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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 9, No. 9

Publication Date: September 25, 2022

DOI:10.14738/assrj.99.12952. Coutinho, I. R. (2022). Teaching and Learning Chemistry and Physics with a Laboratory Stations Model in a Flipped Classroom – A

Preliminary Report. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 9(9). 73-104.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

Teaching and Learning Chemistry and Physics with a Laboratory

Stations Model in a Flipped Classroom – A Preliminary Report

Isabel Ribau Coutinho

NOVA Lisbon University, NOVA School of Science and

Technology, Department of Applied Social Sciences

Interdisciplinary centre of social sciences

ABSTRACT

This research presents the efforts, to help students, hindered during the COVID19

pandemic, to learn chemistry. With the pandemic, Portuguese students that

enrolled in the 10th grade in September 2021, had lower experience in the

experimental work, since practical classes at school were suspended from mars

2019 to September 2021. So, students had difficulties in measuring or working with

simple laboratory apparatus. They had difficulties in giving meaning to the

experimental procedure, describing an observation, collecting data, analyzing data,

and interpreting the results. In this context, it was necessary to have a learning and

teaching approach different from the one they had in the last three years, to develop

the skills they need. The first proposal was to use “Practical work by laboratory

stations but it was not enough in the present context. So, a new learning and

teaching project that blended digital tools/platforms and practical work in the

laboratory was conceived. This learning and teaching project uses hybrid learning

environments, based on practical work by laboratory stations, developed according

to the collaborative Peer Instruction approach in a flipped classroom environment.

The project's main goals were to develop scientific skills (like planning, collecting

data observing and measuring, classifying, quantifying, predicting, controlling

variables, interpreting, forming conclusions, and communicating) and increase

their motivation to learn Chemistry and Physics. But also study the impact of the

flipped classroom with laboratory stations, on motivation, self-regulation of

learning, the perception of self-efficacy to self-regulate learning and the perceived

instrumentality of the self-regulation process. The study population is the students

enrolled in the 10th grade (upper secondary school), in a school near Lisbon. The

research project was implemented in two classes: one class were subject to the new

approach (one in the 10 grade), and the other maintained the regular practice (the

control group). In this paper, the results from the first year will be presented and

discussed. The data were collected in two moments, in September 2021 and June

2020. The preliminary results, of this research, show that laboratory classes with

the flipped room increase not only the motivation and involvement in the learning

process but also, the learning outcomes as students become more involved in the

tasks.

Keywords: flipped classroom, laboratory station, motivation, self-regulation

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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 9, Issue 9, September-2022

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

INTRODUCTION

Teaching science is a challenging task. During the COVID19 Pandemic, stumbling and inertia

spread among students, especially the economically disadvantaged students, who didn ́t have

access to school. These data presented by the Portuguese Ministry of Education led to a

reflection in society and the education system, on how to help these most disadvantaged

students.

In some schools, projects were proposed considering their school population and overcoming

the difficulties detected, namely the lack of concentration in classes, which began to spread

among the students, and the lack of motivation and commitment to and in carrying out learning.

In the school where the project was implemented students had difficulties in measuring or

working with simple laboratory apparatus, difficulties in giving meaning to the experimental

procedure, describing an observation, collecting data, analyzing data, and interpreting the

results. In this context, a learning and teaching method that uses hybrid learning environments,

based on practical work by laboratory stations, developed according to the collaborative Peer

Instruction approach in a flipped classroom environment was applied. The main goals of the

project were to develop scientific skills (like planning, collecting data observing and measuring,

classifying, quantifying, predicting, controlling variables, interpreting, forming conclusions, and

communicating) but also motivation and engagement in chemistry and physics.

Based on the implementation of the learning and teaching project, a research project emerges

as a study case. The research goals are to perceive the impact of this new approach on the

student’s motivation, self-regulation and learning outcomes.

This research was designed to reduce the difficulties detected in students after confinement

due to the COVID pandemic. It focuses on the flipped classroom and laboratory work by stations

and is focused on students.

In the first part of this research (the scholar year 2021/2022), the aim is to analyze the impact

of a teaching and learning methodology on self-regulation of learning, perception of self- efficacy for self-regular learning and the instrumentality of self-regulation processes of

learning. In the second part of this research (handle next scholar year in 2022/2023), the

impact of the intervention (flipped classroom with laboratory stations) on the learning process

was studied.

In the next sessions, a brief introduction to the flipped classroom, laboratory station model,

formative assessment, and PLEA model of self-regulation will be presented to allow the reader

to understand the intervention that was made in the experimental group. It is also important to

highlight that teacher that implemented the intervention was already accustomed to using

laboratory stations and formative assessments in their class.

Flipped classroom

In this type of methodology, is essential to have a platform in common with students or a shared

space (Teams platform, Moodle, Google Classroom). It is also necessary for the teacher to

make/produce materials for the students and classes or select materials (suitable for them) to

facilitate students’ first approach to the content. It is mandatory the student involvement, as it

is the centre of it, being important the learning environment where students access materials

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Coutinho, I. R. (2022). Teaching and Learning Chemistry and Physics with a Laboratory Stations Model in a Flipped Classroom – A Preliminary Report.

Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 9(9). 73-104.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.99.12952

and study, as learning occurs firstly outside the school. The materials prepared or selected by

the teacher, as an important role in this context, as they should facilitate the learning process

and is the first approach to the contents. The assessment of the learning outcomes is also

important as it allows the monitoring and accompanying of the learning process and to perceive

the change the teacher should do the teaching process (if necessary).

Formative assessment

In Portuguese law, the assessment is presented in two types, the formative and evaluative. It

refers to the “Assessment of learning carried out in the subjects that are part of the study plans

of the Secondary Education courses comprises the modalities of formative assessment and

summative assessment (Decree-Law no. /2012, 10 August)” (from

https://www.dge.mec.pt/modalidades-de-avaliacao, retrieved on 5 July 2022). Formative

assessment is defined as follows “Formative assessment is continuous and systematic and has

a diagnostic function, allowing the teacher, student, parent and other legally authorized persons

or entities to obtain information on the development of learning, to adjust processes and

strategies.” (from https://www.dge.mec.pt/modalidades-de-avaliacao, retrieved on 5 July

2022). Regarding the summative (evaluative) assessment it says that “Summative assessment

consists of an overall judgment that leads to decision-making, within the scope of classification

and approval in each subject, non-disciplinary area and modules, regarding progression in non- terminal subjects, transition to the subsequent school year, completion and certification of the

secondary level of education.” (from https://www.dge.mec.pt/modalidades-de-avaliacao,

retrieved on 5 July 2022).

Formative assessment can be defined as the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for

use by learners and their teachers, to identify where the learners are in their learning, where

they need to go and how best to get there. Formative assessment provides information on

learning, and in this context should be frequent and involves quality feedback. It is also a

dialectic, continuous, dynamic, and constructive process that involves the students and the

teacher in a process of constructing knowledge. It is important to emphasize that it positively

affects students' motivation and self-regulation as encourages and develops students’ self- assessment. But it also recognizes students' performances and assesses student achievements

and learning outcomes.

To be useful, formative assessment should have associated timely and clear feedback. Feedback

can be classified as descriptive and evaluative being defined as a “range of processes (...)

whereby a student or group of students receives information about how well they understand

concepts and are progressing with their studies” (Webb and Willis, 2019). Feedback “(...)

should never be given before the student has had the opportunity to think and work on the task,

nor after knowing the answers, and preferably, tasks not yet classified should be chosen, in

which students still have the opportunity to improve “(Black & William, 1998, cited by Santos,

2010). It can be classified into five categories: “correction, reinforcement, forensic diagnosis,

benchmarking, and longitudinal development (feed-forward)” depending on the purpose

(Price, Handley, Millar & O’Donovan, 2010). Or regarding the contribution to the learning and

teaching process as formative feedback, summative feedback, negative feedback, and positive

feedback. Above all, to be effective, feedback must always be useful, timely, motivator, clear and

of quality and it must focus on processes and not on the students (Lizzio & Wilson, 2008;

Faulconer, Griffith & Gruss, 2021). It is important to feature that feedback is related to