Employers and postgraduate programs increasingly expect STEM graduates to possess not only strong disciplinary knowledge but also the skills essential to doing science. To help students acquire these critical competencies, undergraduate laboratories must be designed as spaces where students actively engage in scientific practices. These science practices include, for example, developing and using models, and constructing arguments based on evidence. Providing opportunities alone is not sufficient; these skills must also be assessed and supported to foster meaningful development. The ELIPSS project offers rubrics to help assess science practices across various laboratory settings. These rubrics are designed to assess both student behavior during laboratory activities and written artifacts such as lab reports, enabling a more comprehensive approach to supporting the development of scientific practice competencies.
Asking Questions
Questioning aspects of the world around us that can be tested through observation or experimentation
Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Using tools such as tables, graphs, and statistical methods to analyze and interpret patterns in data to derive meaning
Developing and Using Models
Using and constructing models such as physical replicas, equations, and simulations for representing ideas that have predictive and explanatory powers
Constructing Explanations
Explaining a phenomenon of interest with multiple lines of empirical evidence
Engaging in Argument from Evidence
Comparing, critiquing, and evaluating competing ideas and claims. Making evidence-based conclusions based on the merits of those arguments
Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
Using mathematical and computational tools to establish qualitative and quantitative relationships among variables
Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
Obtaining and evaluating information critically. Communicating generated ideas/ explanations/ conclusions clearly and persuasively
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
Planning and carrying out systematic investigations to test a hypothesis or answer a question that provides evidence in the form of data
One useful way to understand the work of scientists is to view it through the lens of three interrelated spheres of activity. In practice, scientists move fluidly and iteratively between these spheres, often engaging in activities that span two or even all three simultaneously.
