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Asia-Pacific Forum
on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 10, Issue 1, Article 2
(June, 2009) |
1) The study was conducted in each group by researchers and was applied in the weekly three-hour science laboratory course. The study lasted for one semester.
2) In the first stage of the study, basic knowledge about biology, chemistry and physics experiments was included in the lab studies. In the experimental group, how to use creative and critical thinking abilities during the experiments and reporting the results was discussed. The basic focus of the study was to develop general creativity and logical thinking abilities of the students. Creative and critical thinking based applications were embedded in an open inquiry context. A basic constructivist approach towards curriculum was utilized for the purpose of the study, which is in line with constructivist curriculum reforms across the country. However, in the control group, experiments were introduced using traditional experimental methods and reporting the results were explained. In the control group, only titles of the experiments were given, and the students were driven to their textbooks for detailed information about processes and materials required for experiments. During the process, instructors asked content and experimental designs. Students relied on textbooks the majority of the time. Students were not asked any questions about the meaning of experimental results or methodology, but instructors provided feedback through lab report evaluations and answers to students’ questions. There was no limitation on feedback. The instructors had always been providing support and guidance. Additionally, the instructors were same for both of groups using the same topics and same amount of instruction time.
3) During the second stage, the groups with two or three members determined their own experiments for 12 weeks. Then, determined experiments for 12 weeks by students were assigned for each group in experimental and control groups. In the assignment, order of groups of experiments for each week was considered; since each group should have conducted different experiments from other groups in each week and should have completed all experiments in the classroom during semester. Therefore, rotation way that was based on groups of experiments for each week was used. In this stage, creative and logical thinking tests were applied to the sophomores as pre-tests. The students had no prior instruction on creativity and logical thinking. Both groups were not given the expectations of the instructors for the study or involved in any activity which might give clues about the expectations. To decrease the interaction effect, feedback and corrections were generally indicated in the reports.
4) During the experimental stage of the study, the participants in the experimental group were given only the title and aim of the experiment. They designed the experiments by investigating the visual and written resources about the experiments, whereas the participants of control group, conducted their experiments, using the lab textbook. In the experimental and control groups, the same experiments were studied in the same order.
5) In the fourth stage of the study, the participants of the experimental group have used their critical thinking abilities by analyzing all parts of the experiments. They found missing steps and have suggested innovations during the last part of the experiment. By using creativity, they have designed new, original experiments and have applied them in the lab. In addition, they have used different tools than the original experiments or found new use areas for old tools. Then, they reported their findings by using the lab report format. During all processes, instructors gave feedback, guidance and support in each group when it was required. To decrease interaction effect, all of these actions were generally provided in a written format as answers to lab reports or basic question-answer format. In the experimental group, students were challenged by writing questions and answers to analyze the experiment, making critics about the experiment and adding innovations about the experiment. A majority of the students in the experimental group asked for more help and allowed more time for these parts of the process. In the control group, the participants used traditional lab experiments found in the textbook. They have conducted studies with the procedure included in the textbook and observed the results of their studies.
6) After the each week, all of the participants submitted their lab reports to the researchers and received feedback.
7) At the last stage of the study, creative and logical thinking post-tests were applied to the sophomores. The lab report formats for the experimental and control groups can be seen in the Appendix.
