Construction of a laboratory lesson for upper secondary school in the area of Liquid Chromatography, including carrying through the laboratory lesson in a class

Laboratory lessons constitute an important part of science education. There are different sorts of laboratory lessons. In some laboratory lessons the students themselves are active, and in others the teacher demonstrates an experiment for the students. Some laborative work can be defined by the teacher while other can give the students an opportunity to plan an investigation themselves.

A new laboratory lesson, on the area of Liquid Chromatography, for upper secondary school has been made. In the laboratory lesson chocolate is analysed regarding the content of caffeine and theobromine. The laboratory lesson has been carried out in a class, to see what the students know about solubility, dilution, chromatography and analytical procedure after they have gone through the laboratory lesson. To get information about the students knowledge a questionnaire study was done. Teachers also have been interviewed, for their opinion about laboratory lessons as a part of science education.

All students showed some knowledge about solubility, and most students also had knowledge about chromatography even if they described different aspects of it. Dilutions was not a problem for most of the students. Many students also showed an understanding of the analytical procedure. For the teachers interviewed laborative work was an important part of science education.

Key words: Liquid chromatography, laboratory lesson, upper secondary school, chocolate, theobromine, caffeine, questionnaire study, and interviews.

Advisor:  Margareta Sandahl, Lund University

Olle Eskilsson, Kristianstad University

Degree project 30 credits in Chemistry/Educational Science 2008/2009

Department of Chemistry, Lund University

School of Teacher Education, Kristianstad University