http://lablearner.com/blog_videos/blog001-desktop2.flv

How can teachers communicate to parents what their students have learned during a hands-on science experiment?

Many teachers can attest to the enormous value of hands-on science because they witness how students learn and solve problems during hands-on experiments. There can be moments in a group experiment where students turn to their peers to formulate an idea or prediction only to alter their thinking on the spot as they perform the experiment. Teachers observe students challenging themselves and their peers. Teachers have even observed how scientific hands-on problem solving augments students’ critical thinking skills outside the science classroom.

However, it is sometimes difficult for parents to gain an understanding of hands-on science learning because they have not had the opportunity to learn science in this manner or to watch their students in this setting. How can teachers communicate their observations to parents? Also, how can parents probe and question their students to find out what they have learned in laboratory experiments? And finally, how can the family learn science together at home – even during supper at the kitchen table?

In this first LabLearner blog, Dr. Keith Verner, the founder of LabLearner, visits a class of 8th grade students investigating a LabLearner hands-on unit on heat transfer and the conservation of energy. Dr. Verner extends the concept with an ice cube experiment that can be discussed at the kitchen table.

Teachers:

Please comment on your experiences regarding how you communicate to parents how their students are developing scientific skills, science content knowledge, and critical thinking skills while doing hands-on experiments.

Parents:

Please comment on your experiences regarding how you engage your children to help them learn and understand science, particularly when they are participating in a hands-on science curriculum like LabLearner.