Reinventing the chemistry practical

By Emily Rose Seeber2018-12-13T10:37:00

A photo showing students working on a Chemistry Practical

Source: Science Photo Library

Get students to tackle practicals without you

When teachers talk about why they do practical work in lessons, most say to motivate students, because chemistry is a practical subject, or to underpin the theory. There has been a growing emphasis on the latter in the literature: practical work should help students understand the conceptual ideas they are learning. It should be meaningful in terms of students’ learning. While acknowleding that teacher-led practicals have their place, Emily Seeber advocates the student-led, open-ended, practical route too.

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