Choose-Your-Own-Adventure: An Online Scenario-Based Learning Approach to Enhance Students’ Laboratory Competencies and Motivation

Videos are a common alternative to in-person laboratory experiments. However, these videos are mostly not interactive, making learners passive observers. Through a choose-your-own-adventure (CYOA) activity, scenario-based learning can engage learners in asynchronous learning and develop their decision-making skills. Decisions regarding apparatus selection, sample preparation, measurement techniques, and safety considerations significantly impact experimental outcomes. Decision-making skills are vital for students engaging in chemistry laboratory experiments. Engaging in decision-making processes helps students develop competence in understanding experimental variables, their interdependencies, and the underlying scientific principles. Moreover, it encourages students to critically evaluate the relevance and reliability of different approaches, fostering a scientific mindset characterized by skepticism and intellectual curiosity. In this CYOA activity, students can influence the outcome of pre-recorded experiments by selecting which path to take through a set of videos. Results showed that students who completed the CYOA activity demonstrated greater competence in their laboratory techniques. Students’ feedback was generally positive, and they felt that the CYOA activity helped with their learning. This suggests that the CYOA activity helps students enhance their decision-making skills by providing repeated opportunities for practice and reflection on their choices, supported by timely expert feedback, and offering another possible tool for educators keen to develop students’ decision-making processes. Despite the positive results, CYOA is an excellent complement but cannot fully substitute for in-person laboratory lessons.