{"id":1503,"date":"2018-10-10T19:24:00","date_gmt":"2018-10-10T23:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/edt431-531\/?p=1503"},"modified":"2018-10-10T19:26:09","modified_gmt":"2018-10-10T23:26:09","slug":"construct-a-new-way-to-do-labs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/2018\/10\/construct-a-new-way-to-do-labs\/","title":{"rendered":"Construct a New Way to do Labs!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn-a.william-reed.com\/var\/wrbm_gb_food_pharma\/storage\/images\/publications\/pharmaceutical-science\/outsourcing-pharma.com\/headlines\/preclinical-research\/pace-analytical-adds-development-services-in-wolfe-laboratories-deal\/7699213-1-eng-GB\/Pace-Analytical-adds-development-services-in-Wolfe-Laboratories-deal_wrbm_large.jpg?resize=558%2C313&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Image result for laboratories\" width=\"558\" height=\"313\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Good ole Lab Day.<\/strong> We all remember it as the few times we were on our feet in a science classroom. Teachers always told us it was our activity of the day or week and was usually their implication to try and give us a critical thinking outlet.<\/p>\n<p>But was that the case?<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many times did we follow a black and white procedure?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/education.jlab.org\/beamsactivity\/6thgrade\/magnetsandelectromagnets\/stu02.l.gif?resize=481%2C596&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Image result for science lab procedure\" width=\"481\" height=\"596\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>How did we make our data tables?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/d2vlcm61l7u1fs.cloudfront.net\/media%2F27b%2F27bad092-686c-406f-94c8-78f8b9b0e8cb%2FphpqHqgZt.png?ssl=1\" alt=\"Image result for fill in the missing data in the following table\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In reflection, most labs kind of felt like we were left to fill in the puzzle. We didn&#8217;t lead our learning and we were hardly creative about filling in an obvious answer to a question at the end of the lab period.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/d2v9y0dukr6mq2.cloudfront.net\/video\/thumbnail\/Vd3bj2jPe\/female-scientist-waiting-research-results-female-scientist-looking-on-laboratory-equipment-close-up-of-tired-woman-scientist-in-lab-portrait-of-scientist-woman-boring-in-lab_slgiwlpfl_thumbnail-full01.png?resize=566%2C318&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Image result for bored scientist\" width=\"566\" height=\"318\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The article, &#8220;<strong>Constructivism: The Implications for Laboratory Work,&#8221;\u00a0<\/strong>from The Chemistry Teacher outlines the flaws in what we as teachers think we&#8217;re doing with these labs. The author, Thomas Shiland, makes a valid argument for incorporating the theory of constructivism within these classes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>First off, What is Constructivism?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/shahrxeerak.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/04\/social-constructivism.png?resize=549%2C252\" alt=\"Image result for constructivism\" width=\"549\" height=\"252\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The theory of constructivism from the article can be simply defined as knowledge being constructed within the mind of the learner. In other words, the learner makes sense of a topic based on their individual paradigms and experiences.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/qph.fs.quoracdn.net\/main-qimg-089a6089679ca281d738b3bcc9e68caa-c\" alt=\"Image result for atom and solar system\" \/><\/p>\n<p>(Ex: Learning about atomic structure and electron orbits by relating it to the solar system, at first at least)<\/p>\n<p>Within the article, he claims a lot of ideas to help the students put their own spin on lab day including but not limited to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Having the students choose the variables\n<ul>\n<li><em>If you have enough time, trial and error can be super effective in teaching this application<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Having the students design the procedure\n<ul>\n<li><em>While a lab can be linear, let them figure that out along their way<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Having the students make their own data table\n<ul>\n<li><em>Get\u00a0those empty grids outta here!<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Shiland continues the article to further explore different things that these constructivist-inspired labs need to work. For instance, how to manage naive-ness with the student around the content area, how you can incorporate a group learning effort, and even connecting the learning to application. All in all, the argument shows us a practical approach on how to implement constructivism in our future classrooms.<\/p>\n<p>For more, the article can be found at https:\/\/pubs.acs.org\/doi\/10.1021\/ed076p107<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/WyattBischoff\/status\/1050163301244645378<\/p>\n<p>And Constructivism hardly ends with labs, it can be applied to numerous aspects of life, professional, and social. Take professor Caleb Gallemore for example, who applies constructivisms in the context of international relations.\u00a0He starts off by comparing constructivism to Neo from the Matrix which in itself could be defined as constructivism in practice on a small scale.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Theory in Action: Constructivism\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kYU9UfkV_XI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>On a personal level, constructivism is ideal to incorporate in the classroom, with labs or not and in everyday. I&#8217;ve never felt more connected to a subject when I got the chance to self define a topic, and live and learn in the context of that topic. Constructivism values taking feedback from your world and drawing your conclusions, constantly adapting and amending previous knowledge with new found knowledge. How could I aspire to be a thoughtful, adaptable, and inspiring teacher without wanting to teach those ideals?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Good ole Lab Day. We all remember it as the few times we were on our feet in a science classroom. Teachers always told us <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/2018\/10\/construct-a-new-way-to-do-labs\/\" title=\"Construct a New Way to do Labs!\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2526,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-constructivism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2526"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1503"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1512,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1503\/revisions\/1512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}