after the bell

This article in Education Week discusses a Boston teacher’s efforts to integrate high quality laboratory experiences in his ninth grade physics class. You may wonder why this is news, but I am curious whether you agree with the author’s assessment of what quality laboratory experiences entails. How is what this teacher is trying to do consistent or different from the types of laboratory activities you designed in your unit plans? Do you think his classes are engaging in “science inquiry?”   Why or why not?

Is the idea of having students engage in activities before discussing content in class consistent with what we know about how students learn? What can you see as limits to this notion?