What does students’ recognition of procedural mistakes in the chemistry laboratory tell us?

ABSTRACT

Students’ recognition of the common procedural mistakes in the chemistry laboratory was examined in this study. Data were collected from 49 undergraduates studying Science Teaching. A video in which a student is purposefully making common procedural mistakes was shown to the students, and they were asked to recognize the mistakes. A Written Response Form (WRF), Chemistry Laboratory Anxiety Scale (CLAS), Laboratory Equipments Knowledge Form (LEKF), and Calculation Form (CF) were the data collecting tools. Students’ scores from WRF indicated that they could not recognize many mistakes. Correlation analysis was made between students’ scores from recognizing mistakes (WRF) and their CLAS, LEKF, and CF scores. The study’s findings imply that only the feelings towards laboratory work (anxiety in this case) correlated with WRF. When high anxiety students and low anxiety students were examined, it was found that high anxiety students did not recognize some mistakes at all.

KEYWORDS:

• Chemistry laboratory
• laboratory anxiety
• procedural mistakes
• science teaching

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elif Atabek-Yigit

Dr. Elif Atabek-Yigit is an Associate Professor in the Department of Science Education at Sakarya University (Turkey). She has been delivering chemistry and laboratory courses for pre-service science teachers for 20 years. Her research topics are mainly focused on chemistry education, especially at college-level chemistry education. She has published several studies on chemistry teaching, learning, and cognitive structures.

Ahmet Burak Senoz

Ahmet Burak Senoz is a graduate student and department assistant in the Department of Science Education at Sakarya University (Turkey). He is currently working on his Master’s thesis, which focuses on a scale for STEAM education. He assists in chemistry laboratory courses. His research interests are STEM and STEAM studies and also chemistry education.