Modeling Scientific Thinking through Controversy: An example using plant chemical warfare (allelopathy)

 

Meeghan E. Gray, Natalie K. Marioni, and Christie J. Howard

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2005, Volume 26

Abstract

One of the most important and difficult goals in our general biology laboratory course at the University of Nevada, Reno is to introduce freshman and sophomore Biology majors to the process of science. One method we have found quite effective for introducing students to scientific thinking is to have students conduct a simple laboratory experiment in plant-plant allelopathic interactions and then have the students find out later that their “research” was not as straightforward as they had originally intended. When explored deeper, students find that their oversimplified conclusions are similar to the conclusions drawn by many experts in this field and that incorrect inferences can occur from experimental design flaws and overstated conclusions. This forces the students to rethink their research and gives them the broader perspective necessary to critique their work and the work of others.

Keywords:  allelopathy

Bowling Green State University, Ohio (2004)