Doing Science: Hands-On Learning in the Laboratory

Susan Trammell, Physics and Optical Science, UNC Charlotte

This seminar will be held at UNC Charlotte Main Campus

Have you ever wondered what really goes on in a scientific research laboratory? Do you want to know how scientific discovery translates into technological progress? Then, this is the seminar for you! The goal of this seminar experience is to provide a behind the scenes look at scientific research that will inform you and help you inspire the next generation of scientists. We will start with a review of the scientific method and will conduct some of our own experiments to better understand the scientific inquiry process. We will talk about how scientists are trained, how they pose questions, how they design experiments and how they communicate their results. We will then take a behind the scenes look at research labs in several different disciplines on the UNC Charlotte campus. We will meet the UNC Charlotte faculty members who run these labs and the graduate students who work in them. We will hear about cutting edge research that is taking place right here in Charlotte.

This seminar could also include an optional 2-week summer research experience with Fellows working in a research lab side-by-side with graduate students – a great chance to get your hands dirty and really understand how scientific research is done. The summer session would wrap up with a symposium to share what Fellows have learned.

Inquiry is fundamental to scientific discovery, but inquiry learning can be applied to all disciplines. So, this seminar is appropriate for all teachers in grades K-12.

Explore curriculum units developed by Fellows in this seminar here.