Digitalchemlab

Individualized and digital learning in the student chemistry lab

Digital media can be used in a variety of ways to increase student motivation and improve their learning experiences and outcomes. In this project, we are investigating digitally supported learning in the student lab, where school classes visit the university and conduct lab experiments that go beyond what is taught in school.

During lab days, students can choose experiments and tasks of varying complexity according to their level of knowledge and interest (= internal differentiation). We are investigating the extent to which a lab day has advantages for learning success, motivation, and learning emotions. To this end, we measured the students' level of knowledge, motivation, and learning emotions before, during, and after the student lab day and recorded which experiments and tasks they chose during their learning journey. In a control group design, the participating school classes learned about the same topic in different ways: with and without digital support, and with and without internal differentiation.

The results not only contribute to understanding how individualized and digital learning in chemistry can be designed to offer added value for learning. They also shed light on which students choose which learning paths and which students benefit from the lab day in which ways.

Cooperation partners: Nicolai ter Horst (Jena), Prof. Dr. Timm Wilke (Oldenburg)

Duration: since 2022 

Publications

Ter Horst, N., Dietrich, J., & Wilke, T. (2024). Digitalchemlab – digital and complexity-differentiated learning modules in an out of school student laboratory. Journal of Chemical Education, 101, 1810–1821. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c01228

Ter Horst, N., Dietrich, J., & Wilke, T. (2024). Digital-differenzierende Lernmodule im Schülerlaborkontext: Eine Pilotstudie. Tagungsband DiCE 2023. https://doi.org/10.22032/dbt.59413