Application of a Cognitive Task Framework to Characterize Opportunities for Student Preparation for Research in the Undergraduate Chemistry Laboratory

Undergraduate chemistry laboratory instruction can be considered from many perspectives and addresses multiple educational aims. We critically assess an inventory of “Cognitive Tasks of Experimental Research” for its applicability to chemistry laboratory teaching, and then apply it to an integrated upper-level laboratory course as an example subject. We note patterns in the prevalence of different cognitive tasks in the course, including: a paucity of tasks related to determining research goals, evaluating experiment feasibility, and experimental design; and differences between cognitive task prevalence in organic chemistry experiments versus those in other subdisciplines of chemistry. We emphasize that this cognitive tasks of experimental research perspective provides multiple ways to consider the chemistry laboratory curriculum, and we discuss implications for practice. The work contributes to the debate about the role and aims of laboratory instruction in chemistry, and provides a tool to chemistry educators with which to reflect upon their practice and curriculum in laboratory education.