Sunday, October 26, 2008

Using Data Collection Probes in your Classroom

Welcome to the Bridging the Gap... Scientifically blog, a grant partnership with Beverly and Salem High School science teachers.  This first discussion will be about classroom implementation of what we learned during our 2 day Vernier Data Collection Probe training.

Please post a comment about your experience with using data collection probes in the classroom....What went well? Not so well? What issues did you have? What might you do differently the next time? By February 1.....please post a comment and then come back later to review all comments and post a response to what you have read. This should all be completed no later than February 9th

Remember that not only is this activity a course requirement for graduate credit....but it can also be a useful way to benefit from the experiences of your colleagues!

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Everyone! I am going to practice the blog and give a quick update of happenings in Salem. We had a few teachers inventory our Vernier stock and come up with a wish list to give to Gail. Meg is receiving all the lesson plans to format the same. We are putting them in a folder on our network. Gail has ordered a few things. We look forward to getting the oxygen probes and doing the respiration lab in biology. We would also like to spend some time planning a yeast lesson??
Thanks again for being great hosts, the training was awesome but the hospitality was better. Sue

Paulze said...

Well, I did an activity today - I used the probes for a lab on intermolecular attractions.

What didn't work - Unfortunately I had to change the lab - it calls for 2 temperature probes to be run simultaneously, but we didn't have enough golinks. I changed the directions, but failed to see if it worked using the files on Logger Pro - well, it didn't work. You have to use the files exactly as the lab is written! We managed. It went ok, but kids do not know how to follow directions! I did a podcast on the background and using logger pro - I think it helped.

Another problem was with the batteries of the laptops. By my third class the batteries started to die. Next time I'll need to have the chargers closer than on the other side of the school!

What was good - it gave the students visual confirmation on what was happening with the temperature. I had them save their graphs and I'll have them include a graph in their lab writeup. We'll see how they answer the lab question on their next test!

Donna B

Paulze said...

I used the probes today on a lab looking at evaporation rates and intermolecular attractions

What went well: allowing students graphically see the change in temperature using different liquids. We'll see if they can connect the structure of the molecule to the rates of evaporation when I give them their next test.

What didn't go well: I had to change the directions and use 1 temperature probe instead of 2. I learned that you cannot use the predone files if you don't use exactly the same setup. I spent some time trying to figure out why the temperature probe was not being read

Another problem was battery life - by my third class the laptops started running out of juice. Next time I'll be sure to have the chargers in my classroom and not all the way on the other side of the school.

I think once the students get used to Logger Pro it will go a little better. It was exhausting going from laptop to laptop.

Donna B

Anonymous said...

Last week I worked with Sue Mickey in her classroom. The Students were conducting the Alka Seltzer lab. There were four classes involved: 1 honors, 1 Special Ed mixed and two College Prep classes. To expedite matters, we copied a file that Sue had prepared that included directions for the lab onto each laptop.
Before they began, Sue modeled the lesson and showed them Mr. Marcoux’s podcast directions for the lab. They were asked to type in a hypothesis, conduct the experiment, label their graphs, take two pictures, incorporate the pictures and graphs in the lab report. Finally they were required to type in a conclusion and print the report. The honors class was able to complete everything in one block. The other classes needed additional time to complete the conclusion.

All in all, it went very well. The students had very little difficulty with any of the technology and were very engaged They slowed down with composing a conclusion. What might be done differently is changing the number in and composition of the groups. When the groups were large (5) not all students participated. Three is an ideal group, but depending on the size of the class and number of probes/go links that may not always be possible.

Unknown said...

I used the vernier temperature probes for a lab on endothermic/exothermic reactions. As Gail Doherty stated she came in to help with the technology questions which was very helpful. I did demo the lab before at the front of the class and used a podcast of the procedure that Graeme created. (a lot of work for the technically disabled) Students never read directions and I wonder why I write the procedure down at times, but they did enjoy the podcast more and once it is done it is finished forever! Perhaps the students who finish first with the lab could create the podcast! Have the honors kids make it for the CP kids. I only had 8 stations with probes and laptops, we have 10 go links and it is hard to keep all kids busy. Rotating time on the computer and tasks is essential. The best thing I did was not make copies of the lab. I put it on the laptop and the students just typed over the document. They also used the photo booth to take pics of the control and variable and themselves for the names. The vernier software is great and the graphs cut and pasted easily on the lab document. I still feel I need to utilize more tools on it. When the students finished the lab they hit print and it was done! I would suggest a plan to store unfinished labs and a clean up of all the extra photos and data before next class. Overall it was awesome the kids were very engaged and real science was done!
Sue Mickey

Anonymous said...

Over the course of the last few days I have been running the same lab with 4 classes of Freshman. It's given me a good opportunity in a short amount of time to see what works and what doesn't.

My major negative has more to do with my planning than with the technology, which I am extremely happy to report :) I had debated about how I was going to present the technology/ show them how to use Logger Pro. For the first class for which I have a SPED co-teacher and a SPED Aide, I thought it would be easier to show the students at their actual computer instead of doing a demo or writing out instructions. I had good intentions but of course it just led to mass chaos.

With the second class, I thought I would try to do a demo first. When my laptop wasn't projecting properly that idea fell through. So I wrote some general steps on the board. Definitely better.

By the third and fourth class, I had completed a typed up checklist of basic commands for them to do to complete a graph and a data table.

I know it sounds silly to talk about basic common sense stuff here, but I forgot one thing. Most of these students feel much more comfortable with computer technology than I do. They just needed the basics and they were off. I didn't need to micromanage them or over explain things.

On a positive note, students that tend to have attention difficulties in the classroom were much more interested in what we were doing and offered to help others.

The program is very user friendly and I definitely don't feel so phobic now that I have run through my first lab.

Allyson
SHS

pdupray said...

Before the Christmas vacation I tried using the O2 sensors with a cp bio class and the blood pressure sensor with my A&P.

I tired the O2 sensor lab several times before I used it in class. The first few times the data was not very significant and I decided to extend the 10 minute wait time to measure the O2 gas being produced to 20 minutes and the data was better. I was able to do several runs and save the data so they could be compared. Using the linear fit option let you see even a slight change. Although I was able to get the experiment to work and analyze the data, I think I would need to play with it some more to run both the O2 and CO2 sensors at the same time and use the linear fit/software to analyze the data. Hopefully, if I can run I can do 2.
I chose a small group of students to implement this with, while my other students were at a class meeting. The data was not as good as when I practiced and again, the 10 minute wait time was not enough to see a change in slope in the right direction. I have to wonder if the leaf type used also makes a difference, and how fresh the specimens are (just picked vs. a few hours or day old). Again, using the linear fit we saw a change in slope right at the end of the period. I did not have students do a formal lab write up and instead we had a short discussion on what the data meant. I applied that to if we repeated the same experiment and used the
CO2 sensor. It was good for me to practice this with a small group and to also complete the activity
1st myself a few times. Practicing ahead of time was definitely helpful because it gave me achance to work with the software and linear fit and save options. I was also able to adjust my wait time activity to something that made up for the exended time.

I practiced using the blood pressure probe with a student lab aid before doing a demonstration in class and it worked great. The data before and after exercise was good, but the data obtained when soaking the aid's hand in iced water was great!

We only have 1 blood pressure sensor so I did this as a class demonstration using a volunteer. The iced water data was not as significant as my practice run and the exercise data was not entirely what we had expected.
In the exercise class demonstration the student had removed the blood pressure cuff when she should have kept it on during the exercise period so that may have been a factor in a variation of results.
The data and calcualtions after each run of the blood pressure sensor is printed on the screen for analysis. This is great for interpretation and anlaysis, but I find students miss out on actually learning how to take a blood pressure using a cuff, stethoscope and sphygmomanometer.

So, the problem I had with the blood pressure sensor was that I connected my lap top to the projector for the class to see and although it is set up to use for presentations such as power points, the data, graphs, etc were not readable with the pixel setting. So, in the future, if I use my laptop and the projector for a probe demonstration, that will have to be addressed so students have an easier time reading the data off the board. I ended up writing the data on the board so they could see it.

So,those were my first tries at using the probes. It at least made me a little more comfortable with the technology, however, I would still opt for trying this a few more times with a small number of groups until I'm confident with the probes and the software.

pdupray said...

Blog Response to Paulze
After trying 2 different probes with classes, I am wondering what a good group size would be. I know it's limited to the # of go links but I think that when they are too large, not everyone participates and when you have plent of go links and you can have small groups, it means there are more groups and their particular problems (with probes or software) to deal with. The podcast is a great idea and can be used over again. In the meantime, maybe a demonstration ahead of time can also help answer some of the initial questions students and groups have. However, in order to use my Mac and software in a demo I have to change resolution setting to make text and numbers discernable.

MMartin said...

I have not run any probe labs yet as I have not yet gotten to the point in my curriculum where it will be applicable but I wanted to see what everyone was talking about and throw my own post up here.

My hope is to run a lab using either the EKG probes (for either a cardiovascular system lab or a lab involving skeletal muscle contraction - both are applicable) or the Heart Rate probe in my Human Body in Health and Disease course (which is an articulation with North Shore Community College) and/or in my Honors Anatomy classes.

There are 2 issues that I forsee being problematic: 1. I'm not sure how many EKG probes we have nor am I certain we have the "stickes" (electrodes) for them. and 2, we have only one working Heart Rate probe.

I'll keep you all posted, I'm sure you'll be hanging on the edge of your seats ....

Anonymous said...

I like Sue's idea of the podcast for directions. My checklist worked well for most students, but I have a few students who have reading problems.

I'm getting used to using the Logger Pro software more and more and hating my Mac less and less :)

I used the probes the other day as a lab demo and projected the results on the screen. I liked how easy it was to collect data to make a quick point.

There's just one small thing that I have a question about. Is there anyway to un-autoformat? It would be nice to click back and forth between it but I haven't seem to found the right button.

Allyson
SHS

Paulze said...

As Patty said, running the lab first is a must. I, unfortunately, did not do that after I changed part of the lab. As Sue said, the students do not read the directions. I'm planning on doing the endothermic/exothermic lab in 2 weeks - I'm hoping that the honors chem kids will read the lab. I had done a podcast to explain parts of the lab when I did the intermolecular attraction lab - that seemed to help the students that bothered to watch it

Gary Prodanas said...

Hi All!!!
I hope that everyone's labs are going well.

I have used a colorimetry lab in my forensics class. Students had to analyze inks to determine which type of pen was used to write a ransom note. As other people have noted, the biggest problem is getting the students to read the directions (although using the computers instead of the calculators makes the directions significantly more straightforward). In my past experience with the calculators and probes , students have become overwhelmed with the keystrokes and the intricate menus. The computer software is much more straightforward and the real time graphs are easier to read making the results more user friendly.

Gary

Suzanne said...

I didn't have an opportunity to use the probes with my first semester classes but plan on using them second semester with my Environmental Science and grade 10 Biology classes.

For my Environmental Science classes, I'm planning to use the pH probes with an Acid Rain lab at the beginning of 4th quarter. The lab takes a bit of prep work but when the other ES teacher and I wrote it, we tried the reactions and they worked well with the probes. The prep work involves pre-measuring the chemicals into pipettes so that during the lab, the students add the chemicals to water to make carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and sulfur dioxide gases. These gases are then introduced (separately) to a test tube of water and the pH probe measures the change in pH as the gases are bubbled through the water. The lab is meant to simulate the affects of these emission gases when mixed with rain water.

By the time this lab is done, we're planning on using the laptops to have the students create photobooks about animal adaptations and podcasts about biomes. So the students should be comfortable using the computers. We'll just be adding a new piece of technology -- the Vernier probes. I know that I'm going to have to practice with the golinks and probes prior to using them so that I will feel comfortable and be able to help my students. I'm also planning on inviting Judy to the class so that she can see the lab (and maybe help me & my students with any problems!).

Anonymous said...

I have been fortunate to use the vernier probes in four classes (I co-teach with Sue, Graeme, and Allyson). First use of the probes was in Sue's class. Between the demo, directions, and lab set up everything was a go. As Sue stated, most students didn't read the directions until they were stuck; but, having the directions provided the guidance needed to complete the lab. The down side of the lab was the size of the groups (too large) the upside of the lab was the engagement of the students. Having the lab on the laptops and having the students use photo-booth to take pictures of the variable and control intrigued most students. Additionally, they were amazed that once they hit print, their lab reports were completed.

Allyson is too hard on herself. As she said, the first class she used the probes with she didn't have directions. Although, it was a little confusing in the beginning, it wasn't mass chaos. The lesson probably took longer without the directions; but, because the students are comfortable with computer technology, they understood how to use logger pro by the end of the class and were able to do a graph and data table. The second class I did with Allyson did go smoother with the directions. Taking both classes into consideration and the dynamics of each class, the best part was seeing that the students worked well together and were engaged in the learning process. Interestingly, one student asked if they had to graph the data when they saw the data page. They were amazed (or relieved) when I showed them that the graph also printed out.

Last use of the probes was in Graeme's class. Graeme had the lab set up with directions. Didn't have to worry about technology in this class because I knew if I was stuck that the king of technology was there (Graeme). Although we had to help some of the students with set-up and questions, most referred to the directions for help. Again, the engagement of the students was amazing.

Overall, my experience using the probes and logger pro in the classes was great. There were a few technical problems but between the students and teachers, they were worked out.

Mary C. @SHS

Anonymous said...

I didn't have an opportunity to use the probes with my first semester classes but plan on using them second semester with my Environmental Science and grade 10 Biology classes.

For my Environmental Science classes, I'm planning to use the pH probes with an Acid Rain lab at the beginning of 4th quarter. The lab takes a bit of prep work but when the other ES teacher and I wrote it, we tried the reactions and they worked well with the probes. The prep work involves pre-measuring the chemicals into pipettes so that during the lab, the students add the chemicals to water to make carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and sulfur dioxide gases. These gases are then introduced (separately) to a test tube of water and the pH probe measures the change in pH as the gases are bubbled through the water. The lab is meant to simulate the affects of these emission gases when mixed with rain water.

By the time this lab is done, we're planning on using the laptops to have the students create photobooks about animal adaptations and podcasts about biomes. So the students should be comfortable using the computers. We'll just be adding a new piece of technology -- the Vernier probes. I know that I'm going to have to practice with the golinks and probes prior to using them so that I will feel comfortable and be able to help my students. I'm also planning on inviting Judy to the class so that she can see the lab (and maybe help me & my students with any problems!).

Randee E.

Anonymous said...

Response to all
I am seeing a few common frustrations and successes with the technology. The frustrations: It takes a lot of prep time, equipment is not always optimal for the large classes, batteries run out, kids do not read directions, and we expect too much of ourselves. The successes: without this course many of us would NEVER have done these labs (i now have 3 new ones), the kids are using and integrating technology, and it will only get better. January is almost over and we are really rocking science teachers!
Sue Mickey

Anonymous said...

I ran a lab in AP bio using the CO2 and O2 probes. We were doing lab 5 which involves measuring the output from germinating peas. We have not done any background classwork on plants or seeds yet. The pre-lab involved questions about seeds and photosynthesis and cell respiration. Most students thought the peas would do photosynthesis. I let them try to devise ways to measure what was going on with the plants but, they had no prior knowledge of the probes so ultimately I told them what our experimental design would be. They were of course more adept than I with the computer and enjoyed the lab and immediate graph print out. I then had them go back and explain why their hypothesis was incorrect. Probes were great and made the lab so much easier and the data much more accessible for the students.

Anonymous said...

I love the podcast idea for lab directions. I often have 1 group of students organize a lab for all to do. They would probably enjoy the podcast. I did not have much trouble with the APbio class using the probes. It is a small class. I will be using the EKG probes in Anatomy. This class has 28 students and I can foresee the problems when their are 6 students at each computer. Especially if I try to let them go without front-loading the lab.

Anonymous said...

After reading other blogs, it appears that most problems are due to lack of enough equipment and group size. What would be the ideal group size. My suggestion is no more than three although without enough equipment this is not easy. Allyson in one of her classes divided it in half and had half do the lab and the other half do something else. This is one possible way this issue could be addressed. Most everyone agrees that the students seemed engaged in the activities and most everyone agreed that directions do help. With everyone's input next use of the probes should be much easier. See all of you at next class.

Mary Cobb

Anonymous said...

I ran a second lab with the probes to assess various rates of photosynthesis in plants of different colors. We have the color spectrometer. I must admit we did not get the desired results. I believe the spectrometer was not working correctly. We continued and put the greens into O2 and Co2 testing containers. This was very visual and we got great reading and beautiful graphs. I am working with Vernier about the spectrometer. It is an AP lab and it would be nice to do it the way we were instructed in the AP lab manual.

Anonymous said...

It helps to post after 15 others have given their feedback. It is interesting to read that most folks had very similar issues when implementing the use of the probes in their classrooms. The issues seem to focus around equipment and planning/preparation.

If we don’t have enough equipment, we make due, but that impacts the group size which affects student engagement/participation.

It also seemed helpful to have directions written out or in the form of a podcast. As the students become more familiar and comfortable with using the probes, do you think that these will be as critical or just be needed as a reference? Also, many teachers practiced the lab beforehand and that seemed to help anticipate glitches.

It’s good to hear from Gary that the computer software is easier to use. You always wonder if you made the correct decision when purchasing a site license for Logger Pro.

Anonymous said...

Hi Everyone,
Randee and I are going to be doing the same lab... The one on different chemicals (SO, NO and CO) and how they affect acid rain levels. We are planning on having the students do a few other assignments on the macs before they do the probe lab so they get more familiar with manuvering their way around the computer.
We are also going to have the chemicals premeausred and put into pipettes to cut down on the length of the lab.
As far as dealing with group size and not enough equipment, I think breaking the class up into two groups is an excellent idea. Otherwise, I can see where problems would occur as to having too many students trying to use the computer at once. If students in the group aren't actively running the program and collecting data, they will lose interest and miss out on parts of the lab.


Sue P.

Anonymous said...

Like Randee I did not have the chance to use the probes with either of my classes first semester. The biggest issue with me for my bio classes was the fact we had already passed the first topic we were going chose to do the lab with and then by the time the end of the semester came, we had no time to finish the curriculum, forget about throwing in a new lab.

I do plan on using these second semester with my Anatomy & Physiology class. The respiration lab we used will work well and as Patty stated, there are some other labs we can do. I will not be trapped with a time constraint with A&P because there isn't an MCAS looming on my shoulders.

I would also like to add these into my biology class once I become more comfortable with the probes.

Erin
BHS

Anonymous said...

Me again... I now had a chance to read through the posts and think most of you had similar problems to what I anticipated (and fear) with the chaos of a new lab. But also, like Allyson said, the kids catch on quickly and it engages them.

I will gladly post more in a few weeks if this is still open!

Erin BHS

Graeme said...

I had my students use the oxygen gas probes to monitor the effect of different temperature variables on the enzyme potato catylase. The lab went very smoothly and most of the students produced results similar to what I would expect. However,the lab procedure was VERY detailed and walked them through every click of the mouse thus taking away from the inquiry value. This was also shown in their discussion of the lab when they had trouble explaining why the results might come out as they did. The only major technological problems we faced were text boxes "disappearing" and usual tool bars not being present. The students did pretty well in utilizing the drop down menus in lieu of the missing tool bars. However, just about every group of students needed assistance discovering the final location of all of their text boxes (they kept moving behind the graph, so we just had to control click on the graph and send it to the back). On my next techno lab I would really like to implement a digital lab report as a part of the lesson. It may not be digital in the way of a video or podcast, but I definitely won't be collecting any papers. I'm thinking that will be a little bit further down the road. Overall, good first experience.

Graeme said...

I dealt with a similar issue as Sue in saving unfinished data. I've started using a flash drive for students to pass around and store their data. This of course can lead to a super disorganized or totally lost flash drive. I think having the students put all of their data into a folder on their desktop labeled with their name would help. They could then move the whole folder onto the flash drive into a folder labeled with their class period. I know this is really obvious stuff, but I definitely didn't think it through before having students save powerpoints onto my flash drive last week and it was NUTS. I think once it becomes routine for the students it will work well. Good job on all the technology use everyone. I too am excited to see more labs developing as a response to these trainings.

Anonymous said...

My first attempt to use the probes will be next week with my CP Biology class doing a re-designed inquiry lab on photosynthesis. Next year, I'll be teaching AP Biology and am really looking forward to using the probes on the labs that don't seem to work very well. The cellular respiration lab hardly ever works right so I was interested to read that the probes were a success in the Salem High's AP Bio class. I know I will also want to use the probes for the photosynthesis and dissolved oxygen labs as well.

Randee E

dragonflier said...

For my class activity, I modified a pH lab for a ninth grade class. I found that I am going to need to have more prep time in class for the students. The only thing I had a real problem with was a software issue. Our kids are not yet used to apple computers and how they work. Throw on top of that the introduction of the Logger Pro software and they become confused. I spent more time explaining how to use the software than helping with the probes and pH readings.
I ran the lab as a comparison with the old lab. Day 1, the students ran the old pH lab of testing household materials with litmus and pH papers. Day 2 we used the computers and probes to measure pH of the same materials from the day before. This aspect worked out very well as they could see the difference between the two. Comparing all the data as a class allowed them to see how inaccurate their “paper” readings were compared to the class data with the probes, which were very similar.
So, I am going to have to include an intro activity using the Macs before we actually do the lab. Other than that, using the probes was definitely a success. The kids were quieter and more focused too – always a plus
Trish R

dragonflier said...

So, I actually went through, as I am sure many of you did, and read your posts about the use of the probes. It sounds like everyone enjoyed trying out the technology but we all need more time and exposure to the use of the probes. We should probably develop any introductory lesson on how to use the probes and Logger Pro so we can save time on the more complicated lab activities. I haven't had time to look through some of the Vernier text materials, but maybe they actually have an intro activity to familiarize the kids? That would be interesting to see but if not, I will have to make my own. I really believe that that type of document will make all our lives easier as we could then focus on the science!! Not the technology! Trish R

Anonymous said...

Hi all,
It took a while to get to an appropriate spot in my curriculum, but I finally tried the new probe version of my passive solar design lab. The general idea is to have each team build two variations of the same model building to see how one specific design feature affects the temperature inside.

The class brainstormed to create a list of ideas for features that might affect comfort and energy use, like insulation, window size and location, overhangs, etc., then each team select one. I encouraged them to think like a scientist and use the same size models (6"x6"x4"), the same materials (manilla folders), and the same type of lamps. They used two temperature probes to test how one design change affected the interior -- first with the light on, then off.

What worked: The probes were much cooler to work with than thermometers, and they figured out the basics, like the importance of figuring out which probe was set up in which house. We had no major glitches, and the graphs got their attention, especially the cooling down phase.

What was challenging: It always takes too long to build models and set up the testing equipment, which means less time to analyze the results. Even with an activity like this, it still took nagging to get the watchers to do anything of value.

Next time: With more time I would have had the students do more research. They would also take this project another step and do an electronic lab report on their findings, then design a model that used the best of all their research.

Nancy

Anonymous said...

It definitely helped to read about other experiences before I ran a temperature probe lab, and even so, I ran into some of the same challenges (students don't read or listen to instruction, we ran out of time, etc.). It was suggested that we need to teach them about Logger Pro first, but I found pulling one member of each team over to walk them through the process with an existing set-up was almost as effective. They are way more computer savvy than I am, but giving them a written list of steps helps some students and clarified my expectations.
Nancy

Judy Miller said...

From Erin Scanlon
I finally had the chance to use the probes in my class! I used the blood pressure lab in my anatomy class. It was originally going to be a demonstration because we only have one pressure probe, but all of the kids wanted to participate.

It went well, aside from not having enough equipment. There were a few glitches that I was not prepared for, such as misreadings and not being familiar with all of the menu options. Just to speed things up, I ran the computer most of the time because the kids being unfamiliar with the program, it was taking them a little longer just to do things like use the mouse pad and find the menu items. It would have worked great if each student had the ability to do it on their own.

My only regret is we do not have all the equipment to do more labs with Anatomy & Physiology. I am sure I would have run into more glitches if each kid had their own set up, but I enjoyed doing the lab and I think they liked it as well.

nschalch said...

This is another repost from Nancy:

It definitely helped to read about other experiences before I ran a temperature probe lab, and even so, I ran into some of the same challenges (students don't read or listen to instruction, we ran out of time, etc.). It was suggested that we need to teach them about Logger Pro first, but I found pulling one member of each team over to walk them through the process with an existing set-up was almost as effective. They are way more computer savvy than I am, but giving them a written list of steps helps some students and clarified my expectations.
Nancy

Meghan Martin said...

What went well?

Both Joyce and I utilized the EKG vernier probes in our classroom to demonstrate electrical impulses and reflex arcs in the human body. Fortunately we were able to order and/or locate the electrodes ("stickies") necessary The students seemed intrigued with the probes and even went so far as to test the muscles of the face and the reflexes to various visual stimuli. The software actually ran well (a pleasant surprise) and the students were able to record and analyze the data easily.


What might you do differently next time?

Next time I will ideally have more probes available. Presently we only have one probe compatible with the laptops, the only other EKG probe we have is for the calculators (which I am not familiar with). Even with only one laptop/probe set up the lab seemed to go smoothly and the students were still interested and engaged in the lesson.

What evidence of student learning did you see?

The fact that the students were really engaged in this lab was very encouraging, I was equally encouraged when they all did well on a quiz on the material (reflex arcs) the following class. The digital lab reports and podcasts they handed in (thanks to the Randy Yerrick course) demonstrated that they not only knew but could also apply the information they learned.