Online general pre-laboratory training course for facilitating first year chemical laboratory

In Chemistry, practical work is a highly demanding process in which students should be well-prepared before and alert during, laboratory sessions. Various general difficulties such as the limited laboratory time and the lack of connections between theory and practicals often do not allow students to actively participate in the learning process. The aim of this investigation is to study how an online general pre-laboratory training course inspired by cognitive load theory influenced the teaching of first year chemistry students engaged in laboratory work. Two different groups of chemistry students (experimental group (EG) and control group (CG)) from the University of Manchester participated in this investigation. The EG group participated in the online pre-laboratory course before entering the laboratory, while the CG group performed the experiments following the traditional teaching procedure. The comparison of students responses to the same assessments of fundamental chemical and basic laboratory knowledge showed that overall the performance of the EG group of students was higher than that of the CG students. Overall, the EG students valued the opportunity to have an online training course. By creating a flexible learning environment which included animations, simulations and self-assessments, the general laboratory difficulties were overcome. These interactive learning features gave students the opportunity to engage in independent study, by which restrictions of time and place were overcome.