Submitted by Sarah K. St. Angelo / Dickinson College on Thu, 07/02/2015 - 00:40
My Notes
Description

This is a learning object focused on discussing application of the scientific method in the chemical literature. This focuses on the paper “Nickel-Iron Oxyhydroxide Oxygen-Evolution Electrocatalysts: The Role of Intentional and Incidental Iron Incorporation” (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2014, 136, 6744–6753. DOI: /10.1021/ja502379c) because it explicitly discusses hypotheses, makes predictions based upon them, and then tests them. The learning goals and general question types could be expanded to other papers.

Attachment Size
SciMethod Students handout_0-1.docx 21.16 KB
Learning Goals

Working through this exercise, a student will…

  • Identify scientific hypotheses in a research article.

  • Determine the experiment(s) that were used to test a hypothesis.

  • Identify the experimental results that support or refute a hypothesis.

  • Recognize that hypotheses are questions to answer, not things that you “want” to prove.

Implementation Notes

We envision that students would be provided with the journal article and the student handout to read. Students should attempt to answer questions before coming to class. The key contains answers to the discussion questions and post-discussion reflection topics.

Time Required
50 min (approximately one class period)
Evaluation
Evaluation Methods

Student completion of learning objectives will be assessed through the provided handout that would be turned in after discussions as well as student participation in discussion.

Evaluation Results

This LO has not yet been assessed by the contributors.  We plan to use this LO in upcoming courses, and we will provide assessment information when we have it.  

Creative Commons License
Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike CC BY-NC-SA