Dr. Krejci is teaching a new course in the Bethune-Cookman Natural Sciences curriculum, Research Methods, a 200 level course geared to teaching students about the research process, scientific writing and different equipment researchers use in the lab and field.
Inspired by this online essay we are trying out a new lab exercise today to teach the students about the importance of taking effective notes at the time of their experiment.
The basic plan, developed in collaboration with Dr. Adeljean Ho and Dr. Michael Reiter, is to split the class into two groups. One group will create a notebook entry describing and drawing the beautiful pond near the Business Building on campus from memory. Meanwhile the other group will go to the pond and make their entry on site. The class will reconvene and compare their entries. Next they will be given some additional guidelines and handouts on notebook entries, reflect on their original entries strengths and weakness, then go back to the pond to create a well crafted entry.
We’re very excited to see how this activity goes today! Dr. Krejci would be happy to post the lab handout and results if you’re interested.
Have you tried a similar approach in your classes? Feel free to share your stories of similar labs!
Dr. Sarah Krejci & the Aquatic Research Lab 