Laboratory assessment in chemistry: an analysis of the adequacy of the assessment process

The requirement that universities prepare students in practical competences, and assess the extent to which pre-established objectives are achieved, is generally accepted to be of growing importance. As a result, on one hand, there is an increasing volume of research related to task performance in assessment. On the other hand, there are comparatively few studies which analyse the assessment process in a laboratory context. The laboratory offers itself as an educational and training tool of some importance, both in chemistry and in the experimental sciences in general. Studies which have been carried out to date into the importance of laboratory work as a source of value added have, however, been far from conclusive. This research uses interviews with laboratory teachers to analyse the typology of the competences which enter the assessment process, and to determine the extent to which the laboratory assessment process complies with standard validity requirements. Results obtained show that laboratory assessment in chemistry allows for a valuation of the degree of integration of theory and practice, and of the level of development of professional competence in the laboratory. Current assessment strategies do not, however, include all the competences developed in the laboratory context, nor are they sufficiently reliable to offer accreditation of those that are assessed.