Incorporating Guided-Inquiry Learning into the Organic Chemistry Laboratory

Informed science educators who are responsible for undergraduate laboratory programs strive to improve the effectiveness of learning in the laboratory. Guided-inquiry learning in the laboratory is one reasonable alternative (among others described here) to the verification approach to learning. Guided-inquiry learning offers students the opportunity to learn for themselves in a controlled laboratory environment where the instructor can handle the outcome and help guide students who are experiencing difficulty. Guided-inquiry experiments in organic chemistry have merit because they may help to improve understanding while increasing student interest. This paper presents the advantages and disadvantages of guided-inquiry experiments in organic chemistry. Several different types of guided-inquiry experiments in organic chemistry are summarized, together with the rationale for converting verification laboratory procedures to guided-inquiry experiments. Examples are given for enhancing guided-inquiry experiments to make the outcomes less predictable.