Current Chemistry Investigators (CCI): Development and Evaluation of a Scientist in a Classroom Electrochemistry Workshop

• John O'Donoghue ^[1] ; Natalia García Doménech ^[1] ; Fiona McArdle ^[2] ; Mary Connolly ^[2] ; Yvonne Lang ^[2] ; Niamh McGoldrick ^[1]
  1. [1] Trinity College Dublin

     Trinity College Dublin

     Irlanda

     
  2. [2] Atlantic Technological University, Ireland
• Localización: Journal of chemical education, ISSN 0021-9584, Vol. 100, Nº 10, 2023, págs. 4138-4146
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, school students suffered from a reduction in opportunities to connect with higher education institutions, meet scientific role models in person, discuss scientific career options, and carry out hands-on practical laboratory activities. Current Chemistry Investigators (CCI) is a successful electrochemistry-based STEM career intervention program, developed and evaluated through a co-creation process with teachers and students. The goals of CCI are 2-fold: first, to provide school students with career advice through tangible scientific role models and, second, to provide real-world context for the fundamentals of electrochemistry through hands-on activities. Herein, the development of a novel electro-analytical workshop from concept through to delivery with over a thousand students having taken part to date is reported. Students are tasked with solving why a battery malfunctioned through quantitative and qualitative analyses of an electrolyte using conductivity meters. Student feedback is also gathered anonymously through the use of a classroom response system (also known as “clickers”). Together with feedback from teachers, a robust evaluation is presented to measure the impact of providing tangible scientific role models and the usefulness of the workshop.