1. “Un-cooking the
Lab”
A Guide to
Constructing Inquiry-based
MARY CORINNE R. SELGA
BPSD, CAS
Labs

2. Laboratory
Instruction
• There Why is no clear is
consensus on the
function and purpose of laboratory
instruction within an academic curriculum
• T(Rhues pseerllc, e2p0t0io8n)s. on
Laboratory
instruction
needed in the
the importance of
laboratory exercises
differ Science
greatly between
professors and
students (Hofstein,
curriculum?

3. Laboratory
Instruction
Leading purposes include:
• bridging the gap between theory
and practice,
• illustrate material taught in
lecture,
• increase enthusiasm and
foster scientific attitudes,
and
• develop skills of
observation, reasoning and

4. Throwback:
THETraditional Curriculum
Teach scientific laboratory
concepts that utilize the
“cookbook” type of
experimental procedures in
which students follow a pre-described
set of methods
resulting in well established
and validated results

5. “Cookbook”
Laboratory
Exercises
Does very little to
enhance critical thinking
skills.
The term “cookbook” refers to
experimental procedures in which
students follow a step-by-step
method , reminiscent of a cooking
recipe .

6. “Cookbook”
Laboratory
Exercises
•The expected end
result of the
experiment is often
provided to the
students before
they even initiate the
experiment.
•These laboratory approaches
encourage students to
intellectually disengage from
the experiment and follow the
protocol to completion without
any regard to understanding
the methodology or the
acquired outcome (Igelsrud
1988).

7. “Cookbook”
Laboratory
Exercises
Evaluation of student performance is
often based on how well they follow the
protocol .
Since the laboratory exercise is
validated with repeated data output, any
discrepancy in the results is attributed
to student’s inability to follow the
protocol.

8. “Cookbook”
Laboratory
Exercises
What is more
unacceptable, however,
is the inability to
troubleshoot and
explain the possible
errors or circumstances
that yielded unexpected

9. “Cookbook”
Laboratory
Exercises
The students that do obtain the
pre-determined results often lack
the conceptual understanding and
significance of individual steps of
the experiment.
For many students, this leads to
frustration and often, for non-science
majors, discourages them
from pursuing their education within
the natural sciences.

10. Student perceptions and attitudes
towards science have been shown to
improve if laboratory instruction is taught
with a connection to the real world…
and students are
provided an opportunity
to participate in the
experimental design
(Matthews, 2010).

11. Hence, developing
laboratory exercises that
have a research orientated
focus is imperative, since it
will not only teach science,
but it will develop students to
think like a scientist.

12. encouraged
the need to
introduce
research-driven
exploration in
lieu of
“cookbook”
exercises.
National
Research
Council (2003)
American
Association for
the Advancement
of Science
(2010)
National
Academy of
Sciences (2010)

13. Inquiry-based
laboratory is one of
the most appropriate
methods to achieve
this.

14. [REPUBLIC ACT NO. 10533]
AN ACT ENHANCING THE PHILIPPINE BASIC EDUCATION SYSTEM
BY STRENGTHENING ITS CURRICULUM AND INCREASING THE
NUMBER OF YEARS FOR BASIC EDUCATION
•SEC. 5. Curriculum
Development. The DepEDshall
adhere to the following standards and
principles in developing the enhanced
… b(ea)s iTc ehdeu ccuartrioicnu cluumrr ischualullm u:se
pedagogical approaches that are
constructivist, inquiry-based, reflective,
collaborative and integrative…

15. Inquiry-based laboratory
• An inquiry-based lab asks
students to:
address a challenge,
solve a problem,
test a
ehxypploatinh eas pish, enomenon,
or answer a question
… in the same manner that a scientist
approaches a research question.

16. Inquiry-based laboratory
The goal of an inquiry-based
lab is for students of
all backgrounds to learn
science by experiencing the
process and thrill of first-hand
discovery.

17. Features of an
Inquiry-based Lab
• The 1. Learn primary essential
feature of an inquiry-based lab is
concepts, that students skills, experience and
science as an
behaviors experimental that process reflect
that uses evidence to
explain natural phenomena.
• Students will:
5. Use evidence as
the basis for their
explanations of
natural processes. 6. Witness the thrill
the nature of
science. 2. Think analytically
and critically about
experimental design.
3. Take
responsibility for
their own learning in
a way that is
engaging &
meaningful to them.
4. Experience the
collaborative nature of
science as they
negotiate with peers
and communicate their
explanations.
of discovery and
uncertainty of
science.

18. Examples of Approaches to Labs
Students are
asked to bring
in two soil
samples, are
challenged to
generate a
hypothesis
about the
microbes in the
soil samples,
then design an
experiment to
Students are
instructed how to
make 10 fold dilutions
of soil samples and
apply each solution
to a culture medium.
After incubation,
students count the
number of colonies
on each plate and
calculate the number
of culturable
organisms in the
Inquiry based
Not Inquiry
based
A
B

19. Examples of Approaches to Labs
Students are
told to plant
seeds and
fertilize with a
dilution series of
fertilizer, then
measure the
effect on plant
height, number
of leaves, and
number of
Inquiry based
Not Inquiry
based
Students are
asked to
generate a
hypothesis
about the
effect of the
environment on
the life cycle of
a plant and test
it.
A
B

20. Examples of Approaches to Labs
Students are
given a protocol
to inoculate a
plant with a
known pathogen.
A week later,
they identify the
correct disease
symptoms and re-isolate
the
Inquiry based
Not Inquiry
based
Students
are given an
unhealthy
plant and
asked to
determine
the cause of
its
symptoms.
A
B

21. Inquiry-based Labs: Flow of
Activities in the Classroom
PRE-LAB
•Prior
knowledge
•Engagement
LAB
PROPE
R
•Inquiry
challenge
•The nature
of science
POST-LAB
•Learning
goals
How will you find
out what students
already know (or
think they know) and
what they need to
know before they
begin?
How will you
determine whether
students are using
evidence as the
basis for their
explanations?
How will you
know whether
students have met
the learning
goals?

22. Inquiry-based Labs: Flow of
Activities in the Classroom
PRE-LAB
•Prior knowledge
•What do the students
already know (or think they
know)?
•What essential information or
skills do they need before
they begin?
•What misconceptions might
they have about this topic?
•Engagement
•What is the “hook” that will
set about the students in
How will you find
out what students
already know (or
think they know)
and what they
need to know
before they
begin?

23. Inquiry-based Labs: Flow of
Activities in the Classroom
LAB
PROPE
R
How will you
determine whether
students are using
evidence as the
basis for their
explanations?
•Inquiry challenge
•What challenge will the
students
address?
•The nature of science
•What methods, materials,
or
•How will the lab experience
skills mirror will scientific students research need and
to
use?
encourage students to use
•evidence What guiding as the basis questions
for
will
their
explanations?
focus their discussions on

24. Inquiry-based Labs: Flow of
Activities in the Classroom
POST-LAB
How will you
know whether
students have met
the learning
goals?
•Learning goals
•What should
students
know,understand,
and be able to do at
the end of the lab?

25. The Invisible Ink
Experiment # ________
– To perform the various steps of the scientific method.
Calamansi juice or Evaporated milk, toothpick, bond paper, matches
candle
Aim:
With the use of the given materials, create a way of writing and decoding a
message. Following the steps of the scientific method, write your own procedure
of making use of the “invisible ink.”
Activity: The Invisible Ink
Objective:
Materials:
Problem:
• Prior Knowledge – a review on the steps of the scientific method
Hypothesis:
• Engagement – a story on how Jose Rizal and Ferdinand Blumentritt
were able to communicate using his “gasera” and discretely attached
sheets of paper into the bottom of the lamp while he was incarcerated
in Intramuros
Variables:
Procedure:
Data:
Conclusion:

26. The advantages and disadvantages of utilizing
“COOKBOOK” laboratory exercises within the
science curriculum include:
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
1. Laboratory exercises are easily designed
to fit into restricted student schedules
1. Students easily lose enthusiasm for science education and
an interest in ongoing and future scientific achievements
2. The results of the exercise are
predetermined allowing assessment of the
students performance
2. Students quickly learn what steps of the procedure can be
ignored or fail to thoroughly read the protocol for complete
understanding
3. Conducive and manageable for courses
with large student enrolment
3. Critical thinking skills are not developed
4. Can cover multiple scientific concepts
within a course
4. There are little opportunities to apply problem-solving
strategies
5. Laboratory exercises can be created into
modular exercise that correspond with
classroom lecture
5. Students feel disconnected from the exercise and lack
“ownership” of the collected data
6. Collaboration among peers is discouraged
7. Students do not plan the experiments and results are not
properly interpreted
*Waters (2012) 8. Scientific concepts are “verified” rather than “discovered”

27. The advantages and disadvantages of utilizing
INQUIRY BASED laboratory exercises within
the science curriculum include:
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
1. Students take “ownership” of the
laboratory exercise
1. Difficult to manage in courses with large
student enrolment
2. Students experience the scientific method
and acquire an appreciation and
understanding for scientific achievement
2. Requires significant amount of time that
students must be in the laboratory
3. Students become interested in ongoing
and future scientific achievements as it
relates to current events
3. Students may become frustrated & lose
patience
4. Students experience the successes and
failures of scientific research
5. Students are encouraged to collaborate to
obtain successful results
6. Students learn critical thinking and
problem solving skills
7. Students retain the learned concepts

29. Let’s “Un-cook”
our Labs!
Thank You for Listening!

30. References
• American Association for the Advancement of Science (2010). Vision and change in undergraduate biology education.
Washington DC, http://visionandchange.org/finalreport.pdf
• Domin, D. S. (1999). A review of laboratory teaching styles. Journal of Chemical Education, 76(4), 543-547.
• Hofstein, A. and Lunetta, V. N. (2004). The laboratory in science education: Foundations for the twenty-first century. Sci.
Ed., 88, 28-54.
• Igelsrud D and Leonard, W. H. (1988). What research says about biology laboratory instruction. The American Biology
Teacher, 50(5), 303-306.
• Mathews, K. E., Adams, P. and Goos, M. (2010). Using the principles of BIO2010 to develop an introductory,
interdisciplinary course for biology students. CBE-Life Science Education, 9, 290-297.
• National Academy of Science. (2010). A new biology for the 21st century.
• National Research Council (2003). Bio 2010: Transforming undergraduate education for future research biologists.
Washington D.C.: National Academic Press
• Russell, C. B. and Weaver, G. C. (2008). Student perceptions of the purpose and function of the laboratory in science: A
grounded theory study. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 2(2), 1-14.
• Volkmann, M. J., and S. K. Abell. 2003. Rethinking Laboratories: Tools for converting cookbook labs into inquiry. The
Science Teacher 70:38.
• Waters, Norman C. 2012. The Advantages of Inquiry-Based Laboratory Exercises within the Life Sciences. Center for
Teaching Excellence, US Military Academy, Westpoint, New York.