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Inquiry Based Lab

At the beginning of the semester I wondered how I was possibly going to make it to the end, and it is crazy to think that I just finished my second-to-last teaching lab. The semester flew by and ready or not, the 2021 AEE cohort will be well on our way to student teaching. While each lab is different in many ways, they all have prepared me for different methods, techniques, and strategies to utilize in the future. 

Engage. Explore. Explain. Extend. Evaluate. These are the 5 E's are very important in inquiry based learning for instructor and students to utilize. For the inquiry based learning lab, I decided to use the global issue of pollution for my students to research. I thought it would be a fun idea to take an issue that so many know about and teach my students basic statistics and the evolution of pollution. I decided to use a PowerPoint to help students establish a baseline of the knowledge that they would be elaborating on later. After giving my students that information, I showed them I allowed for them to chose the type of pollution they wanted to research more about and I challenged them to find a way to either improve or eliminate that type of pollution. 

To help with the research and creation aspect of the lab, I provided each with a worksheet where they could write statistics on their pollution type, write about what people are currently doing to try to improve or eliminate the pollution type, write new ideas and probable ways to fix the problem, and then a place to write their final proposal for improving or eliminating their pollution type. The worksheet provided structure for the lab, but also provided the freedom to write any ideas or work on any pollution that interested that particular student. 

At the end of the lesson, I had students share their ideas and challenged the rest of the class to give suggestions to each student's proposal. This was a multi-day lab, and the following day the students would present their findings and their final proposal to the class for a grade. 

This lab was a lot of fun for both me and the students. I liked Dr. Ewing's suggestion of making this a lab that could be transferred in the community by having the students research more about the pollution types within their own community and then implemented their ideas. I realized how much class time an inquiry based lab can take but I also saw how important they are to getting students to think and have more autonomy with their learning. Students are likely to be more excited to learn when they get some opinion about what they are learning about. I thought this lab was a great way for the students to pick what they learned about, while still focusing on the same category. I noticed that almost each group of students had a different type of pollution that they researched and that many got really creative with it!

I was so nervous to start the teaching labs in September, but as my last lab approaches it is safe to say that I will miss getting to learn and grow from my peers. 

Comments

  1. Nicole GuiseNovember 16, 2020 at 5:01 AM

    Michaela - I would have to say the same. I am going to miss our mornings in AEE 412 learning about resources, activities, and approaches from each other. I thought you did an excellent job of guiding your students through the inquiry process. I would agree with Dr. Ewing about applying these ideas to your school or local community. I think students having an opportunity to implement their plan would take this lesson one step further. Are there other topics that you think this method would lend itself to while you are student teaching?

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  2. Emily L. SchulzNovember 17, 2020 at 9:29 AM

    This was a great lesson Michaela! I really like the powerpoint and worksheet. It helped keep everyone on track and provide structure. I also really love the idea Dr. Ewing had about creating projects that students could actually do in their local community. Maybe you could even have a competition. Where every student in the class submits a proposal, the officer team picks a top 5 or top 10 and then the everyone could vote. The one with the most votes could be the one the chapter actually does! One other thing you could do is provide students with a list of different pollution types. This may also help reduce the amount of students doing all the same pollution type. Overall, super great job Michaela, this was a great inquiry lesson!

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  3. UnknownNovember 17, 2020 at 10:45 AM

    Good reflection on your lab. You did a nice job and I know you will make adjustments to make this an even better experience for your students in the spring! Keep up the great work.
    -Dr. Ewing

    ReplyDelete
  4. Megan RoyerNovember 30, 2020 at 7:02 AM

    Micheala, You did a great job! I loved your lab and getting to spend wednesday mornings with the cohort! This activity was so much fun and I think giving students the opportunity to learn more about the environment that they are apart of is very important. Especially when it comes to ways that students can maintain and care for the ecosystems around them! I cannot wait to see all of the amazing things you do next semester!

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