Be a Scientist: Design and Conduct Your Own Research

Most science classes focus on imparting scientific knowledge to students, but not how to DO science itself. In this course, learners will get to be scientists by doing actual science. Learners will design and conduct their own, original science experiments. They will be guided through the process of how to record, interpret, and report their results.  

Learners will choose their own topics. I will work with them to craft a meaningful project within their field of scientific interest, while remaining achievable within a semester’s timeframe and limited access to scientific equipment. 

During our highly interactive live meetings, we will dive into the theory of what science is and how to apply it to our research projects. 

We will explore key questions in research design such as:

	▪	What is a hypothesis?
	▪	What does does falsifiable mean?
	▪	What is the difference between primary and secondary research?
	▪	How are dependent and independent variables different?
	▪	What is a control?
	▪	How to keep a lab book?

Learners will:

	▪	Formulate a hypothesis 
	▪	Design an experiment to test the hypothesis
	▪	Write a research proposal
	▪	Conduct their experiment
	▪	Keep records
	▪	Analyse their results 
	▪	Report their findings in a paper 
	▪	Create a scientific poster
	▪	Present their research 

Class structure:

Once a week we will meet live as a group for lecture and discussion. Lectures will be highly visual and encourage questions. In between live meetings, learners will have reading and viewing material and assignments to work on independently. Learners will will turn in their assignments and check in with me on the check in day (Tuesdays), two days before our live meeting each week. I will be available to learners by Outschool messages throughout the week for questions and feedback. 

The course is divided into three main sections: Science Fundamentals and Experiment Design, Research Implementation, and Analysis and Presentation. 

Section One — Science Fundamentals and Experiment Design

Week One - Introduction to Science and Research
Week Two  - Design Fundamentals
Week Three  - Topics
Week Four - Proposals
Week Five - Design and Record Keeping

Section Two — Research Implementation 

Week Six  - Implementation 
Week Seven - Implementation 
Week Eight  - Implementation 
Week Nine - Implementation 

Section Three — Analysis and Presentation 

Week Ten  - Analysis 
Week Eleven - Report First Draft
Week Twelve  - Report Final Draft
Week Thirteen  - Poster
Week Fourteen - Class Presentations 

*Note there will be no meeting the week of Thanksgiving, so students will actually have five weeks of implementation time. 

Homework:

Each week students will receive a document with reading/viewing material, questions about the material, and a weekly assignment. Students will turn in their assignments by the check-in day (two days before the live meeting class). 
Reading/viewing material should take approximately 45 minutes to complete. The weekly assignment will typically take less than one hour. 
During the implementation section, weeks six through nine, students will conduct their research. The time commitment during these weeks will vary based on your learner’s design.