Engagement through experiments

The experimental nature of chemistry education is highly challenging in online teaching and the lack of practical assignments prevents online science education from reaching its full potential. This study investigates how student engagement can be achieved by implementing experiments in online teaching. Two asynchronous self-paced online courses were developed and offered to broad audience. The courses taught chemistry in the kitchen chemistry context and included phenomenon-based learning through practical assignments related to food preparation. Analysis of the course participants’ responses to various surveys shows that according to the students, they were able to observe the connection between theory and experimentation in each assignment. Also, 85% of students who completed the first practical assignment were motivated enough to finish the whole course. These findings highlight the importance of behavioural, emotional and cognitive engagement created by meaningful learning tasks.