Recently, there has been a push for more inquiry-based laboratory work; however, there are few research studies on how students experience this environment. Students experience the laboratory environment in a variety of distinct ways, which can affect how they learn or what they take away from the laboratory. This study characterizes undergraduate students’ perceptions of a project-based/ guided inquiry organic chemistry laboratory using student interviews. We also characterized what students’ viewed as the purpose of the laboratory and how they defined their success in the laboratory. Eighteen participants were interviewed via a semi-structured interview format to collect their perspectives on the organic chemistry lab. Each interview was subjected to open coding and the constant comparison method then further evaluated using thematic analysis. To this end, we use the frameworks of situated learning and phenomenography to present the different ways students experience the laboratory and their perspective on the purpose and their success inside the laboratory.

Describing student experiences in a project-based organic chemistry laboratory

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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