Embedding laboratory experience in lectures
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Demonstrations can be very effective at enhancing student learning and represent a mechanism for embedding laboratory experiences within a classroom setting. A key component to an effective demonstration is active student engagement throughout the entire process, leading to a guided laboratory experience in a lecture setting. Students are involved in discussing the purpose of the demo; predicting what will happen during the demo; discussing who developed theories to help us understand what happens; and comparing observations to predictions, as opposed to simply passively watching a demonstration. Demonstrations can occur at three different stages of a course topic: as an introduction, as a wrap-up and an aid used throughout the class discussion of a topic. Depending on when they occur, different types of learning outcomes are achieved. This paper presents a model for infusing demonstrations into an engineering science class and the use of this model. Assessment includes components from both faculty and students, as well as from a faculty development professional who is an instructor in a different discipline.
