Chemistry Laboratory in Secondary Education: 3 realities addressed

Abstract

Chemistry has been conceived from its origins as a theoretical-practical subject where the procedural component plays a relevant role. However, the state of the chemistry laboratories tends to drastically intervene with the execution of the planned class, even leaving a series of strategies that can be effective to achieve student success adrift. This reality began with the education students of the Universidad Adventista Dominicana (UNAD) in their professional practice, where only 27% of 15 collaborating institutions received experimental activities. This reality leads us to ask the question: In what way can chemistry laboratory practices be approached according to each context found? This leads to the purpose of the work: Design a program of laboratory practices for practitioners, which fits each scenario found in their praxis. Likewise, the applied methodology consists of developing, in pairs, a laboratory practice on the subject of the chemistry of their choice, taking into account only one of these three realities that occur in educational institutions: first, it has infrastructure for the laboratory, furniture/materials, and reagents, the second, has the infrastructure, does not have furniture/materials, does not have reagents, third, does not have the infrastructure, furniture/materials, and neither reagents. The established conditions are that low-cost, easy-access, and microscale resources must be used. In this way, the execution of 18 laboratory practices distributed in the 15 collaborating institutions subjected to this study was achieved, thus reflecting a 100% scope. Currently, this methodology is applied at the Universidad Central del Este, UCE.