CHED 837 |
| Prior studies have documented that general chemistry students who participate in inquiry-based laboratory courses outperform similar students who participate in traditional laboratory courses on measures of student learning of chemistry content. However, there are often significant barriers which impede change from traditional to inquiry-based curricula. Therefore, a process of gradual change to an inquiry-based curriculum is more feasible in many institutions. We present a quantitative study of student learning of chemistry content in the context of incremental change in the curriculum. We first examine the impact of a single inquiry-based stoichiometry experiment on student learning in first semester general chemistry. Next we analyze the effect of a pair of inquiry-based equilibrium experiments on student learning in second semester general chemistry. Our findings indicate that there is a significant improvement in student learning of the chemistry content directly related to the inquiry-based experiments. Finally we discuss the implications of our work for others considering a change from traditional to inquiry-based laboratory curricula. |
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Research in Chemical Education
1:30 PM-4:05 PM, Monday, March 26, 2007 McCormick Place North -- Room N227A, Level 2, Oral
Division of Chemical Education |