Developing chemistry laboratory experiments for distance education using the context-led framework

Charisse T Reyes
University of the Philippines Open University
Los Baños, the Philippines

One of the important roles of chemistry education is to provide students with knowledge and skills to understand chemistry in their everyday lives. This may be achieved by allowing students to perform laboratory experiments in the context of globally important issues and challenges. In distance education (DE), various ways have been explored for delivering chemistry experimental laboratory classes. This paper shares the experiences of the author in developing various context-led laboratory experiments which are delivered at a distance. Laboratory experiments were developed and designed in the context of globally-relevant science challenges, taking into account the alignment of the cognitive level of the experiments and the DE students, safety issues and logistic concerns, and employing open educational resources. At the same time, the experiments ensure that students will learn the knowledge and skills in chemistry and the essential laboratory techniques. The experiments are also designed to ensure the required laboratory precision and accuracy.