The Royal Society of Chemistry is supplying free computer memory sticks, on request, to every state secondary school in the UK. The computer memory sticks will comprise a radical new virtual teaching tool to eradicate fear of performing laboratory experiments.
The new e-learning tool, Chemistry LabSkills, has been produced by Learning Science Ltd and Bristol ChemLabS (University of Bristol). The tool is being disseminated, through the Association for Science Education and the associated Getting Practical Programme, to about 4000 secondary schools for use in enhancing, but not replacing, the teaching of practical chemistry.
The memory sticks are being funded by the Training Development Agency for Teachers in an effort to support chemistry teachers and enhance practical science in the classroom.
The Royal Society of Chemistry hopes that the new tool will meet two key objectives for increasing practical science in schools. Firstly, by getting students up to speed quickly and effectively with the background of the scientific approach to enquiry and how to carry out experiments, it will allow teachers to fit in more practical work. Additionally, by rehearsing key practical skills in a virtual environment before lab sessions, the tool will become instrumental in building student confidence in the laboratory.
The Royal Society of Chemistry with its corporate partner, Pfizer, launched the Discover Chemistry project in 2007. Pfizer provided £600,000 over a three-year period to help address the changing needs of the chemical industry in the UK, encouraging the most capable students into chemistry, and ensuring that they are imbued with the appropriate skills. Initiatives such as this virtual lab software, which is based on innovative best practice developed at Bristol, are key to fulfilling these aims.
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