Discretion-the exercise of independent judgment-was observed to be lacking in most commercially available laboratory investigations for high school biology. An Extended Discretion (ED) laboratory approach was developed and tested experimentally against the BSCS Green Version laboratory program, using ten classes of 10th-grade biology in a suburban California high school. Five teachers were each assigned one experimental and one control group. The primary differences between the two approaches were that the BSCS was more prescriptive and directive than the ED approach and the ED approach increased discretionary demands upon the student over the school year. A treatment verification procedure showed statistically significant differences between the two approaches. The hypothesis under test was that when high school biology students are taught laboratory concepts under comparatively high discretionary demands, they would perform as well as or better than a similar group of students taught with BSCS Green Version investigations. A second hypothesis was that teachers would prefer to use the ED approach over the BSCS approach for their future classes. A t analysis between experimental and control groups for each teacher was employed. There were significant differences in favor of the ED group on laboratory report scores for three teachers and no differences for two teachers. There were significant differences in favor of the ED group on laboratory concepts quiz scores for three teachers, no differences for one teacher, and significant differences in favor of the BSCS group for only one teacher. A t analysis of teacher evaluation of the two approaches showed a significant teacher preference overall for the ED approach. Both experimental hypotheses were accepted. The ED approach was observed to be difficult for students at first, but it was found to be a workable and productive means of teaching laboratory concepts in biology which also required extensive use of individual student discretion.Discretion-the exercise of independent judgment-is a component of most educational pursuits. Educational goals typically include the development of autonomy, the wise use of resources, the ability t o make rational decisions, or other statements related to the use of discretion. Student use of discretion, although not always identified by that term, is necessary to successfully carry out many high school biology laboratory investigations. However, it has been the frequent observation of these investigators, and other educators, that discre-
Discretion may be "the better part of valor" in the sense of exercising prudence, but discretion is also the ability to exercise judgment and make responsible decisions. Science curriculum developers have spent vast sums on developing student awareness of the process of science, and upon developing an understanding of an enormous number of facts that are necessary to use the process. What has been left for the classroom teacher to teach is the development of the students' ability to exercise judgment, work independently, and think creatively within the rigorous framework of scientific inquiry.We have embarked on research for over five years attempting to adapt existing science curricula for learning science processes and the expanding students abilities to exercise judgment by working with increasing self-determination in the high school science laboratory. We have called these instructional changes "extending discretion" in that we intended to increase the student's ability to work on his own, but within a structure that allows teacher supervision when needed.Our research has been based on two premises. One premise is that all tasks, whether they are in the science laboratory or the work environment, are divided into two parts: prescribed and discretionary (Jaques, 1956). We define a [ask as a discrete unit of work or responsibility with specified resources available including materials, references, space, and time constraints where a review of work is available or specified at the end of the task. The prescribed parts of a task are those in which there is no choice in how to proceed, either with method or resource. They are dictated by standardized procedures, basic requirements of the system (there is no other way), or policy (this is the way we do it). Discretionary parts of tasks are those in which the individual has freedom to choose one method or another, one process or another, or one material or another. The student is then reviewed on the use of his or her discretionary judgment by a teacher or supervisor after some time period.Our second premise is that by distinguishing between prescribed and discretionary tasks in science experiments, and by a conscious implementation of and increase in discretionary activities, students may be trained to increase their use of discretion to levels at which they are maximally capable. Further, we have learned that, when students learn under increased demands, their overall performance is improved in acquisition of laboratory Science Education 69(5): 593-603 (1985) 0 1985
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