Abstract:
We used the context of boot-legging of alcohol to
support the concept of matter and separation in the laboratory
components of a first-year general chemistry course. The bootlegging
laboratory exercise was deployed over two years, Year 1
being online and Year 2 being in a traditional laboratory. Findings
over both years indicated that students did significantly better in
the context-based lab exercise compared to most traditional
laboratory exercises. The use of the Meaningful Learning in the
Laboratory Inventory (MLLI) revealed that students came in with
high expectations and that cognitive and affective laboratory
expectations were met or fell just short in both years. Blended
questionnaire items, including both the cognitive and affective in
one, showed that the students’ expectations were met in Year 1. In
Year 2, most students had good cognitive/affective experiences compared to a wide range of incoming expectations. The majority of
students enjoyed the laboratory exercise; reasons for this changed from cognitive in Year 1 to affective in Year 2, coinciding with the
change to face to face laboratories, where students could enjoy the excitement of performing the experiments for themselves. The
applicability of the context-based experiment resonated with many of the students and prompted a small portion of students to think
metacognitively about their laboratory experience and the consequences of chemistry in health, society, and industry. Overall, the
introduction of a context-based laboratory exercise provided a more meaningful laboratory experience for students, that is, a deeper
learning experience relevant to their everyday lives.
