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Figure 9.
The structure of the IBL-LCA concept
Depending on the teacher, the group of students and the chosen product, the intervention lasts 
approximately 10–15 hours over a period of 2–3 weeks. The content of the work is up to the 
students themselves, which means they learn to take responsibility for their own learning. 
Throughout the project, the role of the teacher is that of a facilitator, supporting the students 
with ideas whenever they need help or encouragement. The teacher’s formative assessment 
focuses more on the students’ inquiry, their research process and the LCA related discussion 
than on their command of factual chemistry knowledge. 
5.2. Effects of the design solution – Student perspectives 
The qualitative results about the students’ self-reported effects after the IBl-LCA project are 
illustrated in Figure 10. The more detailed results are in 
Article II.
The students extensively expressed the importance of environmental protection or recycling 
after the intervention. Many of them reflected positively on the development of their life-
cycle thinking skills (48%) and consumer behaviour (33%). The majority of them (78%) 
thought that the most important outcome for them was new scientific ideas and realisations 
about the world. Majority of them (63%) did think that this type of project could influence 
other young peoples’ behaviour. In the interviews conducted prior to the intervention, the 
students did not mention any aspects of environmental literacy. However, in the results of the 
quantitative survey, no significant (p<0.01) differences in the students’ environmental 
attitudes or behaviour were observed. Furthermore, almost half of the students (44%) did not 
think that the project had affected their own environmental behaviour.
The students’ attitudes towards studying chemistry developed in a positive direction as a 
result of the project. They reflected on the inquiry-based life-cycle thinking project in a very 
positive way. In the interviews conducted after the intervention, every single student reflected 
on the usefulness of studying chemistry by expressing how they learned beneficial chemistry-
related things. More than a third of them (41%) mentioned chemistry literacy as being 
important to them as part of general knowledge. The chemistry content the students said that 

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they had learned varied from information received from chemical presentations to the 
substances used in various products. Many of the students mentioned improvement in their 
communicative abilities (50%), independent working skills (34%) and co-operative skills 
(14%). The study methods used in the project appealed to both girls and boys. 
Figure 10.
The qualitative results about the students’ self-reported effects after the IBl-LCA 
project. The data included either written or oral discussion about students improved abilities, 
benefits of the project or their feelings. The results are based on questionnaires and interviews 
explained in more detail in