Pre-service chemistry teachers' competencies in the laboratory: a cross-grade study in solution preparation

Abstract

One of the prerequisites for chemistry teacher candidates is to demonstrate certain laboratory skills. This article aims to determine and discuss the competencies of pre-service chemistry teachers in a chemistry laboratory context working with solution chemistry content. The participants in this study consisted of a group of pre-service chemistry teachers in the first to fifth years of a chemistry teacher education program. The participants were given individual tasks of preparing solutions of a certain concentration. The tasks included two steps: calculation and application. The participants were also observed in terms of the degree to which they followed the laboratory safety rules. Overall, the pre-service teachers made numerous errors in calculating the correct amounts of a substance and preparing a solution, as well as obeying the safety rules. Interestingly, the participants' laboratory competencies showed a trend along their grade levels; namely, a slight increase and then a sharp decrease in their solution preparation knowledge and skills that could be associated with retention loss or decay over time in the absence of rehearsal and/or ill-encoding. These results may contribute to the discussion on virtual and physical laboratories in chemistry education.