Physical chemistry teaching conceptual understanding

An integral part of a student s education in physical chemistry is laboratory/practical work. While it is generally accepted that the main purposes of laboratory work are to teach hand skills and to illustrate theory, significant problems have been identified in the science education literature about the laboratory courses, and in particular about the ineffectiveness of laboratory instruction in enhancing conceptual understanding (135, 136), and unrealistic in its portrayal of scientific experimentation (137). 

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