Adopting Inquiry based approach for chemistry laboratory in India: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

The thesis examined whether Indian undergraduate chemistry labs could use inquiry-based methods. Chemistry education research (CER) encourages inquiry approaches for lab education. In the Indian context, the National Educational Policy (NEP-2020) promotes the use of inquiry-based teaching-learning processes. Currently, there is very little inquiry-based learning in the context of chemistry laboratory courses and research is needed to determine the feasibility of the same, keeping in mind the challenges that are systemic in the Indian educational system like the diversity of students background and infrastructure facilities. This current research project involves designing an inquiry-based module for undergraduate chemistry labs and looking at the challenges involved in its implementation. The topic is developed in the context of the estimation of antacids samples, which students can connect to their everyday lives. The module is designed to present opportunities for understanding the key concepts of the back-titration approach. The developed module was standardised for its language, questions and their sequence, difficulty levels of these questions etc. The module was given to a small group of teachers and their feedback led to further standardisation. The final module was implemented with two groups of students in different settings. The responses of the students to questions related to back-titration were analysed in depth to understand whether the experimental module has helped in changing their understanding regarding back-titration. Additionally, the data regarding students' perception of inquiry-based lab, associated problems and opportunities was collected and analysed in depth. The study indicates that the experimental module did help students in identifying and elucidating the reasons for the usage of back titration for estimating the Acid Neutralising Capacity (ANC) of antacid. In other words, the experiment helps students to evolve their understanding of the Back-titration method. The data related to students' perceptions, indicated that overall students were positive towards the inquiry-based lab. Despite facing some challenges and difficulties, students completed the entire task and appreciated the content and pre-lab, lab, and post-lab structure of the experiment.