mail: eic@jce.acs.org; Web site: http://pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A