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Engaging Students with Discrepant Events

A discrepant event is an activity that surprises or puzzles students by producing unexpected results that seem to contradict their understanding of how things work. These events motivate students to investigate the underlying science concept through problem-solving and critical thinking. Teachers can use discrepant events to engage students in inquiry at the start of a new unit, in demonstrations, or in small group lab activities. The goal is to make students question their assumptions and draw on their knowledge to explain the unexpected outcome.

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Tze Xien
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88 views1 page

Engaging Students with Discrepant Events

A discrepant event is an activity that surprises or puzzles students by producing unexpected results that seem to contradict their understanding of how things work. These events motivate students to investigate the underlying science concept through problem-solving and critical thinking. Teachers can use discrepant events to engage students in inquiry at the start of a new unit, in demonstrations, or in small group lab activities. The goal is to make students question their assumptions and draw on their knowledge to explain the unexpected outcome.

Uploaded by

Tze Xien
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

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com/2008/09/24/teaching-science-using-discrepantevents-to-engage-students/

When I was teaching one of my students favorite events in science was when they are challenged with discrepant events. So what is a discrepant event? It is something that surprises, startles, puzzles, or astonishes students as they observe the event. Often, a discrepant event is one that does not appear to follow basic rules of nature and the outcome is unexpected or contrary to what they predicted. The event throws the students off balance intellectually, which typically motivates them to further investigate the science concept - minds-on. Discrepant events promote problem-solving and critical thinking skills on part of the students. They are typically guided into finding a solution by the teacher, as they discover the reason for the discrepant event.

How I Used Discrepant Events I would guide students to answers using open-ended questions, which caused my students to draw upon their prior knowledge and experiences (PKE). I would begin a new unit or chapter with a discrepant event to stimulate their thinking processes, along with finding out what they already know. Then I would use a culmination event to reinforce science concept(s) studied and as post informal assessment. . I would present some discrepant events as whole class demonstrations. However, my ultimate goals was to make them group investigations as much as possible. How are Discrepant Events Used Discrepant events can be used:

To engage students in inquiry As a demonstration followed by discussion to introduce a new topic To engage students in science processes skills As a small group lab activity As a mind-on warm-up to stimulate critical thinking As a take home lab activity As a challenge for students to create investigative lab activities to find out more about the event

Additional Resources Additional examples of discrepant event activities and procedures can be found by visiting: Science Discrepant Events and Critical Thinking Three More Discrepant Events in Science

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