Is the "Scientific Method" Still the Way to Go for Science Lessons?

 Ask 20 teachers what scientific inquiry is and it’s possible you’ll receive 20 different answers. From a series of proscribed steps to a lab-based free-for-all, conceptions have shifted over time. In the National Research Council’s (NRC) 1996 National Science Education Standards (NSES), inquiry held a prominent position as its own content area, but the term rarely comes up in its 2012 Framework for K–12 Science Education (Framework). A report by the Midwest Comprehensive Center and myself (image above) details how notions of inquiry have changed in recent history, particularly as seen within the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). A further section of the report that won’t be described here analyzes how the science standards of upper Midwest states describe inquiry. 

In preparing this report, we reviewed articles about science inquiry from both current and historical perspectives, analyzed national science standards and related documents, and interviewed national science education experts.

Historical beginnings

In the early 20th century, John Dewey proposed a list of five steps scientists use in their work, intending to emphasize their reflective work practices, but educators instead interpreted those ideas as the five linear steps to doing science. Pedagogy and curricula through the 20th century showed the increasing popularity of labs with proscribed procedures and the idea of a set “scientific method.”

Standards era shift

In 1993, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Benchmarks of Science Literacy clearly pushed on this idea of a set method and discussed inquiry as a “habit of mind.” The 1996 NSES attempted to further clarify notions of inquiry with the five big ideas of inquiry in its own section of the content standards. With a follow-up report, Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards (2000), the NRC stated that, “Students do not come to understand inquiry simply by learning words such as ‘hypothesis’ and ‘inference’ or by memorizing procedures such as ‘the steps of the scientific method.’”. In the NSES, inquiry instead described the way scientists study the world and build explanations based on evidence.

Teachers nevertheless continued to use the scientific method as a convenient way to organize scientific investigations and what it means to think like a scientist, and instructional materials supported this approach. Textbooks today continue to include separate chapters on a scientific method. According to Dr. Joe Krajcik, a member of the NGSS writing team, “While well intentioned, when the National Science [Education] Standards assigned inquiry to its own separate content area, it meant that inquiry remained separate from other science learning.” And, thus, got its own chapter in the textbook! Therefore, as noted by Dr. Melissa Braaten, a professor at the University of Colorado-Boulder, “In schools, inquiry had come to mean one narrow image of doing formulaic, defined experiments. Teachers would refer to it as ‘the scientific method’ like it was a titled thing.”

Framework and the NGSS

The writers of the Framework and consequent NGSS aimed to clarify ideas of scientific practice, moving away from varying ideas of “inquiry.” As emphasized by Dr. Helen Quinn, a researcher with the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and chair of the NRC Framework committee, “While it is what we do—we inquire—scientists do not use the term inquiry.”

To summarize, in this report we emphasize four big ideas from the Framework and NGSS that take the place of some traditional conceptions of inquiry:

1) Inquiry is a means for constructing scientific understanding; it’s not a content area

    Students should be involved in asking questions and investigating natural phenomena in the world around them. Instead of learning steps of a scientific method, they’re doing science.

2) Inquiry is a fluid set of practices that scientists use

    As Dr. Krajcik notes, “Having the eight practices doesn’t mean that you start with a question, then move on to the next practice... There is no linearity implied. The practices are tied together and any one of them could lead to another.” Further, when working with the practices or discussing their use as a class, they shouldn’t be numbered.

3) Inquiry involves three-dimensional learning

    The science and engineering practices are the means to gain scientific knowledge while investigating phenomena with a lens of the crosscutting concepts. Or, in other words from Matt Krehbiel, assistant director of science at Achieve, Inc., inquiry is “woven into science learning throughout the year, where practices are exercised and integrated with learning of the crosscutting concepts and disciplinary core ideas.”

4) Inquiry is independent from science pedagogy

    Inquiry-based teaching is essential, but it’s not the only appropriate type of instruction. Varying instructional practices based on student learning needs make sense.

Final thoughts

I’m certainly not suggesting that you shouldn’t do inquiry-based lessons; however, I would suggest that you rip out the chapter of your textbook on the scientific method and consider ways to structure labs beyond hypothesis testing. There are as many ways to “do science” as there are scientists, so allow the practices to infuse your instruction where they naturally and logically fit rather than in any prescribed way.

Supporting Students in Asking Questions in Science and STEM

What questions do you have about the world that is within one centimeter of you right now? 

What do you notice and wonder about the phenomenon represented by this graph?

If we look at the performance expectations of Next Generation Science Standards, which many districts and several states have adopted as their science standards, the practice of “asking questions” comes up only four times in all of middle and high school. I argue that for personalized, engaged learning, asking questions is the most important scientific practice. If we want students seeing themselves as scientists (which we do), then they need to be the ones asking the questions. Students’ lived experience and community/cultural-connections matter in building their identity as scientists, and asking questions is a critical part of that. Unfortunately, this practice is one I see only rarely in classrooms. I continue to see many teachers doing most of the deep thinking (and students doing the provided worksheets and Kahoot).

This lack of students’ questions not only misses a critical area of science, it’s also an equity issue. I argue that textbooks and prepared materials most often rely on questions built from the perspective of the dominant white culture. Textbooks and most other materials do not reflect local and community-based phenomena, whether urban or rural. They typically represent a limited notion of content and practice loosely tied to national standards.

Given that many teachers rely on packaged materials, having students ask questions becomes more challenging, but it can be done. Here are a couple strategies for adding in this work:

• Anchor Projects – while day-to-day learning continues, students also work on a self-selected anchor project in the background as time allows. In that space they ask questions and pursue learning based on their own interests, with class-wide sharing and check-ins through the year. This Costa Rica school does that work within a theme at each grade, and this Wisconsin DPI website has further ideas. 
• Driving Question Board – When introduced to a phenomenon, students should have the opportunity to share their noticings and wonderings. Those wonderings can be put on paper or virtual sticky notes to form a “driving question board” that the class returns to throughout the unit. In a typical unit, the vast majority of student questions are answered, while others can be turned over to students to explore on their own beyond classwork. It does not sidetrack planned learning but enhances discussion to better address and include student ideas. Page 22 in this OpenSciEd guidebook has some practical implementation ideas. 
• Other Resources – the Learning in Places team has useful ideas for K-3 science in community spaces. Google Books has a preview of the NSTA Making Sense of the World through Science and Engineering Practices book, which includes most of chapter 5 on asking questions. 

In addition to finding the time for student questioning, students also need help in asking good questions. It’s a skill that needs to be taught. Saying, “Does anyone have any questions?” is not an effective teaching strategy.

• Crosscutting Concepts – this dimension of the NGSS (and Wisconsin Science Standards) details how scientists think about or approach phenomena. It details the questions they ask. Students as well should be using them as question starters. What pattern do we see? What’s happening in the broader system and what do we focus on in this system? How does the structure of this part of the organism relate to its function? Teachers will have to model these questions first. The San Diego County Office of Ed has some useful further ideas. 
• Question Formulation Technique – this process provides a structure for students and a protocol for teachers to work toward asking better questions. It does take more time, especially at first, but will effect real change. 
• Eliciting Student Ideas – Ambitious Science Teaching is an incredible resource (and book). Part of figuring out what students already know can and should involve allowing them to ask questions about the topic. It’s a productive formative assessment for both content understanding and the ability to ask scientific questions. 
• Finally, teachers themselves should model good questions in discussions, on assignments, and on assessments. They should call out when students ask good questions. STEM Teaching Tools has two nice resources for asking questions based on the science and engineering practices and the crosscutting concepts. 

How do you support students in asking questions or help teachers better use this practice in their classrooms? I’d welcome your ideas and resources in the comments.