Ranga, J. (2019) Reflection Activities in General Chemistry Laboratories: An Active Learning Strategy to Connect Laboratories with Lectures. In S. K. Hartwell & T. Gupta (Eds.), Enhancing Retention in Introductory Chemistry Courses: Teaching Practices and Assessments, (pp. 147-168) ACS Symposium Series.Abstract
Laboratories are an integral part of gate-keeping General Chemistry courses. In this article, the author’s efforts towards integrating reflection activities in the laboratory courses are discussed. Reflection activities promoted student thinking through active learning strategies such as discussing connections between laboratory experiments and lecture content and summarizing them on flash cards. These reflection activities were facilitated by the author and provided an opportunity for students to transition from rote learning to meaningful learning. Synchronized laboratory and lecture content was beneficial for reflection activities. When reflection activities were rated helpful by a higher percentage of students in the laboratory courses, relatively higher average final exam scores were observed in the lecture courses for the students who attended both lecture and laboratory courses with the author.