<br/><br/>Positive impacts to student learning through active learning practices, such as interactive and problem-based approaches, are widely accepted in educational literature. Active learning is largely framed in the context of application to the classroom setting to replace traditional lectures. At the Colorado School of Mines we are invested in using active learning, not only in lectures but in the laboratory setting as well, in order to address two primary concerns related to student learning in general chemistry courses. First, in the lab setting, it cannot be assumed that students are learning by simply performing a formulated set of provided steps. Our students are largely engineering and science majors, and as a result, active learning in the lab provides an environment of problem solving and skill development that more closely aligns with their anticipated professional settings. Second, this work removes potential delineation of learning strategies between the lecture and lab. Using active learning in both lecture and lab provides a more fluid and integrated learning platform for our students. In this design, students are exposed to a concept in lecture, and then have an opportunity to readily transition to the student-generated design and testing of the concept in lab. This approach is distinct from many general chemistry lecture-lab courses, as lecture and lab concepts are not tightly aligned and/or the labs are more “cookbook” in nature. While introducing active learning into the lab setting has posed both challenges and successes, the successes far outweigh the challenges. We describe various active learning labs, along with their respective challenges and successes in implementation. Based on our observations, there is a positive impact to both student learning and overall lab experience through the use of active learning in both General Chemistry I and II laboratory settings.

Active learning does not stop in lecture: Carry over into the general chemistry lab setting

255th National Meeting (2018)

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