Concept activities: planning checklist

In developing concept activities, or modifying existing labs to fit the workshop philosophy, we use the "planning checklist" below to make sure we are incorporating good teaching principles into these activities. We may not include every recommendation on the checklist in every lab, but we are at least reminded to consider each one.
  1. Do I have an "advance organizer" to show the class where we are headed? Are the objectives clearly stated here?
  2. Is there some discussion (on the handout or in class) of why these objectives are important?
  3. Do the students have opportunities to make their own observations, and to formalize those observations in writing or drawing?
  4. Do the students have opportunities to ask their own questions (leading to hypotheses and predictions) or pose their own problems?
  5. Have I researched probable misconceptions the students will have about concepts or processes in this lab, and do I have strategies to deal with them?
  6. Do the students have opportunities to work in groups, and are there clear group process guidelines?
  7. Do the students have opportunities to critique each other's work?
  8. Do the students have opportunities to act on each other's feedback?
  9. Do the instructors have opportunities to gather feedback from the students, to check understanding?
  10. Do the instructors have opportunities to present findings from this feedback to students, correcting misunderstandings?
  11. Will the objectives of this lab be more formally evaluated (quiz, homework, paper, etc.), and do students have the opportunity to practice using the knowledge and skills they will be using on the evaluation?

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