Abstract:

The objective of the present work is to present the main results of a teaching innovation experience focused on the autonomous acquisition of conceptual and methodological laboratory skills. The use of audiovisual training pills has been proposed for the improvement of the skills related to the development of protocols for analysis and interpretation of results. This innovation experience has been developing within the framework of the subject "Laboratory of chemical analysis of foods and chemometric analysis", an optional subject of the Masters degree in Nutrition and Food at the University of Alicante. Most of the students attending this subject do not have a training profile related to the area of analytical chemistry. Throughout various academic years it has been detected that the majority of students lack the basic concepts necessary for the development of this subject characterized by a high experimental work. In this subject the students, working in pairs, must carry out an activity in which they must address a topic related to current affairs, carrying out bibliographic research that precedes the experiments in the laboratory. Finally, they must write a scientific report summarizing the work carried out and the results obtained. In this context, the implementation of autonomous training activities, such as audiovisual pills, could be considered as a useful tool for the reinforcement and initial preparation of students to achieve an improvement in their learning process. Basically, the training pills consisted of small didactic videos, between 2 and 5 minutes of duration, in which a specific concept was introduced. The training material was focused on basic aspects of laboratory work, such as the preparation of solutions, calibration, sample preparation techniques, introduction to the use of complex experimental techniques (liquid chromatographic or inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectroscopic techniques), or statistical analysis. The goal of this pills was to introduce theoretical concepts of different analytical techniques, different components of the instrument and, to give guidelines for the use of the software of the equipment. This experience has been evaluated by the students through the completion of an anonymous questionnaire. The students considered this type of audiovisual material as a learning tool that allows them to increase their skills. In addition, they consider this type of resources as motivating tools for their learning. Finally, they valued positively that the material was accessible throughout the development of the entire subject.

Keywords:

Training pills, autonomous learning, competences, analytical chemistry laboratory.