SCIENCE LABORATORY

INTRODUCTION

The laboratory is central to science instruction. It is in the laboratory that the students learn to handle apparatus, think independently and to draw conclusions on the basis of experiments and observation. Science laboratory is an essential component of science education. It makes scientific understandings in students. Science educators frequently turn to the research literature for support of their requests for funds for supplies and equipment for laboratory activities. Science education researcher have examined the role of the laboratory on many variables, including achievement, attitudes, critical thinking, cognitive style, understanding science, the development of science process skills, manipulative skills, interests, retention in science courses, and the ability to do independent work.

SCIENCE LABORATORY

Laboratory work is an essential component of science education. Scientific theories and practical work in science are the two sides of a coin. These two aspects of science education should supplement and complement each other. Without experiments, the students cannot experience the reality of science. Practical work provides an activity which can be profitable and emotionally satisfying. The development of powers of observation, measurement, drawing inferences is all dependants on laboratory work. Laboratory work helps to realize the process oriented objectives of science teaching .The following are the educationally significant objectives of laboratory work.

· Making abstract scientific understandings concrete.

· Development of scientific concepts and principles.

· Development of scientific skills ,attitudes, interests and appreciation

· Training in scientific method.

· Awakening the maintenance of curiosity in the environment

LEARNING GOALS FOR LABORATORY ACTIVITIES

   

      Laboratory activities must be designed to engage students’ minds, so that students may acquire skill and confidence in their:    

· Measurement of physical quantities with appropriate accuracy        

· recognition of factors that could affect the reliability of their    measurements        

· manipulations of materials, apparatus, tools, and measuring instruments       

· clear descriptions of their observations and measurements      

· representation of information in appropriate verbal, pictorial, graphical, and mathematical terms. 

· inference and reasoning from their observations.

· ability to rationally defend their conclusions and predictions        

· effective and valued participation with their peers and their teacher in a cooperative intellectual enterprise 

· articulate reporting of observations, conclusions, and predictions in formats ranging from

· informal discussion to a formal laboratory report 

· ability to recognize those questions that can be investigated through experiment and to plan, carry out, evaluate, and report on such experiments.      

FOR LEARNING FROM LABORATORY ACTIVITIES TEACHING CONDITIONS

  Theory and research suggest that meaningful learning is possible in laboratory activities if all students are provided with opportunities to manipulate equipment and materials while working cooperatively with peers in an environment in which they are free to pursue solutions to problems that interest them.

The following teaching conditions enable this to occur.    

   

· For students to acquire the manual and mental skills associated with learning physics, it is essential that they be fully engaged in laboratory activities. This requires sufficient equipment and laboratory stations for laboratory groups containing only two or three students. 

· The number of students and of laboratory stations in a classroom must be small enough for the teacher to supervise the safety of student activities and to have sufficient time to actively work with each laboratory group.

· Schools and teachers must ensure equal access to laboratory activities under appropriate supervision for all students, with provision made for adapting activities for students with a disability.

· Where appropriate, laboratory activities should include equipment and phenomena that relate to the students’ world, such as toys, sports equipment, tools, household items, etc. 

· The integration of laboratory activities with classroom work requires that students be able to move smoothly between their desks and the laboratory area and that there be sufficient space for equipment to remain set up. A classroom arrangement with space for desks, computers, and ample space for laboratory stations and equipment in the same room is ideal. At the high school level, it is especially desirable for the laboratory area to be integrated with the classroom. 

· Computers and modern instruments should be part of the laboratory equipment. Although excellent physics learning can take place using the simplest equipment, computers and measuring instruments incorporating modern technology can be powerful tools for learning physics concepts and developing skills of measurement, analysis, and processing information. 

· Computer simulations should not substitute for laboratory experience, but may be used to supplement and extend such experience.

· Evaluation of student learning in physics should include assessment of skills developed in laboratory activities as well as the knowledge acquired during these activities. Test questions relating directly to laboratory work act not only to assess laboratory learning, but also communicate  the importance of laboratory work to students.

· Effective employment of laboratory activities requires that teachers have adequate and convenient storage for equipment; a workspace with tools to repair, maintain, or construct equipment; and enough planning time in their schedule to maintain, set up, and try out laboratory equipment prior to classes.  

· Safe laboratory work for students and teachers requires adequate, up-to-date safety equipment; an emphasis on safe practice in all activities; and the availability of resources and references on safety, such as the AAPT publication, Teaching Physics Safely.

· To maintain their skills and keep abreast of new developments in physics teaching, teachers need time, money, support, and encouragement to participate in appropriate professional activities. These may include attendance at workshops and professional conferences; examining new laboratory equipment, curricula, texts and resource materials; and working and consulting with colleagues in schools and colleges and in the physics and engineering research community.      

   

The role of the laboratory is central in high school physics courses since students must construct their own understanding of physics ideas. This knowledge cannot simply be transmitted by the teacher, but must be developed by students in interactions with nature and the teacher. Meaningful learning will occur where laboratory activities are a well-integrated part of a learning sequence. The separation of laboratory activities from lecture is artificial, and not desirable in high school physics.    

   

LABORATORY RULES AND DISCIPLINE

              Laboratory safety is positive undertaking which the science teacher is experience to take up at the time of engaging in any activity in the laboratory in the presence of his students. This would ensure acquisition of safety conscious attitudes among pupils.  Creation of which is a very important duty of the science teacher. The sign of good discipline creating an atmosphere of healthy work. The following are some suggestions or rules for maintenance of discipline in the laboratory.

No pupil should be allowed to enter the laboratory in the absence of the teacher.

Every student should have a place assigned to him for his experiment.

Pupils should perform only those experiments assigned by the teacher.

No equipments/chemicals should be used until proper instructions are received from the teacher.

Reagent bottles should be returned to the shelf immediately after use and these should not be misplaced.

Consider the safety of fellow students. A scientific atmosphere should be kept up in the laboratory.

CONCLUSION

The school science laboratory encompasses a broad variety of forms, including disciplinary breadth (physics, life sciences, chemistry, earth sciences, interdisciplinary investigations) as well as historical breadth. The practical details of scientific work have continued to evolve. New technological infrastructures have been incorporated, interdisciplinary investigations have become more common, the applications of scientific knowledge continue to expand and intersect with the workings of society. School science investigations have not, by and large, kept pace. Efforts should be made to bring school science more in step with contemporary scientific practice. This includes showing how empirical investigation fits into the broader fabric of knowledge work associated with specific disciplines—engaging with the primary literature, communicating the research through 28 presentations and publications, as well as applying laboratory-derived knowledge to societal issues as appropriate. The overriding educational goals can be framed as providing citizens with: (a) images of scientific inquiry that help them understand the role of science in society and (b) experiences that help them develop sufficient disciplinary expertise such that it is personally relevant to their everyday activities.

REFERENCE

1. http://sites.nationalacademies.org/cs/groups/dbassesite/documents/webpage/dbasse_073328.pdf

2. https://www.narst.org/publications/research/labs.cfm

3. Essentials of educational technology-J C Agarwal