Teaching students how to conduct authentic scientific inquiry is an essential aspect of recent science education reform efforts. Our National Science Foundation-funded GK-12 program paired science graduate students--fellows--with secondary science teachers in order to enhance inquiry-based instruction. This research examined the roles of the…

For teachers, a common difficulty when introducing scientific thinking is finding ways to engage the participation of the students. Because most scientific problems require at least some specialized knowledge to formulate and solve, it can be hard to go beyond merely discussing the steps of the scientific method and illustrating them with the…

Planning effective, engaging lessons and units are challenging tasks for a teacher, but the process can also be meaningful and rewarding. Using a "big understanding"--a guiding statement describing essential content you want students to learn throughout the unit--teachers can successfully plan and create lessons around substantive science content…

In an attempt to establish the role of the laboratory in chemistry instruction, an historical perspective is developed, in the hope of extracting the consensus of commentators on the subject concerning the important features of the laboratory experience. We present arguments to support the idea that laboratory instruction involves student…

The Oregon 4-H Wildlife Stewards program has been training teachers and volunteers to convert school grounds to education sites by constructing schoolyard wildlife habitats since 1997. The publication "What Can We Learn at the Pond? 4-H Wildlife Stewards Master Leader Guide" (Bourdeau 2004a) was written to support the program's focus on developing…

Teachers know that real mathematical understanding includes the higher-level skills of comparing, contrasting, and making connections among different computational approaches. What mathematical connections can students make when asked to explore a task that is posed in three different ways? This article describes a unique task structure that helps…

To help teachers enrich their students' understanding of inquiry in Earth science, this article describes six modes of inquiry used by practicing geoscientists (Earth scientists). Each mode of inquiry is illustrated by using examples of seminal or pioneering research and provides pointers to investigations that enable students to experience these…

This experiment targets undergraduate students in an analytical or organic instructional context. Using a simple extraction, this protocol allows students to quantify and qualify monoterpenes in essential oils from citrus fruit peels. The procedures involve cooling down the peels by immersing them into icy water. After a few minutes, the chilled…

We identify three aspects of scientific thinking beyond the control-of-variables strategy that we claim are essential for students to master as a foundation for skilled scientific thinking. The first is strategic and involves the ability to coordinate effects of multiple causal influences on an outcome. The second is a mature understanding of the…

In this problem-based learning activity designed for nonscience majors, students assume the roles of scientists working for a public relations firm. Teams of students design communication products illustrating links between climate change and pollen allergies. Students develop a variety of process skills critical to scientists, including working…

A central theme of the "National Science Education Standards" is teaching science as an inquiry process, allowing students to explore an authentic problem using the tools and skills of the discipline. Research indicates that more active participation by the student, which usually requires higher-order thinking skills, results in deeper learning.…

This study explored the effectiveness of an inquiry-based cellulase laboratory unit in promoting inquiry in undergraduate students in biotechnology. The following tools were used to assess the students' achievements and attitude: conceptual understanding test, concept mapping, students' documents, CLES questionnaire, students' self reflection, and…

The old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words also holds true in cell biology. Much of the knowledge that we have of the structures and functions of cells has been acquired by biologists peering through the eyepieces of microscopes. The point of this lesson is to provide an opportunity for students to observe cell biological data while…

Microarrays are revolutionizing genetics by making it possible to genotype hundreds of thousands of DNA markers and to assess the expression (RNA transcripts) of all of the genes in the genome. Microarrays are slides the size of a postage stamp that contain millions of DNA sequences to which single-stranded DNA or RNA can hybridize. This…

This article reports on new studies that shed light on whether getting students into the lab earlier makes a difference. The belief that undergraduate research attracts students to careers in science--and makes them better candidates for such work--has gained almost universal acceptance in academe. But until recently, few researchers have studied…