An Investigative Case Study Designed to Promote Critical Thinking Skills

 

Christie J. Howard and Meeghan E. Gray

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2004, Volume 25

Abstract

The end-of-semester project in General Biology at the University of Nevada, Reno, was designed as a coupled-inquiry exercise that promotes higher thinking skills in first- and second-year biology students. Coupled-inquiry is defined by Martin-Hansen (2002) as a two-part process. The first part is a guided inquiry in which the professor puts in place a situation that needs to be investigated. This transitions into an open inquiry in which the students develop their own questions in order to resolve the original problem they were given. The advantage of the coupled-inquiry approach is that it places all students in an equally challenging situation where they must investigate a question that requires them to think critically. Our goal was to develop an independent project that promotes critical thinking and creative thought in our students.

Keywords:  protein composition

University of Nevada, Las Vegas (2003)