The impact and challenges of integrating micro chemistry experiments into e-learning

The impact of technology on society is as old as the emergence of radios televisions and telephones. Technology has spread from our homes to schools, workplaces, grocery shops and wherever human presence can be found in broader and more complex dimensions now. It is therefore important that educational institutions formally and consciously integrate innovative technology into modern day teaching. Some of the innovations could be in harnessing technology to solve the problem of large class size and nonavailability of science equipment in less resourced institutions and deprived communities. This study reports on the views and experiences of teacher-trainees in an undergraduate course, who participated in a hybrid online course integrated with micro chemistry equipment activities. In this study, Micro Chemistry Equipment (MCE) was distributed to 78 online chemistry teacher-trainees to enable them perform activities that accompanied their online curriculum materials at their convenience. The study was design-based research which used triangulation procedures involving achievement tests, observations, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to gather data for the analysis of the effectiveness of integrated MCE in an online course. The results of the study indicated a massive improvement in teacher-trainees’ responses to chemistry concept-based questions in analytical chemistry. The study informed that supporting online chemistry learning with appropriate resources enhance conceptual understanding. The teacher- trainees also learned new ways of designing and conducting chemistry practical work as an added benefit from their participation in the study