Using the web to enhance laboratory teaching

Abstract

At The University of Sydney chemistry is taught as a practical based discipline and students spend approximately three hours each week in the laboratory. The laboratory component of the course is structured in three parts: the pre-laboratory work; a series of laboratory exercises; and the postlaboratory work. • The students conduct the pre-laboratory work in their own time, prior to their scheduled laboratory class. The purpose is to provide background and theoretical backup to the experiment that will be conducted that week. The information is supported by a number of questions designed to test the comprehension of the student. • The laboratory work is conducted in a three-hour block and introduces the students to important practical techniques as well as providing some experience of the concepts taught during lectures. • The post-laboratory work is brief and usually consists of an analysis of the results obtained in the laboratory or a supporting problem. This is conducted in the student’s own time.