The increasing accessibility of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools among students has prompted academics to re-think how we assess student’s knowledge. ECU has already embarked on a curriculum transformation journey and as part of that journey academics are examining their assessment strategies in the era of generative AI. As a chemistry educator, I have been reconsidering the traditional laboratory assessments, that frequently emphasise content recall and report writing, which students would most likely be completing at home. Consequently, the laboratory mark would predominantly assess student’s scientific writing and understanding of experimental theory. That of course is a significant and important part of chemistry course, however, since it is now possible for students to obtain full laboratory reports generated by AI, we no longer have the assurance that laboratory reports are the best way to assess students understanding.
Hosbein & Walker [1] found that inquiry based lab courses improve scientific practice proficiency more effectively than confirmatory lab. Research into AI in chemistry education by Tassoti et al. [2] showed that assessments centred on lab skills lead to improved student performance in procedural reasoning and data literacy, increased engagement, and more nuanced student understanding of AI’s proper role in scientific practice. The study proposes recommendations for assessment design, including use of rubrics that make expectations explicit, scaffolded tasks that build skills progressively.
This year, as part of curriculum transformation, explicit assessment of essential laboratory skills for students in an undergraduate chemistry unit, Inorganic Chemistry, SCC1250, was introduced.
Five essential laboratory skills were identified and implemented into individual supervised laboratory assessments with a detailed rubric outlining the correct steps and techniques of each skill. Students were asked to follow instructions and complete given skill task whilst being supervised and assessed. Probing questions were asked during the assessment to attain better understanding of student’s grasp of the theory linked to a particular laboratory skill. Upon correct completion of a skill student was rewarded with a ‘skills badge’.
Students were also asked to comment and provide feedback with regard to the perceptions of fairness, learning performance, their engagement and on any implementation challenges.