Phase 3: Self-Control

Erin E. Peters

February 26, 2006

Nature of Science Concept	Novice Metacognitive Questions with Short Checklists
Scientific knowledge is durable, yet tentative	· How has this lab changed the way you think about the phenomena? · Was there a point in the lab where you were surprised about what happened? · Explain the part of your lab that made you surprised and why you thought it was unusual. € I know that ideas in science change scientists agree the old idea doesn’t fit with new information that is reliable. € I know that scientists are strict about how they get information, so ideas in science are long-lasting.
Empirical evidence is used to support ideas in science	· How do you know something is true? · Is your observation clear to other people? · Check what you think against what you see (feel, hear). · What evidence do you have to support your idea? € My observations are clear to other people who are not performing this lab. € My observations come only from my five senses, and are not inferences. € My observations can be used later to make conclusions.
Social and historical factors play a role in the construction of scientific knowledge	· How did each member of your group contribute to the learning during this lab? · Did members of your group give you ideas that you didn’t think of? · What is the same about the items you are classifying? · What is different about the items you are classifying? · Would other people agree with your way of classifying? € I used information discussed in the introduction of the lab to help me make sense of my results. € I listened to other group members when they suggested different ideas.
Laws and theories play a central role in developing scientific knowledge, yet they have different functions	· What big ideas could your facts explain? · Is there something similar about the facts that you could describe? · Have expert scientists reported about the ideas you generated? · What big ideas (theory) did you use to make sense of your observations? € My conclusions describe a big idea that can be backed up by my results. € I thought about what I already knew about the topic before I gathered data.
Accurate record keeping, peer review and replication of experiments help to validate scientific ideas	· Could you understand what you did to get your data weeks or months from now? · Did you ignore any data/observations that happened? · Could you understand what you did to obtain your data weeks or months from now? · Is your data organized to clearly illustrate your point? € I would be able to understand my data table weeks or months from now. € I paid attention to all possible observations. € I thought about different ways to organize my data and decided on the one that best emphasizes my conclusion.
Science is a creative endeavor	· What experiences gave you ideas to help you make sense of your data? · What kinds of patterns did you find in your data? · Where else in your life have you seen patterns like the ones you saw in your lab? € I looked for patterns in my results as I gathered data. € I thought about many different conclusions that my results could explain and chose the one that made the most sense to me.
Science and technology are not the same, but they impact each other	· Would other people understand your measurement method? · Could other tools be used to perform the measurement? How might that tool be more or less useful? · Does your measurement method have a standard to compare against? € I made measurements that are based on a standard system like the metric system. € I thought about many different tools that could have been used in this lab and chose the most useful one.