The Chemistry Laboratory: From Theory to Practice

Abstract

In terms of its use in science education, the laboratory relies on carrying out scientific activities, or on laboratory experiments carried out by the teacher or students, for the purpose of learning or teaching science. Practical activities in general, and especially open-ended activities, pave the way to meeting students’ mental needs and scientific interests. They generate new scientific problems and questions for exploration and discovery. Laboratory activities have long had a distinctive and central role in the science curriculum as a means of making sense of the natural world and making the learning of science more relevant and more motivating. Some science educators suggest that the science laboratory helps students learn and understand scientific concepts while simultaneously engaging in the process of knowledge construction by doing science, i.e., it integrates and combines hands-on and minds-on activities. In this chapter, we focus on bringing the chemistry laboratory from theory to practice. The main topics covered are: developing learning skills using teacher demonstration, higher-order thinking skills in the laboratory, making chemistry learning more relevant to students, the role of the chemistry laboratory, sustainable outdoor practical laboratory activities, the development of sustainable microscale experimentation and the use of web-based learning in the chemistry laboratory.