Conducting a Home Experiment Related to the Colligative Properties of Chemical Solutions

The experimental part of teaching chemistry in a series of laboratory activities complements the fundamental learning of the various topics covered in a chemistry course. However, alternatives are necessary when situations arise where it is impossible to have a chemistry laboratory. Conducting home experiments can be of great help in teaching various chemistry topics, as they can be used in tasks, research scenarios, and alternative laboratory practices. They can be applied to different levels of teaching depending on their orientation and the contents they address. In the absence of a laboratory to conduct chemistry practice experiments due to Covid-19 faculty and student confinements at home, we developed feasible practices to do at home with ordinary homemade materials that were not risky or dangerous. We selected solutions with desired colligative properties. Thirty engineering students taking two university chemistry laboratory classes participated, coming from programs in the chemical area such as chemical engineering and biotechnology engineering, among others. The teaching-learning process was conducted remotely via Zoom. The students appreciated the in-home practices. Motivated to understand the topics, they performed well on the exams and the laboratory reports and issued high opinions of the classes in the student survey.