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Results for “inquiry-based learning”

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PubMedDate not supplied

Supported inquiry science: teaching for conceptual change in urban and suburban science classrooms.

Science education professionals generally agree that hands-on, inquiry-based science potentially benefits all students, yet there are few specific guidelines for helping students with learning disabilities (LD) achieve success in general education science classrooms. This study compared the effects of two approaches to hands-on science--supported inquiry science (SIS) and activity-based science--in six urban and two suburban fourth-grade general education classrooms. Participants included 172 students, 33 of whom had learning disabilities. The study found that students with and without LD demonstrated greater concept learning in the SIS classrooms, which focused on eliciting and reworking students' misconceptions and co-constructing knowledge under the guidance of a teacher-coach.

Achievement↗

PubMed1996

A successful university-school-district partnership to help San Francisco's K-12 students learn about science and medicine.

The Science and Health Education Partnership (SEP) is a program at the University of California, San Francisco, established in 1987 to support the San Francisco School District ("the District") in its efforts to improve science education in grades K-12. A large cadre of active biomedical scientists and health professionals and a core program staff provide support to 90-95% of the District's schools. The District's students are from a variety of racial and ethnic groups, including a large percentage from underrepresented minorities (URMs). The SEP program has numerous components, some designed to help teachers (e.g., a clinician or scientist forms an ongoing partnership with a teacher to enrich classroom instruction) and some involving direct work with students (e.g., a contest where teams of students design and present lessons on science or health to their peers; activities related specifically to the encouragement of URM students). The SEP's perspective has evolved from an emphasis on assisting individual teachers and students to one of supporting systemic change throughout the District (e.g., supporting full implementation of hands-on, inquiry-based science instruction throughout the District via professional development). During this evolution, the kinds of issues facing program staff have changed and a great deal has been learned about fostering successful partnership activities. For example, (1) having a coordinator is crucial to make such a program work well; (2) it is easier to find start-up funding than to find continuing funding for ongoing activities that are working; and (3) it is important to work with the volunteering scientists and the teachers to help them understand what each has to offer the partnership and to encourage explicit dialogue about roles and expectations. The author concludes with advice for starting a new partnership: think big but start small, and work toward a long-term association based on communication and trust.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Using literature and innovative assessments to ignite interest and cultivate critical thinking skills in an undergraduate neuroscience course.

Science education reform initiatives emphasize 1) the value of concepts over facts; 2) the benefits of open-ended, inquiry-based problem-solving rather than protocols leading to a single correct answer; and 3) the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to teaching that is not confined by departmental boundaries. Neuroscientists should be at the forefront of this movement by the very nature of the discipline we study. Neuroscience is a relatively new field that integrates diverse subjects (anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, molecular biology, computer science, and psychology) and experimental advances are constantly changing and expanding our understanding of brain function. How can we convey this excitement in the classroom? The project described in this article uses nonscientific literature to introduce a scientific topic of study. In addition, the multitask assignment requires the acquisition of content knowledge and the development of critical thinking skills. As students explore the topic from multiple perspectives, they recognize the interconnectedness of science and society and confront ethical and moral issues related to science. A comparison of exam scores, essay responses, engagement level, as well as students' own reflections, demonstrates that inclusion of the project does not sacrifice content knowledge, rather it enhances the overall learning process.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Using a course-long theme for inquiry-based laboratories in a comparative physiology course.

I developed an inquiry-based laboratory model that uses a central theme throughout the semester to develop in undergraduate biology majors the skills required for conducting science while introducing them to modern and classical physiological techniques. The physiology laboratory uses a goal-oriented approach, with students working cooperatively in small groups to answer basic biological questions. The student teams work to develop skills associated with experimental design, data analysis, written and oral communication, science literacy, and critical thinking. The laboratory curriculum is a research-based model that offers the advantage of students asking open-ended questions by use of a variety of techniques. For the students and instructor alike, this presents an exciting and challenging approach for learning physiology and basic biological principles. Another advantage of this laboratory model is that it is flexible and adaptable; the central theme can be any that the instructor chooses, and the goals and techniques developed are based on student and instructor needs and interests. Students who have completed this model at Loyola College in Maryland have become equipped with the skills essential for any area of the biological sciences and, most importantly, showed elevated excitement and commitment to learning.

Cooperative Behavior↗

PubMed2005

An inquiry into protein structure and genetic disease: introducing undergraduates to bioinformatics in a large introductory course.

This inquiry-based lab is designed around genetic diseases with a focus on protein structure and function. To allow students to work on their own investigatory projects, 10 projects on 10 different proteins were developed. Students are grouped in sections of 20 and work in pairs on each of the projects. To begin their investigation, students are given a cDNA sequence that translates into a human protein with a single mutation. Each case results in a genetic disease that has been studied and recorded in the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) database. Students use bioinformatics tools to investigate their proteins and form a hypothesis for the effect of the mutation on protein function. They are also asked to predict the impact of the mutation on human physiology and present their findings in the form of an oral report. Over five laboratory sessions, students use tools on the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Web site (BLAST, LocusLink, OMIM, GenBank, and PubMed) as well as ExPasy, Protein Data Bank, ClustalW, the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database, and the structure-viewing program DeepView. Assessment results showed that students gained an understanding of the Web-based databases and tools and enjoyed the investigatory nature of the lab.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2005

How effective are simulated molecular-level experiments for teaching diffusion and osmosis?

Diffusion and osmosis are central concepts in biology, both at the cellular and organ levels. They are presented several times throughout most introductory biology textbooks (e.g., Freeman, 2002), yet both processes are often difficult for students to understand (Odom, 1995; Zuckerman, 1994; Sanger et al., 2001; and results herein). Students have deep-rooted misconceptions about how diffusion and osmosis work, especially at the molecular level. We hypothesized that this might be in part due to the inability to see and explore these processes at the molecular level. In order to investigate this, we developed new software, OsmoBeaker, which allows students to perform inquiry-based experiments at the molecular level. Here we show that these simulated laboratories do indeed teach diffusion and osmosis and help overcome some, but not all, student misconceptions.

Biology↗

PubMed2006

Can random mutation mimic design?: a guided inquiry laboratory for undergraduate students.

Complex biological structures, such as the human eye, have been interpreted as evidence for a creator for over three centuries. This raises the question of whether random mutation can create such adaptations. In this article, we present an inquiry-based laboratory experiment that explores this question using paper airplanes as a model organism. The main task for students in this investigation is to figure out how to simulate paper airplane evolution (including reproduction, inheritance, mutation, and selection). In addition, the lab requires students to practice analytic thinking and to carefully delineate the implications of their results.

Biology↗