All science teachers love the idea of inquiry. We love the idea that students would use their own problem solving skills to design a controlled experiment to quantitatively answer a problem. We love the theory.
So why don't we use inquiry in every lab? Isn't it the most authentic form of science? The answer to this question should change the way you view your lab.
You are afraid of losing control!
By the very nature of using an inquiry technique in lab, you are automatically increasing the number of variables by 25 or 30. Those variables are teenagers! (and they are variables) And just by allowing those unrefined frontal lobes into your lab design, you automatically lose control. I have watched many different teachers and their comfort level with the unknown. Some, like me, thrive in it. Some are mortified.
If you are scared to death by the loss of control in the lab, hear me out. I will assume that you are a competent classroom manager, and by "loss of control" we are not talking about blatant disregard for safety. Instead, the control that I am talking about is the result of your lab. If your student asks you "is this supposed to look this way?" and you have an absolute answer, then the students' eyes are off the science and on you. You have become the central focus of the experiment.
They think "If I do it this way, and it turns out the way Mr. Koch told me it would, then I will succeed."
What are they linking their success to? To Mr. Koch's expectations. Do I want them measuring my expectations in class? Of course not. I want them making quantitative and qualitative observations about the world around them. I want them wondering about their experimental design. I want them wondering if their hypothesis was correct. I don't want them wondering about me.
And when your students are wondering abut all the right things, they will absolutely fail at "accomplishing" the lab. Their answers will be bizarre. Their data will be contradictory. They will be frustrated to know if they were right. But in the midst of that frustration, they can begin to see the beauty of the scientific method. They begin to wonder about seeing what other groups got (communication). They begin to wonder about trying it again to fix that one problem (repetition). They begin to wonder what other scientists got for an answer (research). And so, among the errors, confusion, and mess there are real steps being taken toward becoming true scientists.
So be encouraged, fellow teachers, when YOU ARE NOT THE ANSWER! By giving up control, you are giving the kids the keys to car. And they will drive.
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