From Cookbook To Guidebook: Turning Demo Exercises Into Active Inquiries

 

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2018, Volume 39

A. Daniel (Dan) Johnson

Abstract

Active inquiry labs produce deeper, longer lasting learning for more students, but present design challenges. Unlike active lecture models, there are no published general design guidelines for active labs. Also, many STEM faculty do not have any direct personal experiences to guide their efforts. This workshop presented a "7 steps" general design model that has been used for over 10 years to create scalable active learning labs that serve more than 200 students per semester in multiple course sections. In Part 1 of the workshop, participants identified the primary barriers to development and implementation of active inquiry labs from the perspective of faculty and staff who implement and manage such projects. In Part 2, participants deconstructed a classic demonstration exercise, "Diffusion Through a Membrane," and identified key points for revision. In Part 3, participants worked through key steps of a more active version of a diffusion exercise developed using the general design process. Participants were encouraged to adopt (and adapt) the new diffusion exercise immediately for their own courses.

Keywords:  diffusion, assessment, inquiry lab, instructional design

University of Wisconsin, Madison (2017)