Enhancing Students’ Self-Confidence through Supplementary Laboratory Training Workshops

Abstract

Student-faculty engagement significantly contributes to students’ persistence in their academic journey. This is especially true in laboratory-based classes, where students work to acquire and demonstrate a mastery of laboratory techniques, scientific theory, and scientific inquiry. Many faculty shifted to online learning as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which exacerbated the difficulty students face in learning laboratory techniques and concepts. This work presents the design and evaluation of nongraded, supplemental laboratory training workshops to enhance student-faculty engagement and students’ self-efficacy in the chemistry laboratory. Responses from pre- and postworkshop surveys on students’ perceptions are presented. Our findings show an increase in students’ confidence in performing foundational general chemistry, organic chemistry, and biochemistry laboratory skills. Also, our study emphasizes the continued need for no-stakes learning environments that build a multifaceted social network among faculty and students. Such a learning environment can increase opportunities for faculty to aid students in filling knowledge gaps and thus boost students’ self-esteem in the discipline.