Developing a skills-based practical chemistry programme: an integrated, spiral curriculum approach

Teaching practical laboratory skills is a key component of preparing undergraduate students for future careers in chemistry and elsewhere. In this paper, we present our new strategy to teach practical skills to undergraduate chemistry students. We report a Skills Inventory, a list of the suggested practical skills a graduate chemist should possess; this list was compiled by chemists across the UK. In our new practical course we begin by decoupling the practical skill from the theoretical background, compelling students to first master the basic processes needed to carry out a specific technique. In what we have termed a 'spiral curriculum' approach, skills are revisited on multiple occasions, with increasing complexity and greater emphasis on underlying theory. The new course makes links across traditional subdisciplines of chemistry to avoid compartmentalisation of ideas.