Contextualizing History in Chemistry Lab: Revisiting Werner’s Experiments

Sathish Chatnahalli Gangadharappa^1*, Savita A. Ladage¹

 ¹Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE, TIFR), Mumbai, India-400088Email: sathish@hbcse.tifr.res.in

The current work presents the development and implementation of a guided-inquiry experimental module related to Werner’s experiments for undergraduate chemistry lab education. The module engages students in synthesizing Werner’s cobalt-amine coordination complexes, study their precipitation reactions, and measure conductivity of their aqueous solutions to understand the constitutional properties of the complexes. The module is contextualized with relevant history and provides opportunities to comprehend theoretical arguments based on experimental observations and chemical reasoning. The module is designed with a prelab-lab-postlab approach and is structured as a jigsaw puzzle for the classroom. This design provides opportunities for student engagement through constructive and interactive activities.

The module was implemented in two different settings. The first trial was conducted at the researcher’s institution with students enrolled in undergraduate courses at various institutions across India (N = 16). The second trial was conducted in an authentic college setting (N = 25). The feedback obtained from both trials was encouraging and positive. The presentation will discuss the design and implementation of the module, challenges faced, and the analysis of students’ feedback while emphasizing the integration of history into laboratory education.

Keywords: Coordination chemistry, history of chemistry, undergraduate lab education, collaborative learning