America's Lab Report: Investigations in High School Science - Softcover

Committee On High School Science Laboratories: Role And Vision; Board On Science Education; Center For Education; Division Of Behavioral And Social Sciences And Education; National Research Council

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0309139341 ISBN 13: 9780309139342

Publisher: National Academies Press, 2006

Synopsis

Laboratory experiences as a part of most U.S. high school science curricula have been taken for granted for decades, but they have rarely been carefully examined. What do they contribute to science learning? What can they contribute to science learning? What is the current status of labs in our nation�s high schools as a context for learning science? This book looks at a range of questions about how laboratory experiences fit into U.S. high schools:

• What is effective laboratory teaching?
• What does research tell us about learning in high school science labs?
• How should student learning in laboratory experiences be assessed?
• Do all student have access to laboratory experiences?
• What changes need to be made to improve laboratory experiences for high school students?
• How can school organization contribute to effective laboratory teaching?

  With increased attention to the U.S. education system and student outcomes, no part of the high school curriculum should escape scrutiny. This timely book investigates factors that influence a high school laboratory experience, looking closely at what currently takes place and what the goals of those experiences are and should be. Science educators, school administrators, policy makers, and parents will all benefit from a better understanding of the need for laboratory experiences to be an integral part of the science curriculum�and how that can be accomplished.

Table of Contents

• Front Matter
• Executive Summary
• 1 Introduction, History, and Definition of Laboratories
• 2 The Education Context
• 3 Laboratory Experiences and Student Learning
• 4 Current Laboratory Experiences
• 5 Teacher and School Readiness for Laboratory Experiences
• 6 Facilities, Equipment, and Safety
• 7 Laboratory Experiences for the 21st Century
• APPENDIX A Agendas of Fact-Finding Meetings
• APPENDIX B Biographical Sketches of Committee Members and Staff
• Index

About this title

About the Author

Susan R. Singer, Margaret L. Hilton, and Heidi A. Schweingruber, Editors, Committee on High School Science Laboratories: Role and Vision, National Research Council

About this edition

• Publisher: National Academies Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0309139341
• ISBN 13: 9780309139342
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 254
• Editor: Heidi A. Schweingruber, Margaret L. Hilton, Susan Rundell Singer