Abstract
An inquiry-oriented laboratory in chemistry was integrated into the chemistry curriculum in Jewish high schools in Israel, and after a short period was also implemented in Arab sector. In this study, we investigated the effect of culture on the perceptions of laboratory classroom learning environments by comparing the perceptions of Arab and Jewish high school students who learned the inquiry-oriented chemistry laboratory. The learning environment is influenced by student-teacher relationship and we thought that this relation is an important issue in the inquiry laboratory and is different between the Arab and Jewish populations. However, until recently, the Arab teachers have remained in the centre of the learning process and their students perceived them as the main source of knowledge and information. In this study, we used both quantitative and qualitative methods to determine whether the laboratory learning environment was different in Arab and Jewish classes that learned in the inquiry-oriented laboratory in chemistry. A statistical comparison of Arab and Jewish inquiry groups revealed significant differences in their actual and preferred perceptions. From the qualitative part of the study, we found that the teachers and students from the Arab and Jewish sectors were statistically similar in the categories that we measured during the inquiry phase, but they were statistically different during the pre-inquiry phase of the laboratory. From the interviews with the teachers and the students, we found that there were differences in the student-teacher relationship between the two sectors.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank all persons who helped us in our present study. Special thanks go to Abdullah Khalaileh, a chemistry advisor in the Arab sector for his help in making arrangements and connections with teachers. In addition, we would like to thank Yetty Varon from the Science Education Department at the Weizmann Institute of Science for her help in the statistical analysis.
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Appendices
Appendix 1
Inquiry-oriented experiment: Reaction in a plastic bag
Materials
Three 10 ml glass bottles with corks
3 plastic bags
Rubbers
Thermometer—digital thermometer is preferred
Glass rod
Washing bottle
Two 10 ml graduated cylinders
Purple solution
3 pre-weighed plastic bottles that contain solid A
3 pre-weighed plastic bottles that contain solid B
(Purple solution is red cabbage water extract, solid A is 7 g citric acid and solid B is 10 g sodium Bicarbonate).
Pre-inquiry phase
Into one plastic bag, add one pre-weighed plastic bottle that contains solid A and one pre-weighed plastic bottle that contains solid B.
Mix them with the glass rod or by shaking the plastic bag.
Pour 10 ml of purple solution into one 10 ml glass bottle and close the cork.
Insert the closed glass bottle in the plastic bag that contains the solids A and B mixture.
Put the thermometer in the plastic bag and close it tightly with the rubber.
Open the glass bottle and mix its contents with the solids mixture.
Watch carefully and record your observations.
Write down five questions that arose after you recorded your observations.
Select one question and formulate it as a research question that contains a relation between related variable and an unrelated variable.
Write down an appropriate scientific hypothesis related to the research question.
Explain your hypothesis according to scientific background.
Plan an experiment in order to find whether your hypothesis was correct or not:
-
Write down the procedural steps of the experiment.
-
Write the materials that you require for performing the experiment.
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Discuss with your teacher what you planed to do and make any required modifications accordingly.
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After you get the okay from your teacher, give the list of the required materials to the lab technician.
Inquiry phase (usually a week later)
Perform the inquiry (your planned experiment).
Present your results in a scientific and organised manner.
Discuss the results that you got with your partners.
Conclude as many conclusions as you can according to the results that you got.
Check the relation between the research question and the conclusions.
Arrange a report that contains all of what you did and what you got and pass it to the teacher during the next meeting.
Appendix 2
Inquiry oriented experiment: The grapes
Materials
15 small grapes
600 ml glass beaker
Spatula
About 50 ml of solution B
Powder A
Glass rod
Washing bottle
(Solution B is 6 % vinegar and Power A is Sodium Bicarbonate—the students did not know this information)
Pre-inquiry phase
Fill about ¾ of the glass beaker with water.
Add one filled spatula with powder A to the water. Do not mix.
Add 15 small grapes to the glass beaker. Do not mix.
Add about 30 ml of solution B and then mix the solution gently.
Observe the system for 10 min. Record your observations every 2 min.
Write down five questions that arose after you recorded your observations.
Select one question and formulate it as a research question that contains a relation between related variable and an unrelated variable.
Write down an appropriate scientific hypothesis related to the research question.
Explain your hypothesis according to scientific background.
Plan an experiment in order to find whether your hypothesis was correct or not:
-
Write down the procedural steps of the experiment.
-
Write the materials that you require in order to perform the experiment.
-
Discuss with your teacher what you planned to do and make any required modifications accordingly.
-
After you get the okay from the your teacher, give the list of the required materials to the lab technician.
Inquiry phase (usually a week later)
Perform the inquiry for your planned experiment.
Present your results in a scientific and organised manner.
Discus the results that you got with your partners.
Make as many conclusions as you can according to the results that you got.
Check the relation between the research question and the conclusions.
Arrange a report that contains all of what you did and what you got and pass it to the teacher in the next meeting.
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Dkeidek, I., Mamlok-Naaman, R. & Hofstein, A. Assessment of the laboratory learning environment in an inquiry-oriented chemistry laboratory in Arab and Jewish high schools in Israel. Learning Environ Res 15, 141–169 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-012-9109-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-012-9109-3