Although much emphasis has been placed, in professional journals, science textbooks and teacher training programs, on the inquiry method of teaching, the inquiry teaching concept has achieved only a limited acceptance in secondary schools

Golmon, Melton E.

University of Northern Iowa

Iowa Science Teachers Journal Volume 9 Number 1 Article 3 1971 Scientific Articles and Inquiry in the Biology Classroom Melton E. Golmon University of Iowa Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/istj  Part of the Science and Mathematics Education Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits you Copyright © Copyright 1971 by the Iowa Academy of Science Recommended Citation Golmon, Melton E. (1971) "Scientific Articles and Inquiry in the Biology Classroom," Iowa Science Teachers Journal: Vol. 9 : No. 1 , Article 3. Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/istj/vol9/iss1/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa Academy of Science at UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Iowa Science Teachers Journal by an authorized editor of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact scholarworks@uni.edu. Scientific Articles and Inquiry in the Biology Classroom MELTON E. GOLMON Science Education Center The University of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa Although much emphasis has been placed, in professional journals, science textbooks and teacher training programs, on the inquiry method of teaching, the inquiry teaching concept has achieved only a limited acceptance in sec-ondary schools. Esler ( 1970) lists several reasons for this apparent lack of success: 1. There is a more in-depth understanding of subject matter required of of the teacher. 2. It is often necessary for the teacher to accept a new and alien position as an indirect, integrative leader. 3. Additional, difficult-to-master skills are necessary for the teacher. These skills are those of asking good questions and administering selective reinforcements to student response. 4. There are many failures by teachers in early attempts at conducting in-quiry lessons. 5. The students do not know how to react to the new and strange atmos-phere of inquiry. These difficulties may explain, to some degree, the lack of general acceptance of the inquiry teaching approach in science classrooms. Biology courses developed by the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study were designed to be laboratory centered and inquiry oriented ( Glass, 1969). However, many biology teachers attempt to use BSCS materials without ever implementing the BSCS philosophy, and thus a major goal, teaching science as process, is never attained. Teaching the process of science is important in that the student is allowed to use his mind and develop critical thinking skills that are generalizable to other types of situations. Although laboratory experiences of an investigative nature should be em-phasized in biology courses, there are other means to involve students in in-quiry. One means consists of providing students with an opportunity to read, study and critique scientific articles or other reports in order to discover the methods scientists use in solving problems. There are occasions when this can be a challenging activity if employed in the appropriate manner. Using scientific articles in teaching biology is not a new innovation. Bau-mel and Berger ( 1965) provide one approach in which the student is asked to 3 read a selected article and then answer questions similar to the following: 1. What problem was the scientist studying? 2. What information did the scientist have at hand 'when he investigated the problem? 3. What hypothesis did the scientist probably have in mind as he planned the investigation? 4. What was the outcome of the experiment? 5. What conclusion was reached? 6. Is the conclusion justified? 7. What simple experiments could you plan that make it possible to con-firm the scientist's conclusions? 8. What have you used in your experimental plan that was not available to the scientist? Benson ( 1968) provides a similar but more specific approach. In his method students are asked to read a selected research article and relate certain con-cepts to an upcoming experiment. In both approaches just discussed, the em-phasis is on science as process or inquiry. For teachers interested in using research articles to enhance an inquiry approach in the classroom, an excellent beginning would be to read and study the "Invitations to Inquiry" in the Biology Teachers' Handbook. These invitations can then be used as models for scientific articles selected by the teacher. For example, the teacher may decide not to give students the research article prior to the classroom discussion. Instead, the experimental work is described to the class step by step. The teacher poses questions to the stu-dents as the investigation is being described. Students are presented with the experimental data and are asked to explain and interpret the data before the scientist's conclusions are given. Thus, the article is used in much the same way as an invitation to inquiry would be. By using research articles for inquiry, it is hoped that, in looking at the ex-perimental work critically, the student will experience the feeling of the sci-entist as he examined the work. In this way science becomes much more than just a collection of facts to be memorized. The facts evolve from the process and thus are much more meaningful. Research articles must be carefully chosen and must involve material simi-lar to that being studied at the time. If a college library is not located nearby, then the following sources can be used to obtain suitable research articles: Great Experiments in Biology (Text) by Gabriel and Fogel. This is an ex-cellent source of original research articles. It contains most of the classical experiments in biology. Certain Scientific American offprints and Science Reprints, especially those containing graphs, charts and other experimental data, are appropriate for this approach. A complete listing of all Scientific American offprints may be obtained from: W . H. Freeman and .Company, 660 Market Street, San Fran-cisco, California 94101. A listing of Science Reprints may be obtained from: 4 AAAS Reprints, Department LW (1420), 1515 Massachusetts Avenue, _N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005. BIBLIOGRAPHY Baumel, H. B. and J. J. Berger. "Teaching from Research Papers: An Approach to Teaching Science As a Process ." The Science Teacher 32:29, 1965. Benson, B. W. "Fortifying Laboratory Inquiry Through the Use of Scientific Ar-ticles." Iowa Science Teachers' Journal 5:4, 1968. Gabriel, M. L. and S. Fogel. Great Experiments in Biology (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall) , 1955. Glass, B. "The Philosophy of a Curriculum Study." BSCS Newsletter No. 37, 1969. Esler, W. K. "Structuring Inquiry for Classroom Use." School Science and Mathe-matics 70:5, 1970. Klinckman, E. (Supervisor) , Biology Teachers' Handbook (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.), 1970. Helping Children Learn Earth-Space Science For teachers who are looking for more ideas and background in teach-ing earth and space science, this new publication should provide just the lift. Helping Children Learn Earth-Space Science is a compilation of out-standing articles which have been brought together from Science and Children, 1963-1971, by William B. Matthews III, Professor of Geology at Lamar State College of Technology, Texas. Dr. Matthews groups his ma-terial into five main sections: astrono-my, geology, meteorology, oceanogra-phy and water, and conservation and environment. He has selected the pieces not only for their appropriate-ness, accuracy and clarity, but also for their potential and practical use to teachers who are not science special-ists. In each section articles concerned 5 primarily with subject matter appear first. Next comes supportive material dealing with resources for teaching-learning, and then pieces which pre-sent teaching-learning experiences. Short items useful as "Teaching Tips" are also included. Dr. Matthews has taken particular care in helping the teacher bring to children material which helps develop skills in observa-tion, in collecting and analyzing sci-entific data, and in testing theories and hypotheses. Helping Children Learn Ea1th-Space Science is published by the Na-tional Science Teachers Association. It is available from NEA Publications Sales, 1201 16th Street, N.W., Wash-ington, D.C. 20036. Stock number 471-14606; 256 pages; 1971; $5.00. Dis-count on quantity orders of two to nine copies is 10 percent; 10 or more, 20 percent. Payment must accompany all orders except those on official pur-chase order forms. Postage and han-dling charges will be added to billed orders. 

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