Student Perceptions of Cognitive, Psychomotor and Affective Learning in the Undergraduate Laboratory

Biochemistry and molecular biology is an experimental discipline and therefore training students in experimental techniques and data analysis is an essential component of undergraduate degrees. However, the amount of practical work may be limited by financial constraints and can vary considerably in the quality of the student experience. We were interested in how students perceived their overall practical experience, in contrast to evaluating a single experiment or project. We surveyed second-year students on their confidence in practical skills and what they valued and found challenging in laboratory work, followed by a small number of interviews. We found that students generally have a high level of confidence in their abilities and recognize a wide range of learning outcomes, encompassing the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains of learning. What students identify as challenging is similarly diverse. Most did not believe that online experiences were a good substitute for in-person laboratories. The implications of this research are that scaffolding of practical work should accommodate the diversity of student experience and that assessment should take better account of psychomotor and affective learning, rather than relying solely on demonstration of cognitive learning via a laboratory report.