What a New-York-State-Regents Online Lab Must Do
How Smart Science® Labs Meet New York State Regents Requirements
by Harry E. Keller, PhD
B.S. Chemistry, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
M.S. Chemistry, Columbia University, New York
PhD Chemistry, Columbia University, New York
Postdoctoral Fellow, Colorado State University, Fort Collins
Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Northeastern University, Boston
Chairman, Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society
Research Scientist, The Foxboro Company, Foxboro
Software Development Manager, Digital Equipment Corporation, Maynard
Vice President for Research and Development, Access Technology, South Natick
President, ParaComp, Inc., creators of Smart Science® Labs
Section 100.5(b)(7)(iv)(d) of the New York Code of Rules and Regulations
(http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/part100/pages/1005b.html) states:
“In order to qualify to take a Regents examination in any of the sciences a student must
complete 1200 minutes of actual hands-on (not simulated) laboratory experience with
satisfactory documented laboratory reports.”
The New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) Briefing Bulletin, Number 00-14, November
2000, states:
“All laboratories completed by students should be hands-on. Students should be
actively engaged in laboratory work. While computer programs, research in libraries or
on the Internet, and worksheets may be part of the laboratory experience, they should
not comprise the sole experience. Teacher demonstrations, followed by student reports
are also not considered to be a hands-on experience.”
The questions on Regents examinations strongly emphasize graph interpretation and data
analysis with some questions about equipment and experimental design.
Experiences that Do Not Meet Regents Requirements
Simulations
Because the wording of 100.5 specifically excludes simulated labs, any lab using simulations
is disqualified. Examples are Gizmos and Late Nite Labs.
Demonstrations
The explanation in the NYSUT Bulletin also suggests that demonstrations will not be
accepted. The student must be an active participant in the lab activity. Of course, other
passive activities such as watching a video, even if students take notes, will also fail this test.
Unsupervised or Inadequately Supervised Work
Students can readily fake a lab if their activity is not supervised. Writing a lab report, complete
with fake or copied data, when the lab as never been done is known as doing a dry lab. The
clear intent of the Regents requirements is that students collect their own unique data.
Experiences that Do Meet Regents Requirements
Scientific Inquiry
While section 100.5 does not address this issue, you can find it covered in many places
including the NSES Science as Inquiry section.
A good summary of these documents is:
Science is a process involving the testing of ideas by data collection from the
real world.
Students should test their ideas against these data. That is, they should perform data analysis
with the ideas being tested in mind.
Many high school science labs use directed scientific inquiry if they use scientific inquiry at all.
The student is given almost no latitude in deciding what to do. Often, students are told what
answer to expect in advance of the lab.
The option of open scientific inquiry is not available to most high school students who lack the
sophistication and background to choose their own topic of investigation, research the
background, design experiments, safely conduct them, analyze the results and report them in
a scholarly fashion. A few science fair projects appear to meet these criteria, but proabably
had considerable outside help.
The correct approach has been in limited and sporadic use for over 100 years. That approach
is guided scientific inquiry. Simply, the student makes choices and is guided in making them
so that success is much more likely than failure.
Real experiments and "hands-on" data collection
The data should come from the real world. If experiments are performed, they should be real
and not simulated. If students collect data without experiments, the data should come from
the real world and not from simulations. Real world data has several benefits that are crucial
to understanding science.
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Engaging
Students are more likely to become interested in the real world than in a facsimile.
Experimental error
Students must experience real world experimental error so that they understand that all
science is imprecise.
Limits
Real experiments expose limitations of predictions and show students that ideal
theories do not usually model actual behavior.
Require care
Students learn that the quality of their data depends on the care with which they take
them. They may also discover aspects of experimental design that affect the data
quality.
This experience does not require that students touch the experimental apparatus. For those
students embarking on a science-centric or laboratory-oriented career, exposure to these
artifacts of their chosen discipline is important. For all students exposure to the process and
thinking processes of science is far more important. Most students will never again, after their
high school biology class, operate a microscope. What they see through the microscope and
how they analyze what they see is far more important than being able to operate one.
How Smart Science® Labs Meet New York State Regents Requirements
The Smart Science® system meets all of the above criteria. Smart Science® labs are not
simulated. Students must collect their data point by point and exercise their own judgment
about which experiments to run and how to collect their data. Poor data can produce poor
results. Students must disprove hypotheses or predictions and defend their conclusions in a
lab report. Students get a real science experience!
Hybrid Labs
Because some manipulative experience supports learning in many students, the Smart
Science® system includes hybrid labs where manipulative experiments ("wet" labs) are
combined with virtual experiments in the same lab experience. While we believe that the
Smart Science® labs are sufficient by themselves to meet the Regents requirements, adding
an offline manipulative experience clearly meets the guidelines fully.
Lab Related Activities
The NYSUT Bulletin states that other activities, including computer programs, can be part of
the laboratory experience. The Smart Science® system includes the following activities that
fall into the categories allowed.
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Warm-up
This preparation for a lab checks that students have thought about the topics involved
in the lab.
Extension and preparation
The virtual experiments can be used as a means to test ideas not testable within the
time, cost and safety constraints of the usual lab. They can also be used to prepare a
student for doing the offline manipulative lab.
Post-lab assessment
These questions ensure that the students have contemplated their data and
understand its implications. They take the role of a part of a worksheet.
Online lab report
This portion replaces the rest of the worksheet and meets the requirement of a
"satisfactory documented laboratory report."
Extra Exploration
This optional section extends the student experience further and can be customized
(just as all sections can) to meet specific school requirements.
Pure offline "wet" labs
The Smart Science® system allows you to include in your lab mix totally offline labs.
Students can still have the pre-lab assessment, the post-lab assessment, the online lab
report and all of the supporting material.
Extra Benefits
By choosing to use the Smart Science® system, you get many more benefits.
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Dry labs not possible
Consistent student reports
Real-time online tracking and accountability
All supporting materials for students and teachers
Ease in grading and in communication with students
Regents-required lab documentation saved in permanent database.
Low cost
Most of all, you get a system that has been designed by scientists to require students to do
real science and thus to understand what science really is.
Offer to See Smart Science® Labs in Action
Please contact Paracomp at 310-773-4293.
References
Smart Science® labs have been used in schools for over 3 years. Please contact Paracomp
at 310-773-4293 for references applicable to your requirements.
Copyright 2006 ParaComp, Inc. CA U.S.A.
Smart Science labs are patented under U.S. Patent No. 6,529,705.
Smart Science is a registered trademark of ParaComp, Inc.
310-773-4293
smartscience@paracompusa.com
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