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Resource Detail: Journal Article

Resource Image Rethinking Laboratories: Tools for converting cookbook labs into inquiry

By: Mark J. Volkmann and Sandra K. Abell
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Details

Type of Resource: Journal Article
Average Rating: Rating
 based on 1 - 4 / 4 review
Publication Title: The Science Teacher
Publication Date: 9/1/2003
Volume and Issue: Vol 070 Issue 06
Pages: 4
Grade Level: Middle School, High School

Description

An inquiry analysis tool and adaptation principles help teachers evaluate and adapt laboratories to be more inquiry-oriented.

Ideas For Use

This example of a typical cookbook lab, the "rusty nail,” helps teachers evaluate and adapt lab instructional materials to be more inquiry-oriented.

Discussions

Incorporating Inquiry into the Physical Sciences (Chemistry/Earth/Physics)
Posted in Chemistry by Pamela Auburn on Mon May 13, 2013 4:30 PM

Ryan The attached article, rethinking labs is a great place to start. It will give how to instructions and criteria t...
Guided Inquiry Labs for Chemistry
Posted in Chemistry by Arlene Jurewicz Leighton on Wed Apr 24, 2013 11:43 AM

Hi Melissa, There is a NSTA Journal article which might help with this........ [b]Rethinking Laboratories: Tools f...

Additional Info

Science Discipline: (mouse over for full classification)
Analyzing data
Asking questions
Collecting data
Communicating
Experimenting
Interpreting data
Observing
Scientific habits of mind
Intended User Role:College/University Professor (preservice science education), Curriculum Supervisor, High-School Educator, Middle-Level Educator, Teacher
Educational Issues:Assessment of students, Classroom management, Curriculum, Educational research, Inquiry learning, Instructional materials, Professional development, Teacher preparation, Teaching strategies

Technical

Resource Format:application/pdf
Size:735 KB
Requirements:Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader


National Standards Correlation

This resource has 15 correlations with the National Standards.  
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This resource has 15 correlations with the National Standards.  
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  • Science as Inquiry
    • Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
      • Design and conduct a scientific investigation.
      • Use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data.
      • Think critically and logically to make the relationships between evidence and explanations.
      • Communicate scientific procedures and explanations.
      • Identify questions and concepts that guide scientific investigations. (9-12)
      • Formulate and revise scientific explanations and models using logic and evidence. (9-12)
    • Understandings about scientific inquiry
      • Types of investigations include describing objects, events, and organisms; classifying them; and doing a fair test (experimenting).
      • Scientists develop explanations using observations (evidence) and what they already know about the world (scientific knowledge). Good explanations are based on evidence from investigations. (K-4)
  • Process Standards for Professional Development
    • Learning
      • Build on the teacher's current science understanding, ability, and attitudes. (NSES)
      • Incorporate ongoing reflection on the process and outcomes of understanding science through inquiry. (NSES)
  • Teaching Standards
    • Teachers of science plan an inquiry-based science program for their students.
      • Select teaching and assessment strategies that support the development of student understanding and nurture a community of science learners.
    • Teachers of science guide and facilitate learning. In doing this, teachers
      • Encourage and model the skills of scientific inquiry, as well as the curiosity, openness to new ideas and data, and skepticism that characterize science.
      • Challenge students to accept and share responsibility for their own learning.
    • Teachers provide students with the time, space, and resources needed to learn science.
      • Create a setting for student work that is flexible and supportive of science inquiry.
      • Engage students in designing the learning environment.

User Reviews

Transform cookbook labs to inquiry
  Jennifer Rahn (Delafield, WI) on April 27, 2011
  In a change of course from cookbook laboratory exercises to an inquiry approach that engages students, the authors focus on adaptation principles that focus on questions, evidence, explanation, and communication. The students are challenged to use their own ideas to come up with ideas and explanations, design experimental procedures of their own, and observe, analyze, and communicate their results. Repeating the process encourages an even deeper understanding. This article focuses on a cookbook lab investigating the rusting of a nail; the approach could be applied to any number of traditional lab exercises.