Engineering design principles were applied to the development of a modular, inquiry-based introductory (100-level) environmental science lab. Engineering design focuses around addressing a problem through an iterative process that acknowledges constraints in the system and optimizes the outcome for success. The laboratory exercise was designed for students to work through the process of designing an experiment, given realistic constraints of the system. While the research question they asked was relevant contextually, the lab was not focused on the merit of the question students developed. Learning goals were focused on 1) developing a testable question and appropriate experimental design; 2) collecting data, organizing data, and applying an appropriate data analysis methodology; 3) reflecting on the experimental design and system constraints to address the research question. Each group of students were provided with two temperature and light data loggers and then assigned the problem of designing an effective experiment that addressed a novel environmental science question of interest to the students. Students were asked to consider the following in their experimental design: 1) treatments tested; 2) frequency of sampling; 3) replication. One focus of this lab was for students to critically reflect on the design process and use an iterative approach to refine their experimental design. Following data collection in the field for one week, students were tasked with summarizing their data in a meaningful way, to help evaluate the effectiveness of their experimental design. At the end of this modular lab, students reflected on what aspects of their experimental design worked, limitations in their experimental design, and major constraints encountered.?
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