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= Laboratory use in chemical education = From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Laboratory use in chemical education describes the use of laboratory, or practical, work in chemistry education. Laboratory work is a part of inquiry-based science. The goal of laboratory work is to help students to better understand the concepts and theories learned in lectures in the chemistry classroom. Laboratory work involves hands-on teaching activities to show, rather than tell, students concepts and theories.

Background
Laboratory work has been considered an integral part of chemical education since 1824 with Justus von Liebig at the University of Giessen. Liebig, a revolutionary in terms of defining organic chemistry as a field of researchable science, redefined the standards by which chemical analysis was done. These new methods of analytical chemistry were both time- and labor-intensive, making it impossible to complete by himself. Liebig incorporated his work into his classrooms as a method of learning, thereby creating the teaching laboratory. These laboratory classes developed naturally by themselves until the early 20th century.

By 1900, it was considered necessary for secondary-level students to be able to conduct experiments on their own, so practical laboratory work was quickly regarded as a major part of a scientific education. Laboratory work has since become the focus of high school and undergraduate chemical education.

However, the efficacy of this practical training was questioned as repetitive exercises were often used in place of inquiry-based learning, leaving students with no ability to use chemistry in an analytical way. Classroom focus returned to teacher demonstration as a replacement for laboratory instruction by the 1930s. By the end of the 20th century, more alternatives had been created for use in secondary level education, including molecular modeling and video demonstrations, making laboratory work easily accessible by both students and teachers. The question of hands-on laboratory relevance in the modern chemistry classroom was quickly sparked by this move to computerized format.

The modern chemistry classroom tends to use both traditional laboratory work as well as the newer computer-based labs in tandem. The older Liebig model of laboratory instruction has essentially been dismissed at every level but the graduate due to its focus on teaching students to produce research-quality data. This is today considered unnecessary in the high school and undergraduate classrooms as professional research is often past the scope and focus of high school-level and undergraduate students.

Examples of laboratory work in chemical education
Some examples of traditional laboratory work include:
 * Students extract caffeine from tea
 * Students synthesize nylon from the chemical reaction between sebacoyl chloride with a diamine
 * Students illustrate Debye–Hückel theory through the solubility of ionic salts
 * Students synthesize aspirin from salicylic acid

Modern examples of laboratory work include:
 * Students use a computer to virtually model a molecule and its resonant species
 * Students watch a video of a box of marbles as an example of entropy

Debate
Despite laboratory work's prominent role in chemistry education, research done in the past 20 years has shown that laboratory activities often fall short of their intended goal: achieving student comprehension while potentially enhancing student learning. This leaves researchers and educators alike reassessing the necessity of laboratory work in chemistry classrooms.

Rising costs of materials and instructors have also led to the reevaluation of the idea that students actually benefit from inquiry-based laboratory activities. Some researchers believe that laboratory work may inhibit students from accomplishing many of the aims of chemical education, such as the aiding the understanding of scientific concepts, sparking interest in science outside of the classroom, and helping to better understand the nature of science. This is based in the fact that most students will not use the skills learned in a practical setting, as many students do not pursue a career in laboratory science. Stephen Hawkes, a researcher who feels very strongly against the use of laboratory work, believes that in order for educators to justify the use of laboratory work in the classroom, the value must equal the costs, which range from student dislike of laboratory work, the amount of time spent on labs, and the loss of subject matter that must be omitted from lecture to make time for it.

However, laboratory work is frequently justified through the reasoning that chemistry is a practical science, therefore laboratory work is needed in the classroom. Laboratory work has also been shown to improve student comprehension of difficult concepts as well as improving scientific laboratory skills and problem solving abilities.

New approaches to laboratory work in chemical education
One approach to improving the efficacy of laboratory work is to reduce the emphasis on laboratory work and instead focus on classroom instruction in a lecture setting as laboratory practical work is still useful. Another approach is to concentrate on student feedback as a gauge of laboratory usefulness.

References and Further Reading

 * Chemistry Education Research and Practice (journal home)


 * Education in Chemistry (journal home)


 * Journal of Chemical Education (journal home)