New Method of Lab Instruction wins Science IBI Prize. (September 18, 2012)

The following is taken from the American Association for the Advancement in Science's AAAS Advances - September 2012.

New Method of Lab Instruction wins Science IBI Prize
 

Introductory chemistry students at the college level are going beyond mathematics and equations in the innovative course module Exploring Gold Nanoparticles--collecting evidence and conducting experiments to develop a deep understanding of the materials being studied. The module, named the MORE (model, observe, reflect, explain) Thinking Frame, has won the Science Prize for Inquiry Based Instruction (IBI), which showcases outstanding materials usable in a wide range of schools and settings.

Associate Professor Dawn Rickey’s first realization that lab classes could be more educational came when she was a teaching assistant for California’s cream-of-the-crop chemistry undergrads at the University of California, Berkeley: “I was really surprised. They were really good at the mathematics and plugging the information into the equations, but they didn’t really understand the lab in terms of what was actually happening.”

Click here for Science's Michaela Jarvis account about the "Lab Course that Starts with Students’ Own Ideas"

The essay (for subscribers), written by the module's creators, Associate Professor Dawn Rickey and colleagues at the Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, is published in the August 31, 2012 issue of Science.