Despite numerous calls for science education to be driven by authentic investigation, many laboratory experiences continue to consist of disconnected weekly units during which students carry out instructions that lead to some predetermined finding. This study developed and evaluated a pedagogical design for introductory biology labs where students…

Inquiry-driven lab exercises require students to think carefully about a question, carry out an investigation of that question, and critically analyze the results of their investigation. Here, we describe the implementation and assessment of an inquiry-based laboratory exercise in which students obtain and analyze novel data that contribute to our…