ADI Activity: Connect Test Prep with Inquiry

There is still a lot of attention placed on standardized testing in schools, specifically regarding an excess of test prep which often takes away from quality instruction. Therefore, I chose to look at the Tennessee End of Course Assessment in Chemistry to find a way to incorporate practice questions with argument driven inquiry. While most questions where basic fact recollection or application of a formula there were several that posed a more real world thinking application. I am focusing my ADI activity on questions like Question 8:

While truthfully, one does not need to know the scientific theory behind photographic plates and properties of uranium to answer this question correctly, several imperative scientific skills can be learned through a question like this such as the necessity of testing a hypothesis more than once, analyzing the incorporation of new data, and most applicably the need for argumentation in science. 

I could imagine taking the principle of question 8, first finding one conclusion but upon further study finding a more precise answer, and implementing an ADI activity to identify solubility trends across the periodic table. The knowledge students will gain from this exercise correlates with 3221.2.3 Classify a solution as saturated, unsaturated, temperature and a solubility graph as well as being able to predict the products of reactions. 

1. Identification of the task: The students will already have a background in chemical reactions, I will introduce the topic through a demonstration of "unknown" (to the students) reactions which result in color changes or precipitation or a colored precipitate which should be engaging for students to watch. I will then challenge them to find out what the determining ions are for particular outcomes. The way I plan to implement the "Question 8" component is that different groups will have different solutions, one group might be missing NaCl and thus not factor Cl- ions into their conclusion (precise determinations of which solutions are grouped together/excluded will obviously be intentional and known to me).

2. Laboratory based experiments: Students will work in their small groups and have the freedom to test all combinations of the solutions they are given. Depending of the level of independence of the students, most likely a handout with some sort of chart to fill in their data and observation will be provided. 

3. Production of a tentative argument: Students will look for trends in their data and most likely for homework have to upload their findings/ a graphical depiction to a site like this where all groups have access to the information. 

4. Argument Session: This is where the true emphasis on scientific thinking will be implemented. Upon hearing different results from each group it is the hope that students begin to realize they should expand their test to include solutions that did not originally receive. Obviously, that requires a higher level of thinking and the argument session will be moderated/ aided by the teacher. 

* Re-collect data: This does not have a specific step in the ADI list but to practice the sample question style students can redo the experiment with a full set of data to validate the finding of the other groups.

5. Written Investigation Report: This will serve as the lab report. Each student will have access to each groups original data as well as their two trials and they should use all of that information to answer the questions: Why did you do this experiment? Why did you redo this experiment? What can you say about the results? What is one "real world" application when one must go back and revise an experiment/their conclusions?

6/7. Double-Blind Peer Review and Revision: Truthfully, I am not 100% convinced that this is a necessary component of every ADI/laboratory experiment. This can be useful when first starting out, unless of course the students that review your paper do not know how to determine valid data/ good scientific writing. The revision component is covered by redoing the experiment to find better data and conclusions. 

8. Explicit and Reflective Discussion: I believe here is a good opportunity to show the students the sample End of Course Assessment question and discuss with them the practical applications of having to redo experiments and prove that they are not a waste of time. This can be tied in with current events/finding in the science community and can foster a more holistic understanding of science outside the walls of a classroom. 

The way that students can incorporate modeling could be through attempting to create a comprehensive, visual display of their finding such as through charts to show solubility based on cation or anion.