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Structural aids and feedback promoting experimental group-work in
chemistry classes
Maik Walpuski, Elke Sumfleth
National article
German
The goal of this study is to find a way of influencing group-work in chemistry classes using experimental inquiry-tasks in order to improve the efficiency. For this reason they used two types of intervention. One type concerns the structuring of group work, the other supports students’ dealing with mistakes by using feedback. The two types of intervention led to four different treatments resulting from a 2•2 design. Data were collected over 5 lessons on acids and bases at 7 secondary schools in North Rhine-Westphalia making a sample of 336 students in total. Data were collected in a pre-/post-/follow-up-test design with tests on chemistry knowledge (multiple-choice test, connectivity test, transfer test) while cognitive skills and social background were controlled. Moreover, we collected process-data from students’ exercise books and from 140 videos. The analyses show a significant advantage for the treatment dealing with
mistakes while there are no significant effects for the treatment structuring of group work.
While numerous studies have already demonstrated that cooperative experimental work is more effective than frontal teaching, it is shown in this study that small group work in chemistry lessons can be optimized by further supportive measures.
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