Student Preparation for and Participation in Virtual Chemical Engineering Practical Classes during a Pandemic

The continued delivery of practical classes during the pandemic was considered according to Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (Bloom, 1956). The provision of the practical classes via remote online resources when necessary still need to build up the cognitive levels as described by Bloom. The lowest level (i.e. Knowing) can be achieved via some of the questions of a pre-lab assignment as these can focus on recalling facts of the Procedure and Risk Assessment. The highest level (i.e. Evaluation) is achieved through the Post-lab assignments which encourages students to consider the procedure, the instrumentation and the data and critically evaluate in terms of expected trends, anomalous results and possible causes of error combined with remedial improvements that could be made. It is therefore necessary that any content that is positioned between Pre- and Post-Lab, whether the traditional in person practical or the alternative remote option with instructional video combined with a live online Q&A session with a teaching assistant, must bring students through the other cognitive levels. Ethical approval for the conducting a survey of the students involved was sought from the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences Ethics Committee.