When you look at the methods in teaching students how to conduct scientific experiments, you may be tempted to see them as separate from each other. As an educator, however, you need to understand that each method has its own name and goals, and those names and goals are based on your knowledge of your subject and understanding of how the scientific method works. You need to know these things if you want to have a successful scientific method. The method should be cohesive.
Every method begins with an experiment to measure something or someone. This could be a phenomenon like temperature, radiation, mass, or a student’s thinking; it can be anything, but the point is the student’s effort.
The method then conducts the experiment. Students conduct the experiment with their observations or observation notes. There are several other ways to conduct the experiment, but the method must be able to have its own findings and determine which ones are more important.
If an experiment fails, the method should test the hypothesis and then conduct further testing. It may be necessary to repeat the experiment and see if the results hold. Sometimes a scientific method needs to use new and untested hypotheses. These methods would be termed breakthroughs.
Finally, the experiment should be presented to the student’s attention, and the experiment’s significance should be verified and justified. Once this step is completed, the student should have the skills and knowledge needed to evaluate the experiment and be able to apply the methods, results, and theory that were used. Some students choose to have their hypothesis tested first.
But some theories are so well established that they cannot be disproved. So instead of choosing to test a hypothesis first, most scientists prefer to test the theory. But, as mentioned above, students should be taught how to conduct an experiment that tests the theory. They should also learn how to validate that the theory has been validated.
There are many different ways to test theories, but many theories can not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. One way to deal with this situation is to construct a design worksheet. Here, students can learn to test and verify the validity of theories.
A science classroom should not be divided by the scientific method. An untested hypothesis may result in unnecessary research and additional resources. Instead, the scientific method should be taught to all students in all subjects.
