A Study to Maximize the Learning Experience in the Physical Chemistry Laboratory

摘要

This study was conducted to: develop and evaluate a set of curriculum materials designed to teach physical chemistry concepts in a laboratory setting, a portion of which was designed to teach these concepts exclusive of the lecture part of the course, and design the materials to maximize the learning experiences in the laboratory. An extensive review of the literature showed that although there have been efforts to improve learning abilities in many areas of chemistry, little or no evidence has been found in improving students' learning abilities in the physical chemistry laboratory. The materials were implemented, continually evaluated, and revised based on oral and written evaluations of the students, oral and written evaluations of the instructors, and oral and written evaluations of the major adviser. As part of the evaluation process, student questionnaires were analyzed at the end of each fall, winter, and spring quarter starting in the fall of 1976 and ending in the spring of 1979. Another part of the evaluation was the use of ACS examination questions to determine the effectiveness of the materials. Student response to the materials was very favorable, but the results of the ACS testing was not as favorable. From these two factors, it was concluded (paraphrasing Bent 1975) that this study tried to improve learning in a physical chemistry laboratory setting and in trying to improve learning, learning was improved.