Characteristics of laboratory exercises included in science textbooks in Catalonia (Spain)

The laboratory exercises in science textbooks used in grades 7 to 12 in Catalonian schools were content analysed using three instruments: the Inquiry Level Inventory (ILI), the Laboratory Assessment Inventory (LAI) and the Laboratory Dimensions Inventory (LDI). The analysis was carried out by 23 teachers under the guidance of two science educators as an assignment in a university course on teaching and evaluation in the laboratory.

It was found that the number of laboratory exercises offered in Catalonian textbooks is rather small compared with textbooks in countries such as the UK and USA. Most of the exercises are of a low inquiry level featuring hands‐on tasks, but missing high‐order inquiry skills such as the formulation of questions and hypotheses, designing experiments, and so on. The relationship between practical work and theory is hardly mentioned, nor is the potential of the laboratory as a means of enhancing concept learning and/or social skills considered.