Implementation Of Practical Work in Chemistry in Slovenian Lower Secondary Schools: More Effective Chemistry Lessons

Abstract

Practical work in the school environment as a teaching method has many advantages, as it is more efficient due to the permanence of knowledge. The performance of practical work by students facilitates and improves logical thinking, critical thinking, understanding of science, application of knowledge, interpretation of observations and definition of a new problem. The article describes the proven benefits of practical work in lower secondary school chemistry lessons and highlights teachers' views on doing practical work and teachers' views on students' perceptions of practical work. We also looked for possible statistically significant differences in the implementation of practical work in chemistry lessons according to teachers' gender, teaching profession and seniority. Despite the importance of practical work, in practice teachers often encounter the problems discussed in the study. According to our results, teachers carry out practical work to a large extent despite the obstacles. Because of the advantages of practical work, teachers would like to have smaller groups when carrying it out, more hours for carrying it out and the support of laboratory assistant, which is common in secondary school but not in lower secondary school.