The act of writing effective laboratory reports: Student and teacher perspectives

CHED 1440

Nahyr D. Rovira-Figueroa, nroviraf@purdue.edu, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Purdue University, 100 N. University St., Room 4108, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2098 and Mary B. Nakhleh, mnakhleh@purdue.edu, Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, 560 Oval Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2084.
Communication, especially effective writing, is an important skill for any scientist. However, research concerning laboratory instruction indicates that the fundamental focus of many students in the laboratory is on completing the task and not on how to interpret or present their results in an effective laboratory report. High school chemistry students were asked to complete a two-part questionnaire containing both Likert and free-response questions. Additionally, students and teachers were interviewed to probe how their ideas about how the act of writing effective laboratory reports may have impacted the students' understanding of chemistry and their ability to write. Analysis of the questionnaires and interviews indicated agreement between students and teachers as to the factors considered to be most important in writing an effective laboratory report. Our research identified four main factors that students and teachers perceived to be important for writing an effective laboratory report within the high school chemistry laboratory context.
 

Chemistry Education Research
8:30 AM-11:55 AM, Tuesday, April 8, 2008 Hilton New Orleans Riverside -- HEC A, Oral

Division of Chemical Education

The 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-10, 2008