This paper describes the authors' experiences transforming a “cookbook” lab into an inquiry-based investigation and the powerful effect the inquiry-oriented lab had on our students' understanding of lenses. We found the inquiry-oriented approach led to richer interactions between students as well as a deeper conceptual understanding of how images are formed. We observed engaged students participating in scientific discourse full of hypothesizing, modeling, and argumentation based on evidence.
REFERENCES
1.
National Research Council, National Science Education Standards
(National Academy Press
, Washington, D.C.
, 1996
).2.
National Research Council, Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards. A Guide for Teaching and Learning
(National Academy Press
, Washington, D.C.
, 2000
).3.
National Research Council, A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas
(National Academy Press
, Washington, D.C.
, 2012
).4.
M.
Windschitl
, “What is Inquiry? A Framework for Thinking About Authentic Scientific Practice in the Classroom,”
in Science as Inquiry in the Secondary Setting
, edited by J.
Luft
, R.
Bell
, and J.
Gess-Newsome
(National Science Teachers Association Press
, Arlington, VA
, 2008
), pp. 1
–20
.5.
D. D.
Minner
, A. J.
Levy
, and J.
Century
, “Inquiry-based science instruction—What is it and does it matter? Results from a research synthesis years 1984–2002,”
J. Res. Sci. Teach.
47
, 474
–496
(2010
).6.
C. D.
Wilson
, J. A.
Taylor
, S. M.
Kowalski
, and J.
Carlson
, “The relative effects and equity of inquiry-based and commonplace science teaching on students' knowledge, reasoning, and argumentation,”
J. Res. Sci. Teach.
47
, 276
–301
(2010
).7.
I. R.
Weiss
, J. D.
Pasley
, P. S.
Smith
, E. R.
Banilower
, and D. J.
Heck
, Looking Inside the Classroom: A Study of K-12 Mathematics and Science Education in the United States
(Horizon Research, Inc.
, Chapel Hill, NC
, 2003
).8.
P.
Brown
, S. K.
Abell
, A.
Demir
, and F.
Schmidt
, “College science teachers' views of classroom inquiry,”
Sci. Educ.
90
, 784
–802
(2006
).9.
Ibid, Fig. 1. The inquiry continuum.
10.
A.
Demir
and S. K.
Abell
, “Views of inquiry: Mismatches between views of science education faculty and students of an alternative certification program,”
J. Res. Sci. Teach.
47
, 716
–741
(2010
).11.
See Ref. 2, p. 29.
12.
M. J.
Volkmann
and S.
Abell
, “Rethinking laboratories: Tools for converting cookbook labs into inquiry,”
Sci. Teach.
70
(6
), 38
–41
(2003
).13.
D.
Newman
, E. M.
Crowder
, and F.
Torzs
, “The world in the classroom: Sense-making and seasonal change,”
Interact. Learn. Environ.
3
, 1
–16
(1993
).© 2013 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2013
American Association of Physics Teachers
AAPT members receive access to The Physics Teacher and the American Journal of Physics as a member benefit. To learn more about this member benefit and becoming an AAPT member, visit the Joining AAPT page.
