Initial Validation of the Chemistry MicroLab Kit (Chem. μLab Kit) in Facilitating Learning of Selected Chemistry Concepts for K-12 Science

The introduction of the Chemistry MicroLab Kit (CμLK) aims to assist student learning of chemistry in a more interactive and practical way. Each kit was designed to address certain topics in chemistry that may otherwise be too abstract to do in a lecture-discussion set up. Among the many topics tackled in secondary school, 13 undergraduate students were hand- picked for this preliminary study. The test subjects for this initial phase of the research both majors and non-majors, were currently enrolled in a Chemistry course. It was also triedout at the Institute for Teaching and Learning (formerly Center for Teaching and Learning) with selected third year students. In this preliminary study, the students found three activities to be interesting and well-balanced: Gas Laws in a Box, Particulate Nature of Matter, and Solution Rules. In assessing the activities, they highly rated the easy language used for understanding the procedures, followed by setup of the experiments and a step-by-step presentation of the procedures. Initial results of the study find it a promising addition to the secondary level chemistry activities because CμLK enhances students' attitudes and motivation toward chemistry laboratory work.