"Where’s the Lab?: American Students Miss Out on Hands-On Science"

This article by Cynthia Washam is provided by the American Chemical Society. The summary is:

Budget constraints, an emphasis on test scores, and incomplete teacher training have combined to minimize student exposure to hands-on laboratory experience, begging the question: How well can students learn science without labs?

Washam points out that while inquiry based learning has been the gold standard of chemistry education (and indeed science education) it is not widely practiced.

If U.S. schools and teachers find it hard to use best practices in chemistry education, think how much harder it must be to do so in developing nations. The microchemistry labs that UNESCO is disseminating worldwide, and virtual labs if good courseware can be developed may help the situation.