From Cookbook to Collaborative: Transforming a University Biology Laboratory Course

Herron, Sherry S.

doi:10.1662/005.071.0909

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…In an authentic learning environment the teacher takes one a background role, more like a mentor than a leader issuing directives to control the flow of the activity. Working in small groups and engaging in discussions is encouraged [15,16], and teachers acknowledge that such in-and inter-group discussion may elevate the level of noise in the classroom. Once the teacher steps back from controlling the experimental proceedings, the process flow of the activity is no longer under the complete control of the teacher.…”

Section: Authentic Teaching and Learning In Science Laboratory Classesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Authentic Student Laboratory Classes in Science Education

Schulte¹

2018

Preprint

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The traditional hands-on nature in science laboratory classes creates a sense of immediacy and presence of authenticity in such learning experiences. The handling of physical objects in a laboratory class and the immediate responses provided by the experiments are certainly real-live observations, yet may be far from instilling an authentic learning experience in students. This paper explores the presence of authenticity in hands-on laboratory classes in introductory science laboratories. With our own laboratory program as backdrop we introduce four general types of hands-on laboratory experiences and assign degrees of authenticity according the processes and student engagement associated with them. In that course, we present a newly developed type of hands-on experiment which takes a somewhat different view of the concept of hands-on in a laboratory class. A proxemics-based study of teacher-student interactions in the hands-on laboratory classes presents us with some insights into the design of the different types of laboratory classes and the pedagogical presumptions we made. A step-by-step guide on how to embed industry engagement in the curriculum and the design of an authentic laboratory program is presented to highlight some minimum requirement for the sustainability of such program and pitfalls to avoid.

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Section: Authentic Teaching and Learning In Science Laboratory Classesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Authentic Student Laboratory Classes in Science Education

Schulte¹

2018

Preprint

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“…The experimental design was an enormous challenge because their only prior experience with science had primarily been following "cookbook labs". These very prescriptive labs teach basic skills, such as using scientific equipment, measuring, observing, inferring, etc., but they rarely support inductive reasoning, inquiry or the authentic nature of science [19].…”

Section: Science Processing Skills Courseworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Putting Theory into Practice: An Examination of Preservice Teachers’ Beliefs about Teaching Science

Walker¹,

Spencer²,

Claiborne-Payton³

et al. 2017

IJCDSE

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Given the widening achievement gap for minorities in science, there is a critical need to increase the numbers of highly qualified teachers from underrepresented groups to nurture the nation's diverse populations. Therefore, Virginia State University's College of Education designed field-based experiences incorporating applied knowledge, practices, and hands-on learning by exposing preservice teachers to the application of science concepts. To measure preservice teacher self-efficacy, the Teaching Science as Inquiry instrument was administered at the beginning and end of the semester in which preservice teachers participated in field-based experiences. Significant results were found in areas relating to the constructs of personal self-efficacy (creating explanations from data, construct explanations from observations, and confidence in their skills to obtain scientific evidence) and outcome expectancy (defend newly acquired knowledge, make results of investigations public, and creating investigations for students). Significant improvement in some self-ratings suggests preservice teachers were successful in incorporating applied knowledge and hands-on learning experiences. The study's broader impact is that minority elementary preservice teachers, who are likely to teach minority children, are better prepared to face the challenges of teaching science. Ultimately, this will contribute to the "grade school to grad school" pipeline to increase the number of minority students who pursue science careers.

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“…Research suggests that learners benefit from experiencing the handson activities in the laboratory and that these activities are vital for their development as independent learners and as future professionals (Cherif, Siuda, & Movahedzadeh, 2013;Hofstein & Lunetta, 2004;Matz, Rothman, Krajcik, & Banaszak Holl, 2012). In recent years, there has been much discussion about the role of the science laboratory in higher education and whether the traditional step-by-step nature of laboratory activities promote the skills fundamental to research science (Alozie, Grueber, & Dereski, 2012;Gormally, Brickman, Hallar, & Armstrong, 2011;Herron, 2009;Wood, 2009). Many traditional laboratories or cookbook style laboratories have students follow step-by-step instructions and result in a known conclusion, with limited opportunity for students to ask scientifically-orientated questions and develop higher order thinking skills (Lord & Orkwiszewski, 2006).…”

Section: What Are Laboratories and Why Do We Need Them?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Inquiry has been described as a teaching method which combines student-centred, hands-on activities with discovery (Uno, 1990). Importantly, the educator acts as a facilitator of the learning activity, promoting student discussion and providing guidance rather than directing the activity (Herron, 2009;Uno, 1990;Wood, 2009). Inquiry-based learning fosters the development of independent learners, by encouraging students to take responsibility for their own learning.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inquiry-based learning to improve student engagement in a large first year topic

Smallhorn

Young

Hunter

et al. 2015

SUCCESS

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Increasing the opportunity for students to be involved in inquiry-based activities can improve engagement with content and assist in the development of analysis and critical thinking skills. The science laboratory has traditionally been used as a platform to apply the content gained through the lecture series. These activities have exposed students to experiments which test the concepts taught but which often result in a predicted outcome. To improve the engagement and learning outcomes of our large first year biology cohort, the laboratories were redeveloped. Superlabs were run with 100 students attending weekly sessions increasing the amount of contact time from previous years. Laboratories were redeveloped into guided-inquiry and educators facilitated teams of students to design and carry out an experiment. To analyse the impact of the redevelopment on student satisfaction and learning outcomes, students were surveyed and multiple choice exam data was compared before and after the redevelopment. Results suggest high levels of student satisfaction and a significant improvement in student learning outcomes. All disciplines should consider including inquiry-based activities as a methodology to improve student engagement and learning outcome as it fosters the development of independent learners.

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From Cookbook to Collaborative: Transforming a University Biology Laboratory Course

Cited by 10 publications

References 0 publications

Authentic Student Laboratory Classes in Science Education

Authentic Student Laboratory Classes in Science Education

Putting Theory into Practice: An Examination of Preservice Teachers’ Beliefs about Teaching Science

Inquiry-based learning to improve student engagement in a large first year topic

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