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However, despite the positive aspects of the concept, it lacks one very important ingredient: method. Despite one article’s claim that “science education reformers say (hands-on learning) more powerfully motivates students and more closely approximates the scientific method” (Education Week, May 11, 1994), the scientific method is seldom tied into this valuable type of teaching. Even though The Scientific Method is the method of inquiry and the method of discovery, it is ignored by hands-on learning curriculums because of controversies over its existence or that those designing courses and curriculums have never been adequately educated on what The Scientific Method is: the stages of the complete method of creative problem solving. Without any method to the process of hands-on learning, educators largely waste “transfer of learning,” when the students realize that they can transfer their experiences and knowledge to other subject areas as well as everyday life. Raymond Nickerson explained in The Teaching of Thinking (1985) that, “...one needs to have not only the domain-specific knowledge that is essential to skilled performance, but the knowledge of when and how to apply that knowledge in specific contexts” (p. 102).There has been much criticism of the inquiry, discovery, and hands-on methods as well as the usual lab-style courses because, so frequently, students merely re-discover rather than participate in real discovery-type activity. This fault can be overcome by frequently allowing students to pick their own problem, and in discovering its solution, teach them to follow the stages of The Scientific Method. David F. Ausubel, in an essay in Studying Teaching (1967), analyzes discovery teaching and stresses that the traditional reception teaching of subject matter is still needed, however, he states: “In the early, unsophisticated states of learning any abstract subject matter, particularly prior to adolescence, the discovery method is invaluable. It is also indispensable for teaching scientific method and effective problem-solving skills. Furthermore, various cognitive and motivational factors undoubtedly enhance the learning, retention and transferability of meaningful material learned by discovery.”The Scientific Method can only enhance the learning process students already enjoy so much in hands-on learning. An April 1997 poll by Bayer Corp. revealed that three in five students ages 10-17 say that they would be more excited about science if they could do more experiments themselves. So, let’s offer students more hands-on learning, however, it flies in the face of logic to teach inquiry without method and thus not achieve transfer of learning. The basis for the method that students should know is The Scientific Method (SM-14). If you review my booklet on SM-14, you will see how inquiry, discovery and hands-on methods are all supported by the 11 Stages & 3 Ingredients of this Complete Method of Creative Problem Solving. |
