Student-Generated Scientific Inquiry

在许多大学里，只有研究生或高年级本科生才有设计和实施解决科学问题的研究的经验。这使得许多学生不熟悉实验设计的方法和论证在科学中的作用，并呈现出与实践不一致的科学观。这些担忧对未来的教师来说尤其令人不安。该项目为职前教师开发了一门课程，采用开放式科学探究，让学生在跨多个学科的主题中构思和调查自己的科学问题。课程作业为学生的探究活动搭建了脚手架，要求他们超越简单的实验，寻求找到相关性。探究活动使学生更深入地了解作为评估科学论证的方法的调查和实验。对课程的评价是评估课程在多大程度上支持学生对科学本质有更深入的理解，并提高他们在教授科学思想和探究方面的信心。该项目制定了一份教师指南，以帮助其他机构实施开放式探究课程。该指南是在社会工作文献中描述的促进指南的基础上设计的，并特别注意促进对话和建立社区。该指南将帮助教师在本科科学促进讨论和探究。

Interdisciplinary (99)In many universities, experiences in designing and conducting research that address scientific questions are limited to graduate students or upper-division undergraduates. This leaves many students unfamiliar with methods of experimental design and the role of argumentation in science, and presents a view of science that is inconsistent with practice. These concerns are particularly troubling to future teachers. The project develops a course for pre-service teachers using open-inquiry in science that engages students in crafting and investigating their own scientific questions in topics that span several disciplines. The coursework scaffolds students' inquiry activities, requiring them to move beyond simple experiments and seek to find correlations. The inquiry activities move students toward a deeper understanding of investigation and experimentation as methodologies for evaluating scientific arguments. Evaluations of the course assess the degree to which the course supports students in developing a more sophisticated understanding of the nature of science and improves their confidence in teaching scientific ideas and inquiry. The project develops an instructor's guide to aid in the implementation of open-inquiry courses at other institutions. The guide is patterned after facilitation guides as described in social work literature, with careful attention to fostering dialog and building community. The guide will aid faculty in undergraduate sciences in promoting discussion and inquiry.