Forcino, F. L. (2013). The Importance of a Laboratory Section on Student Learning Outcomes in a University Introductory Earth Science Course. Journal of Geoscience Education, 61, 213–221.
This study demonstrates the importance of having a laboratory component of an introductory-level, university Earth science course. The author is from the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. Students’ conceptual knowledge outcomes from laboratory sections were measured by administering an independent concept inventory (a modified version of the Geoscience Concept Inventory) at the beginning and end of two courses: lecture with laboratory, and lecture-only (a brief description of both is included). Students in both courses demonstrated a significant increase in inventory scores. The mean increase for the course with laboratory (pre n=74, post n=56) was 33% greater than for the lecture-only course (pre n=354, post n=253). There is no evidence that a student more adept at science enrolled in one course instead of the other and the same two instructors taught the same material in both courses. However, one notable difference between the two courses was that the lecture-only course was intensive, while the course with a lab spanned a full academic term. The author concludes that since research exists demonstrating time-shortened courses produce the same increase in student concept knowledge as traditional-length courses, the inclusion of the laboratory most likely led to greater learning gains.
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