Applying Guided Inquiry as a Research Project in an Undergraduate Physics Laboratory

The primary goal of this project is for students to take a deeper level of ownership over the laboratory experiments by applying the concepts from class to ‘real world’ situations. As such, the project is titled Waves in the Real World and occurred over a 3-week period in an algebra-based Physics 2 laboratory course. This project fully replaced three typical laboratory experiments and was implemented in 4 sections of the laboratory with three different instructors.

Students worked in groups of 2-4. In week 1, students chose a topic from a predetermined list, developed their research question and hypothesis and began designing their experiment to test their hypothesis. In week 2, students conducted the experiment with oversight from the lab instructor. In week 3, students gave a 10-minute scientific presentation to the class.

The assignment was scaffolded such that students received feedback consistently throughout their development and investigation. For example, after weeks 1 and 2, groups submitted a “Research Question” and “Experimental Design” document, respectively. They then received feedback within 24 h so they could make any suggested adjustments before continuing in the project.

The process and documents used in the project are not specific to the topic and can be used for a myriad of subjects; this poster will provide more detail on how the project was structured, including providing examples of the materials utilized. The students reported that they gained a more thorough grasp of the material and the scientific process as a result of this project.