Reforming the Course “Chemistry Laboratory Teaching Methods for Secondary Education” Using an Outcome-Based Education Approach

Abstract

In preservice chemistry teacher training courses at teacher education institutions worldwide, there exist common challenges such as misalignment between course content and secondary school curriculum standards, inflexible instructional models, and inadequate practical competencies. Guided by the principles of Outcome-Based Education (OBE), we proposed a four-dimensional reform framework encompassing Objectives, Content, Models, and Evaluation (OCME), and implemented this framework in Chemistry Laboratory Teaching Methods for Secondary Education─a core course for the chemistry education major at Northwest Normal University. A mixed-method design integrating questionnaire surveys, longitudinal teaching practice tracking, and paired-samples t-test analysis was adopted to evaluate the effectiveness of the reform. Results demonstrated that the OBE-based teaching reform significantly improved preservice teachers’ teaching practice skills (mean score increased by 0.32, p < 0.001), learning engagement (mean score increased by 0.23, p < 0.001), and innovative thinking (mean score increased by 0.28, p < 0.001). Student’ satisfaction with the reformed course reached 90.9%. Collectively, this OBE-based OCME reform framework effectively enhances preservice chemistry teachers’ laboratory instructional performances, and exhibits strong adaptability, thus providing a generalizable model for teacher education institutions worldwide.