An alternative educational approach for an Inorganic Chemistry laboratory course in Industrial and Chemical Engineering

Abstract

We describe an alternative educational approach for an inorganic chemistry laboratory module named Experimentation in Chemistry, which is included in Industrial Engineering and Chemical Engineering courses. The main aims of the new approach were to reduce the high levels of failure and dropout on the module and to make the content match the European Higher Education Area criteria. This new method has been implemented and studied over three academic years, and a substantial increase in students success and satisfaction has been achieved, along with a marked reduction in the dropout rate. The effectiveness of the experience has been evaluated by considering the outcomes achieved before and after the implementation of the new approach. Results revealed an improvement in performance compared to previous years, after introducing the new learning approach into the module in 2005/06. These positive results have been firmly maintained in 2006/07 and 2007/08. The results obtained have been satisfactory even in the Industrial Engineering degree, despite the students' lack of previous specific Inorganic Chemistry lecture-based knowledge. A comparative study has also been carried out between the two types of student profile and similar excellent results were revealed, with only a few adjustments necessary for inclusion in the Industrial Engineering degree in order to compensate for a deficiency in previous Inorganic Chemistry knowledge. Module questionnaires for both degrees provide evidence for significant progress in terms of student satisfaction with subject content, methodology and performance feedback on adopting a different perspective on learning where students take on a clear active role.