Students apply various techniques, such as pattern recognition and trend analysis, to solve many problems during laboratories and class assignments. Students are presented with many problems and laboratory exercises that require these skills in solving the problems. Activities such as homework assignments, in-class exercises, and laboratory experiments and reports require inductive reasoning and mathematical skills. Students are expected to work in pairs to collect several experimental data sets. Although they are encouraged to discuss data analysis and interpretation in a collaborative manner, students are required to hand in reports that are written in an independent manner.
Students work in pairs in data collection.
Analysis can be done collaboratively but laboratory reports must be written individually. Additional collaborative learning is accomplished when all students in a class share and analyze the data from the entire class. Some lecture activities include group discussions on conceptual applications to real world problems in natural science. Often students are given a problem in class and are asked to solve the problem in a group setting. Many laboratory exercises require students to search for relevant information on physical and chemical properties before, during and after the experiments, for comparison with experimental data.