Phenomena in high school chemistry

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the effect on student engagement and content mastery of using phenomena as a precursor to lab instruction. The study was conducted with 14 students in an 11th and 12th grade AP Chemistry class at St. Monica Academy. The treatment lab was preceded by a phenomenon activity and was compared to labs not preceded by phenomenon activities. Data collected from pre- and post-lab content tests, student interviews and surveys, and teacher observations suggested that using phenomena before labs significantly improved content mastery in some cases, but not all.