Comparison of Students' Perceived Learning in Two Similar Lab Courses with Different Teaching Staffs

At the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTN), two subjects with similar chemistry laboratory exercises have different practices with respect to the use of permanent and temporary staffs. In an ever-increasing focus on costs related to this type of teaching, we have investigated this difference and examined the students' perceived learning outcomes in two similar courses with different teaching practices. The results show that the students in both courses find the lab exercises relevant to the subjects and that they receive good guidance during the practical work. The most important findings reported by the students are related to the feedback students receive on their reports and most importantly how they choose to use this feedback. The students in the lab courses with permanent employees seem to use feedback more actively compared to the students in the courses with temporary employees. This might also be related to how much they engage in their own written reports. While one student group is given an allocated time to complete their report forms and hand them in during the lab hours; the other student group complete their reports in their own pace outside of the mandatory lab hours. This difference in how the written reports are completed might have an impact on the degree of reflection and learning outcome for the students. These findings further emphasize the importance of well-structured laboratory sessions with clearly communicated learning objectives as key to obtain the wanted learning outcomes for all STEM subjects with practical training. In conclusion, the use of permanent teaching assistants in laboratory teaching enhances the students' perceived learning in chemistry laboratory exercises and the present study further accentuates the need for motivated laboratory teaching assistants for the given feedback to be productive.