Abstract:

The concept of "thought experiment" is to imagine the complete experimental process, possible phenomena and corresponding operations before the experiment. We use this concept to design the teaching activities of organic chemistry laboratory by combining the theoretical knowledge and basic laboratory skills the students have learned. The "thought experiment" making is embedded into the learning process of basic research abilities such as the use of ChemDraw software, PPT production, professional literature retrieval and summary, reading and expression. This paper introduces our explorations in detail on how to use "thought experiment" to cultivate students' scientific literacy in teaching of organic chemistry laboratory.

Key words: Organic chemistry laboratory, Scientific literacy, Thought experiment, Research ability