I. The Marshmallow Challenge
II. Processing the Activity III. Wrap-Up William Harwood, associate professor of science education at Indiana University, 201 North Rose Avenue, ED 3068, Bloomington, IN 47405; e-mail: [email protected].
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Inquiry Lab TipsTeachers’ complaints about doing inquiry labs:
1) They take up too much time. 2) The students are totally confused and frustrated. 3) They take a lot of teacher preparation time. * Make sure you increase student responsibility and independence gradually. Start out small, with manageable steps. Never give kids more than you are sure they can handle. In this manner, their confidence increases until they are handling the entire process themselves. * To cut teacher prep and checking time, put students in groups of 3 or 4; require only one lab report per group; limit choices of questions to be investigated. * Have each group turn in their proposed procedure ahead of the time they will be doing the lab. Then use baskets, shoeboxes, etc to hold everything they will need for their lab. Code these to match a code you put on their procedure paper. Write any safety precautions on their paper as well. * Make a specific grading rubric to spell out what you want included in the group lab report. Especially early in the year, when the process of doing inquiry is the main goal of the lab activity, reward at least 80% of the grade for simply going through the process and having all parts of the lab report in place. Success brings confidence! |