International Pennies and the Scientific Method
Abstract
One Learning Objective established for all general education science courses at GGC is that students “Distinguish scientific studies from popular opinions by employing critical thinking skills and the scientific method.” This poster presents a first-day-of-class experiential activity designed to support students in meeting this objective, while simultaneously satisfying an administrative directive to “internationalize” the curriculum. The activity is modified from Ricci and Ditzler's classic “Pennies Lab.” It explicitly implements the scientific method in the classroom, consistent with the National Research Council's guidelines. Students are asked to hypothesize whether a collection of international pennies are all made of the same “stuff”. They conduct a guided inquiry format experiment which allows them, collectively, to answer the question. Assessment of the effectiveness of the experiential approach based on results from student attitudinal surveys and a quantitative evaluation of their mastery of the course material as evidenced on hour exams will be reported.
Location
Concourse
Recommended Citation
Sauder, Deborah, "International Pennies and the Scientific Method " (2010). SoTL Commons Conference. 76.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/sotlcommons/SoTL/2010/76
International Pennies and the Scientific Method
Concourse
One Learning Objective established for all general education science courses at GGC is that students “Distinguish scientific studies from popular opinions by employing critical thinking skills and the scientific method.” This poster presents a first-day-of-class experiential activity designed to support students in meeting this objective, while simultaneously satisfying an administrative directive to “internationalize” the curriculum. The activity is modified from Ricci and Ditzler's classic “Pennies Lab.” It explicitly implements the scientific method in the classroom, consistent with the National Research Council's guidelines. Students are asked to hypothesize whether a collection of international pennies are all made of the same “stuff”. They conduct a guided inquiry format experiment which allows them, collectively, to answer the question. Assessment of the effectiveness of the experiential approach based on results from student attitudinal surveys and a quantitative evaluation of their mastery of the course material as evidenced on hour exams will be reported.
