Abstract

The teaching of sciences has long been associated with practical work; an instructional tool
that is believed to be effective in terms of both promoting learning as well as making the teaching
of sciences enjoyable. However, empirical evidence on its effectiveness as a teaching method and
whether it has any affective value for undergraduates is still lacking, when it has been deemed as
one of the costliest aspects of science education. This paper reports on the preliminary findings of a
mixed-methods case study conducted at a British university to examine the perceived aims of practical
work as well as the effectiveness of practical work on conceptual understanding and motivating
undergraduates according to the academic staff of a life sciences department. For the qualitative
data presented here a questionnaire was administered to the academic staff who, along with Year
1 and Year 2 undergraduates, were interviewed and also observed during practical work classes.
The preliminary findings showed that the perceived aims of practical work by the academic staff
vary across years, while the observations revealed two types of lessons in which the importance of
providing theoretical scaffolds during experiments so as to help undergraduates in linking concepts
and theories with observables was prominent