Cap the background lecture for a complex research-based lab at about an hour and expect students to ask questions while working¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

For labs whose background differs greatly from other experiments, the authors recommend aiming for concision in the lab lecture. They report that in some years they were too thorough, students were overwhelmed by the avalanche of information, and progress suffered; they now cap the background lecture at about an hour and tell students to expect to ask many questions while working. The instructor even worries about lab groups that do not ask questions.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• A complex, unfamiliar topic requiring more background and lecture time than standard experiments

Constraints¶

• Too thorough a lecture overwhelmed students and hurt their progress in some years

Target Learners¶

• sophomore and junior physics majors in a lab course

Target Learning Goals¶

• engaging with an unfamiliar research area without being inundated by background information

Related Strategies¶

• Run laboratory investigations as ADI cycles: design a method, argue, write, peer review, revise

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Crumley, Palczewski, and Kaster. (2007). Examining the Location of the Magnetopause in an Undergraduate Lab. https://arxiv.org/abs/0706.1985. doi:10.48550/arxiv.0706.1985