Faculty Perspectives of Undergraduate Chemistry Laboratory: Goals and Obstacles to Success

Abstract

Faculty perspectives of the undergraduate chemistry laboratory were the focus of a study to articulate the goals, strategies, and assessments used in undergraduate teaching laboratories. Data were collected via semistructured interviews with faculty (N = 22) from community colleges, liberal arts colleges, comprehensive universities, and research institutions engaged in teaching or supervising undergraduate laboratories. The goals for general chemistry, organic chemistry, and upper-division laboratories are described and compared among faculty who have received NSF-CCLI (now called NSF-TUES) grants to implement changes in laboratory and those who have not. Problems and limitations to success in laboratory are also reported, and the impact of these obstacles on student achievement and laboratory curricula is discussed.

Faculty and student goals for undergraduate laboratory

“…[7][8][9] Our results indicate that faculty have two broad goals for the undergraduate chemistry curriculum. They want students to learn hands-on techniques (and know when it is appropriate to use them) and to improve their critical thinking skills.…”

“…6 To address the gaps in the research that has been carried out in laboratory in 2005 we embarked with our collaborators on a research trajectory that would help us understand the goals that faculty and students have for laboratory. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] The ultimate goal has been to describe the correspondence between the two and to shape and guide the laboratory curriculum in ways that would bring about a better correspondence.…”

“…They want students to learn hands-on techniques (and know when it is appropriate to use them) and to improve their critical thinking skills. 7 These two goals change slightly as the student moves through the chemistry undergraduate curriculum. For example, at the general chemistry level students may be using balances, glassware, hot plates, and spectrophotometers.…”

Lessons Learned from Collaborations in Chemistry Assessment across Universities: Challenges in Transfer and Scale

“…So from the outset, different motivations for using the assessments lead to different implementation and use of the information. In fact, two of the PIs specifically analyzed instructor's perceptions of what content they prioritized, and the types of information they used to support those beliefs (23). This is discussed further in the section below related to transfer and scale.…”

“…Ideas such as this help frame the reasons for why assessment development work is important. In addition, research that investigates the reasons instructors enumerate as to why change may not be happening becomes vital because of different beliefs and values of what teaching is, and what is important to learn (23).…”