Re-defining Lab Norms via Professional Learning Communities: Meeting the Constraints

Abstract

We present a study of a large-scale intervention designed to shift lab instruction away from "cookbook" lab norms. The intervention was implemented in a network of Professional Learning Communities of Israeli high-school physics teachers (N=250; ~20% of the national workforce). The intervention was tailored to respond to findings on teachers' dissatisfaction with the limited scope of experimental design employed in traditional labs, as well as the highly constrained setting in which these teachers work: a high-stakes exam setting, limited resources, and diverse groups of students. The intervention followed two design guidelines: a) restructuring traditional labs, by encouraging students to reflect on the considerations underlying the experimental design; b) an evidence-based learning process involving teachers in collaborative reflection on classroom enactments of the restructured labs. We found that most teachers chose to carry out the restructured labs, even though they expressed concerns about the demands, as compared to the standardized exams.