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Science Teaching Reconsidered: A Handbook (1997)
Board on Science Education (BOSE)

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. "Chapter 2: How Teachers Teach: Specific Methods." Science Teaching Reconsidered: A Handbook. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 1997.

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laboratory program, it is important to think about its goals. Here are a number of possibilities:

  • Develop intuition and deepen understanding of concepts.

  • Apply concepts learned in class to new situations.

  • Experience basic phenomena.

  • Develop critical, quantitative thinking.

  • Develop experimental and data analysis skills.

  • Learn to use scientific apparatus.

  • Learn to estimate statistical errors and recognize systematic errors.

  • Develop reporting skills (written and oral).

  • Practice collaborative problem solving.

  • Exercise curiosity and creativity by designing a procedure to test a hypothesis.

  • Better appreciate the role of experimentation in science.

  • Test important laws and rules.

Developing an effective laboratory requires appropriate space and equipment and extraordinary effort from the department's most creative teachers. Still, those who have invested in innovative introductory laboratory programs report very encouraging results: better understanding of the material, much more positive student attitudes toward the lab, and more faculty participation in the lab (Wilson, 1994).

Many science departments have implemented innovative laboratory programs in their introductory courses. We encourage you to consult the organizations and publications listed in the Appendices. Education sessions at professional society meetings are another opportunity to get good ideas for labs in your discipline. Some faculty members have given up lecturing and large

Animal Behavior Laboratory at Princeton University

Professor: James L. Gould

Enrollment: approximately 50 students in 3 sections

A major goal of this course is to teach students how to do science: collect initial observations, formulate testable hypotheses, perform tests, refine or overhaul the original hypothesis, devise a new test, and so on. Each lab is two weeks long, with the equipment and animals available for the entire time. All of the materials that students could plausibly need are stored on shelves for easy and immediate access. In the first hour, we discuss the lab and possible hypotheses, and look over the materials at hand. Each group then formulates an initial plan, obtains approval for their plan, and conducts the experiment.

The most flexible labs utilize computer-controlled stimuli. In one lab, students are asked to determine to what features of prey a toad responds. Although they begin with live crickets and worms, they are encouraged to use a computer library of "virtual" crickets and toads. Students are given instructions for making new prey models, or modifying existing ones, to test the toad's response to different features. The library includes variations of shape, motion, color, three-dimensionality, size, and so on, plus a variety of cricket chirps and other calls. In general, students quickly discover that virtual crickets work almost as well as real ones-better in that they provide more data since the toad never fills up! A simple statistical program on the computers helps minimize the drudgery of data analysis, enabling the students to concentrate on experimental design and results rather than tedious computations.

A number of other labs in the course make use of computer-generated and modified stimuli. Labs using this strategy deal with mate recognition in crickets and fish, competitor recognition in fish, predator recognition in chicks and fish, imprinting in ducklings, color change in lizards, and hemispheric dominance in humans.
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