Incorporating the “Real World” into Laboratory Exercises

 

Judy Guinan, Jeremy Wojdak, & Joseph Wirgau

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2009, Volume 30

Abstract

As educators and scientists, we understand that while traditional laboratory exercises can be excellent at teaching technique, but the problems we tackle in lab are frequently artificial and oversimplified. Students embarking on a research career will quickly discover that “real-world” problems are rarely simple, short-term, or confined to a single academic discipline. At Radford, we took advantage of a new campus facility, a storm water management wetland, to attempt to simulate a more realistic approach to science.

Keywords:  wetlands, research

University of Toronto, Mississauga (2008)