Guided-inquiry lab activities with bean beetles ("Callosobruchus maculatus") teach students how to develop hypotheses, design experiments, identify experimental variables, collect and interpret data, and formulate conclusions. These activities provide students with real hands-on experiences and skills that reinforce their understanding of the…

The purpose of this study was to assess some of the effects of a nontraditional, experimental learning approach designed to improve rapid acquisition and long-term retention of quantitative communication skills (QCS) such as descriptive and inferential statistics, hypothesis formulation, experimental design, data characteristics, and data…

A course design for first-year science students is described, where the focus is on the skills necessary to do science. The course uses original research projects, designed by the students, to teach a variety of skills including reading the scientific literature, hypothesis development and testing, experimental design, data analysis and…

In this article we describe a multi-week investigative laboratory in microbial ecology/diversity and nitrogen cycling that we have used in our introductory biology course. This module encourages active student involvement in experimental design, using the scientific literature and quantitative analysis of large data sets. Students analyze soil…

This article presents an activity for early-in-the-year parents' night. The beginning of a new school year is an exciting time. The authors, as teachers, like to capture that excitement by engaging their 10th-grade biology students in an inquiry project demonstrating the nature of science and scientific inquiry. They developed the Next Step…

Undergraduate biology programs are currently undergoing reform to involve students in biomedical research. Engaging students in more active, hands-on experiments allows students to discover scientific principles for themselves, and to develop techniques of critical thinking and problem solving. This models the world of real scientific research,…

Presented are the results of an analysis of the cognitive stages of tenth-grade pupils using a six-week unit on the respiratory system. The research design, instruments, and data analysis are discussed. A variety of cognitive levels was found and may be related to learning outcomes. (CW)

An experiment accompanied by a series of writing exercises that engage students in activities that characterize scientific research is described. The exercise emphasizes experimental design and data analysis over technical manipulation. Possible issues for discussion and opportunities for collaboration and peer review are discussed. (KR)

The teacher's guide of "Assessing Toxic Risk" aims to help students conduct scientific research on relevant environmental topics. Using the research protocols in this book, students learn to carry out experiments known as bioassays. In this way, the toxicity of substances is evaluated by measuring its effect on living things. The text is…

Although numerous programs have been developed for Grade Kindergarten through 12 science education, evaluation has been difficult owing to the inherent problems conducting controlled experiments in the typical classroom. Using a rigorous experimental design, we developed and tested a novel program containing a series of pharmacology modules (e.g.,…