An Investigation into the Use of Microchemistry Experiments in First-year University-level Practicals

In the case study reported on in this article the desirability to convert first-year university-level practicals in chemistry from conventional techniques to microscale methods was investigated. The results indicated that microscale experiments did not result in a noticeable saving in time and gave results that compare favourably with those of the conventional experiments. The most positive aspect of microscale experiments is a long-term financial one. A few negative aspects of microscale experiments were identified in the study. In hierdie bydrae word 'n gevallestudie gerapporteer oor die wenslikheid om eerstevlak universiteitschemie-prakties van konvensionele tegnieke na mikroskaaltegnieke om te skakel. Die resultate toon dat die mikroskaaleksperimente nie noemenswaardig tydsbesparend is nie en resultate lewer wat goed vergelyk met di? van konvensionele eksperimente. Die mees positiewe aspek van mikroskaaleksperimente is finansi?le besparing op die lang termyn. Enkele negatiewe aspekte van mikroskaaleksperimente is in die ondersoek ge?dentifiseer. Keywords: Microscale, Practicals, Chemicals, Microchemistry, First-level South African Journal of Chemistry Vol.57 2004: 19-23