Changing the first-year chemistry laboratory manual to implement a problem-based approach that improves student engagement

摘要

For students who are not science majors, problem-based (PB) laboratories for first-year chemistry provide a more comprehensive experience than conventional expository ones. Implementing PB labs is reasonably easy, as the lab experiments may not need to change; what changes is the way the lab manual is set up and how the actual session is carried out. Rather than having a step-by-step procedure, the PB manual has general guidelines for the experiment, enabling students to develop experimental procedures of their own. During the lab session, a prelaboratory discussion is driven by the students' input and clarifies the details for each individual procedure. In addition to the engagement of the students in the lab, the result of this approach has been the development of students who are capable of formulating hypotheses and, more importantly, sound experimental procedures to test these hypotheses.