When teaching STEM courses, it is important to introduce state-of-the-art techniques. Students need to learn how to conduct experiments, analyse data and choose the most effective approaches to address meaningful situations. Here we present the assessment of the implementation of a structured inquiry-based activity aimed at teaching students about…

The need for shifting the expository laboratory instruction style to inquiry-based approaches is widely acknowledged. Problem-based learning (PBL), one of the inquiry-based approaches, advocates students' self-directed learning. The literature indicates that scaffolding students' independent learning is necessary for a PBL environment. In our…

Pedagogies of engagement (i.e., Peer-Led Teaming Learning, Problem-Based Learning, and Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning) are active learning approaches used in postsecondary chemistry courses. In this study, we use data from a national survey of postsecondary chemistry instructors in the United States to estimate use of three pedagogies in…

The purpose of this descriptive case study was to develop pre-service chemistry teachers' Technological Pedagogical Science Knowledge (TPASK) through novel computational chemistry modules. The study consisted of two phases starting with designing a computational chemistry based learning environment followed by a case study where students'…

Many examples exist in the chemical education literature of individual experiments, whole courses or even entire year levels that have been completely renewed under the tenets of context-based, inquiry-based or problem-based learning. The benefits of these changes are well documented and include higher student engagement, broader skill development…

This qualitative study investigated the experience of a cohort of students exposed consecutively to two substantially different environments in their General Chemistry Laboratory programme. To this end, the first semester in a traditional expository programme was followed by a semester in a cooperative, problem-based, multi-week format. The focus…

This study investigates the effects of problem-based learning (PBL) on students' academic achievements in studying "Electrochemistry" within a course on Analytical Chemistry. The research was of a pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental design and it was conducted with second year students in the Chemistry Teaching Program at…

There has been increased interest in the transformation of post-secondary level instructional practices in STEM from more traditional to evidence-based practices that are more aligned with how learning occurs. Research has shown that instructional practices are linked to student learning outcomes even when content is unchanged; therefore,…

A convergent mixed methods research study was used to investigate whether or not undergraduate students who participated in a problem-based learning (PBL) laboratory environment improved their self-efficacy beliefs in chemistry. The Chemistry Attitude and Experience Questionnaire (CAEQ) was used as a pre- and post-test to determine changes in…

Following collaboration between two chemistry lecturers and an academic developer an attempt was made to enhance the learning of students within a chemistry module through the adaptation of the delivery of content material. This paper reports a piece of practitioner led research which considered how effective the approach developed was upon the…

Understanding of the nature of science is key to the development of new curricular materials that mirror the practice of science. Three problem types (project level, synthetic planning, and day-to-day) in synthetic organic chemistry emerged during a thematic content analysis of the research experiences of eight practising synthetic organic…

Research in general chemistry laboratory instruction has rarely focused on the impact of the learning environment on the graduate teaching assistants (GTAs). We decided to investigate the effect that facilitating a well established cooperative problem-based chemistry laboratory has on GTAs' epistemological and metacognitive development, and how…

Most educators and scientists would agree that science laboratory instruction has the potential of developing science practices fundamental to achieving scientific literacy. However, there is scant evidence to support that this potential is realized, particularly in tertiary level education. This paper reports qualitative results from a sequential…

The experience of a cohort of students enrolled in a Year 1 chemistry laboratory module delivered through a problem-based learning approach was studied. The methodology involved both qualitative and quantitative data analysis. The results show that students had a very positive attitude toward the PBL approach. The data suggests that a high…

Year 1 of the chemistry degree at the University of Leicester has been significantly changed by the integration of a problem based learning (PBL) component into the introductory inorganic/physical chemistry module, "Chemical Principles". Small groups of 5-6 students were given a series of problems with real world scenarios and were then…