IUPS Conference July 2013

Background Over the last 30 years there has been a wide-spread implementation of inquiry based classes in science education (2), and in tertiary physiology curricula in particular (10) Inquiry based classes improve student learning of content (7, 9) and important scientific thinking skills such as experimental design and data interpretation (11). However, a multitude of obstacles face instructors aiming to implement inquiry-based practical curricula (12) where poor implementation (8), and both too much and too little guidance (6) have negative effects on student learning. It is important to understand which specific aspects of inquiry-based curricula engage students in effectively developing scientific thinking skills, and when and why the development of these skills goes awry.

Developing students’ advanced scientific thinking skills through effective inquiry-based physiology practical classes

Kirsten Zimbardiab, Kay Colthorpea, Judit Kibedia, Phil Longb aEducational Research Unit, School of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Science,

bCentre for Educational Innovation and Technology The University of Queensland, Australia

Contact: k.zimbardi@uq.edu.au

Vertically-integrated, inquiry-based practicals We have developed a vertically-integrated set of inquiry-based practical curricula for large cohorts (500-900 students) of first and second year physiology students (3) which facilitate the development of students’ skills in scientific thinking (4, 13).

References 1. Bailin S. Science and Education 11: 361–375, 2002. 2. Dunbar K, and Fugelsang J. The Cambridge handbook of thinking and reasoning 2005, p. 705-725. 3. Farrand K, Kibedi J, Colthorpe K, Good J, and Lluka L. Third National Attributes Graduate Project Symposia. Griffith University, Queensland, Australia: 2009. 4. Farrand-Zimbardi K, Colthorpe K, Good J, and Lluka L. : International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL). Liverpool, UK: 2010. 5. Jones S, Yates B, and Kelder J. Australian Learning and Teaching Council, 2011. 6. Kirschner PA, Sweller J, and Clark RE. Educational Psychologist 41: 75-86, 2006. 7. Kolkhorst FW, Mason CL, DiPasquale DM, Patterson P, and Buono MJ. Advances in Physiology Education 25: 45-50, 2001. 8. Kuhn D. Education for Thinking, 2005, p. 218. 9. Luckie DB, Maleszewski JJ, Loznak SD, and Krha M. Advances in Physiology Education 28: 199-209, 2004. 10. Michael J. Advances in Physiology Education 30: 159-167, 2006. 11. Myers MJ, and Burgess AB. Advances in Physiology Education 27: 26-33, 2003. 12. Silverthorn DU, Thorn PM, and Svinicki MD. Advances in Physiology Education 30: 204-214, 2006. 13. Zimbardi K, Bugarcic A, Colthorpe K, Good JP, and Lluka LJ. Advances in Physiology Education under review.

School of Biomedical Sciences

EDUCATION RESEARCH UNIT

Students have annotated their own videos highlighting their scientific reasoning

(http://dev.ceit.uq.edu.au/vcop2/course/inquiring-minds)

This work was supported by a University of Queensland Teaching & Learning Fellowship

Implications Video evidence revealed key factors that impact on the degree of scientific rigour students employ when making their decisions. Students must be required to:

1.  demonstrate feasibility of their experimental proposals with pilot data and primary literature,

2.  critically compare experimental contexts and specific data values when interpreting their experimental findings.

Quality of reasoning

Guessing, intuition Prior knowledge

Lectures, course materials, textbook

Own experimental evidence

Experimental evidence from

scientific literature

Cell & Molecular Physiology Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4 Class 5 Class 6

Module 1 Module 2

Pilot experiment + proposal Data analysis Experiment Pilot experiment +

proposal Report writing feedback Experiment

Systems Physiology Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4 Class 5 Class 6

Skill building Skill building + proposal Oral proposals Experiment Experiment Data analysis

Video recordings of students engaged in 2nd year inquiry in classes were annotated by the students using the Australian national academic standards for scientific thinking (5).

Using the theoretical framework for critical thinking developed by Bailin (1), analysis of videos revelaed that students used a large range evidence bases when reasoning, with varying degrees of scientific rigour.

Am I developing my critical thinking skills?

Students used, and developed, their critical scientific thinking skills when they needed to make scientific decisions about which hypothesis to test and how, and how to analyse and interpret experimental data.

IUPS Conference, Birmingham July 2013