Selecting an inquiry experience

Blog Post | February 2011

Click here for the Table of Contents Teachers often use words interchangeably when referring to science activities: labs, investigations, experiments, projects, inquiry. In this year’s Science and Children, the…

Always a learning experience

Blog Post | March 2008

Unfortunately, with hundreds of sessions at a conference this size, not all are going to be terrific. I was at a clunker this morning. The presenter (who shall remain nameless) was not very prepared and really didn…

Classic Experiments in Molecular Biology

Case Study | April 2012

Research and Teaching: The Roles of Mentoring and Motivation in Student Teaching Assistant Interactions and in Improving Experience in First-Year Biology Laboratory Classes

Journal Article | February 2015

The authors investigated the impact of changing student–TA relations to include a sense of mentoring by redesigning TA allocations so that students worked with the same TA throughout the semester, but without changing…

A Mentoring Program with Hands-on Laboratory Experiments: Bridging the Needs of Elementary School Students and Women Undergraduates in a Science Community Program

Journal Article | August 1999

This article describes a program in which middle-school girls are paired with women undergraduate science majors to carry out hands-on laboratory experiments that relate everyday life. The goal of this science mentoring…

Improving Science Education for Future Teachers: A Biology Lab Experience With a Teaching Component—Assumption College’s Science Programs for Education Majors

Journal Article | January 1999

Faculty from Worchester's Assumption College education and natural sciences departments developed a science/education initiative to enhance the science preparation of future elementary teachers. The program included a…

Student-Designed Experiments in Scientific Lab Instruction: Students at the University of Puerto Rico Go back to the Basics to Learn Chemistry Concepts

Journal Article | October 1997

Student-designed experiments emphasize depth of understanding. Revisiting "known" concepts like heat, temperature, uncertainty in measurements, mass, and volume, helps students deepen their understanding. Having to…

Undergraduate Biology Lab Courses: Comparing the Impact of Traditionally Based "Cookbook" and Authentic Research-Based Courses on Student Lab Experiences

Journal Article | February 2012

This study compares a cookbook-type laboratory course to a research-based undergraduate biology laboratory course at a Research 1 institution. The results indicate that students in the research-based lab had more…