Planning for Lab Investigations in the Science Classroom
Scientific investigations allow students to more deeply connect with science concepts in a lab setting. In partnership with Model Teaching, an industry leader in supporting educators, this course will teach you how to design a question aligned with your content goals, select and modify lab activities, and design pre- and post-lab activities to reinforce learning. Model Teaching's Mission is to Improve student performance by directly supporting teachers with quality content and resources. You will learn how to plan for student and teacher actions within each activity and design a lab that follows the scientific method.
Planning for Lab Investigations in the Science Classroom
Details + Objectives
Course code: T14907
Lab investigations offer students a chance to learn science content through a problem-based approach that encourages higher-order thinking. For effective student engagement, you should carefully consider how your formal and informal investigation fits into your overall lesson cycle.
This lab skills course will teach you how to choose content goals and design a question for your students to investigate further, following the scientific method. You will learn how to design the right pre- and post-lab activities that support student learning in their lab and then help ensure they are learning the scientific skills within your planned content goals.
Your training focuses on teaching the scientific method and will guide you in designing a comprehensive scientific investigation, from creating big questions aligned with your goals to planning and executing each step of the process. You will leave the course with a full scientific investigation plan and 25 templates, samples, and student resources ready to be implemented into your classroom.
What you will learn
- Build a big question for students to answer in their scientific investigation
- Construct appropriately rigorous lab activities
- Develop components of the pre-lab
- Create a lab activity that follows the steps of the scientific method
- Develop components of the post-lab
How you will benefit
- Your lab activities will be more tightly aligned with your curriculum goals
- Student engagement will increase as they will be able to easily connect scientific principles with the real world through a variety of lab activities
- Your students will become more scientifically literate, interacting with science concepts in a manner that follows the scientific method
How the course is taught
- Self-Guided, online course
- 3 Months access
- 18 course hours
Instructors & Support
Requirements
Prerequisites:
There are no prerequisites to take this course.
Requirements:
Hardware Requirements:
- This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.
Software Requirements:
- PC: Windows 10 or later.
- Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
- Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox is preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
- Microsoft Word Online
- Adobe Acrobat Reader
- Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.
Other:
- Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.
- Editing of a Microsoft Word document is required in this course. You may use a free version of Microsoft Word Online, or Google Docs if you do not have Microsoft Office installed on your computer. Model Teaching can provide support for this.
Instructional Material Requirements:
The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.