A great lab can be a waste of time if students don’t understand the purpose of the lab beforehand or have enough time to process the lab after it’s over. Some considerations:
- Pre-lab questions should review previous information, draw on students’ prior knowledge, and help them anticipate the lab
- Pre-lab questions can be given the day before the lab, to save time on the lab day, as well as increase students’ anticipation of the lab and their sense that you know what you’re doing next
- The lab should be conducted as early in the period as possible to give students time to work on post-lab activities that will help them make meaning from the lab activity
- Post-lab questions should return students to the pre-lab questions, have them examine and make conclusions about their data, and help them see the implications of their findings.
What other considerations would you add?