The format would change very little if the person writing the journal were writing about a class they themselves taught or an interaction they had with students. The issue I wish to address is the difficulty of promoting conceptual understanding of science to a very diverse group of students, many of whom aren't motivated learners. One consistent issue that I've noticed in the classes I observe is the difficulty of giving a very diverse group of students an understanding of what science is, what proper scientific inquiry entails, and promoting a conceptual understanding of science, rather than letting it be viewed as as an unrelated collection of facts. One primary method the teacher uses to accomplish this goal is through experiments, and specifically, the way in which she uses them to teach the course content. First, every class I've observed has involved performing an experiment or interpreting the results of an experiment.
Experiments provide an opportunity for meaningful learning on a number of different levels.
Generally, something observed first hand will have a greater impact than if it's simply read, often passively, from a textbook. But on a larger scale, students can gain an understanding of scientific processes and reasoning from performing experiments. It can allow them to formulate and test hypotheses, understand th importance of separating and controlling variables, as well as the value of a large data base, and allow them to determine whether their results confirm or disprove their hypotheses. Of course merely performing an experiment without understanding why it's being performed, or without understanding how it's being conducted won't necessarily produce the desired result. The teacher uses uses dialogue and interaction to achieve this goal.