Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice on an Example of Chemical Laboratory

Abstract

Each and every of the authors has encountered a situation when students arrive at the
laboratory classes and, after being given their work assignments, do not really possess the
required knowledge to proceed with them. Of course, the severity of the problem varies
significantly between the students and between the courses, but — in our opinion — it is
common and serious enough to warrant some closer examination.
In this project our primary goal is to analyse the possible reasons for this situation in a
reasonably generic way. We identify seven main areas which can contribute to making it a
serious problem. From our experiences, no particular course exhibits deficiencies in all of
those areas, but any number of them can contribute to a common final effect.
We will begin by conducting a short survey in order to estimate how common the problem
actually is, but also to discover how it is perceived by interested parties. We will do this by
interviewing students, teaching assistants and lecturers. In our opinion, those three groups
are together responsible for making laboratories and lectures fit smoothly. If any of them do
not fulfill their obligations, problems will inevitably occur.
Finally, we attempt to, briefly, discuss possible ways in which teachers or students who
become aware that the problem exists might act to improve things. We will consider ways
of identifying which of the generic causes analysed above are most severe in a particular
teaching environment, and what actions would be most effective in improving the situation.
In the next section, we will, in more detail, present the exact problem we are interested
in. We will follow with a description of the survey performed and with report of interview
results. In section 4, we will analyse how the course as a whole should be planned. In section
5, we focus on laboratories part and how to improve an existing situation over which one
has limited control. Finally, in section 6, we discuss some ideas for communication between
students, teaching assistants and lecturers which help to avoid or minimise conflicts when
resolving problems.