July, 2005

Eleven local and regional teachers met at LIGO Hanford Observatory in July for "The Nature of Scientific Inquiry," a two-week WSU Tri-Cities graduate course. The participants, whose teaching assignments ranged from first grade through upper high school, undertook a range of activities involving discussion, practice and reflection to deepen their understanding of inquiry. LIGO provided an up-close look at how the scientific method unfolds in a research setting. Each teacher authored four inquiry activities and an outline for an inquiry-based unit. These assignments transferred the theoretical aspects of inquiry and the nature of science to the practical level of classroom implementation. Teachers departed with these additions to their teaching toolboxes for the upcoming school year.

WSU Tri-Cities Professor Judy Morrison (seated at left in the adjacent photo) provided the instruction. Judy's interest in inquiry-based classroom methods has been a key factor in the development of the course. LHO Head Fred Raab (standing, below right) participated in many of the activities and discussions, bringing his research viewpoint and his experience with science concepts. LHO Education and Outreach staffer Dale Ingram coordinated the teachers' use of LIGO's resources and facilities. 2005 was the second offering of the course, now listed as Teaching and Learning 523 in the WSU Tri-Cities catalog.

The participants experienced LIGO through a site tour and through job shadows and interviews with LHO staff members. The job shadows and interviews provided a chance for teachers to test their notions of what scientists and engineers do in their day-to-day working lives. Teachers were interested and often surprised to hear impressions of the scientific method from those who use it every day. Other activities in the syllabus included films and a number of readings (plus discussions of these) along with inquiry experiments using pendulums and electrostatic materials. LHO summer interns Keith Plewman (McLoughlin Middle School) and Brock Wells (Robert Olds Junior High) assisted Dale Ingram in acquainting the teachers with LIGO's educational resources and assisted them in exploring the site's nine interactive exhibits.

The culminating course activity was a 20-minute presentation by each teacher that gave the entire class an experience with one of the teacher's four inquiry activities. The highly collaborative group enthusiastically tackled Mobius strips, simple electric circuits, clay boats, heat transfer and other lessons that spanned a spectrum of grade levels, science content and materials lists. Several participants later commented on the value of experiencing inquiry across the K-12 spectrum.

Participant feedback from both years of the course has been positive, and LIGO and WSU Tri-Cities hope to continue to offering T&L 523 in coming summers. Teachers interested in future enrollment should check the LHO Web site in the spring of 2006 or inquire at WSU-TC's Department of Teaching and Learning.