How to Structure Successful Science Investigations

Allowing students to take control of scientific investigations helps them feel like they are “doing” science, rather than science just being something that they learn about. Developing the confidence and competence to design and carry out a project, and understand the scientific method, takes time, effort, and intentionality. There are a huge number of skills and understandings involved in getting students to a point where they can take ownership of an investigation. When I plan a high school science curriculum that culminates in a student-led scientific project, these are the key things I bear in mind.

Identify Necessary Skills

First, I write a list of all the skills and fundamental understandings that students need to have in order to take confident ownership of an investigation. This can vary depending on students’ prior knowledge and skill level, but it might include safety in the lab, how to format data, and understanding sources of error.

Once I have this list, I consider where it would be appropriate to embed different skills throughout the curriculum. It’s important to think about which skills could be learned in isolation and which require a foundation of other skills (students should be able to understand and explain controlled variables before they can write a method).

The skills should be introduced slowly and, where possible, in isolation. This allows you to really target them and get a good understanding of whether students truly understand and can apply those skills. Provide ongoing opportunities for students to practice the skills they have learned, as well as opportunities for you to give meaningful feedback. Here’s what it looks like in practice:

1. Before an investigation, introduce key features or criteria of data tables—e.g., recording data to a consistent number of decimal places or including units only in the heading of a table rather than the body. 
2. Give students different investigation scenarios and ask them to construct data tables for those investigations.
3. Before a specific practical lesson, give students time to construct their data table, and then while students are collecting their data, circulate and check whether students have met the criteria.
4. If there are any common errors within the class, go back and reteach that element, and then provide additional opportunity for students to practice applying that specific understanding.

Provide Success Criteria

One of the things I think students commonly get tripped up with is understanding an appropriate depth and breadth of a topic to research. With this in mind, I often intentionally mention appropriately testable research questions in the run-up to the investigation—“It would be so interesting to investigate the effect of salt on yeast fermentation”—and introduce them to the different kinds of equipment available. Closer to the final project, I share examples of successful investigations that previous students have carried out. These serve as useful models of how to structure the investigation.

When we get to the final project, I provide students with clear success criteria, often in the form of a checklist. I find that this can be very motivating for students because it helps them to understand the expectations of the project and whether they are on the right track. If necessary, I also provide a structural framework so that students can focus on the science, rather than trying to work out how they should present their work.

Once students have a topic, I get them to map out a rough idea of what they will be doing. This zusually takes the form of a checklist of tasks associated with the different days of the investigation (Monday: data collection, Tuesday: draw a graph of results and write a conclusion, etc.). When I check in with them to see whether they’re on track, I encourage them to amend their time frame as necessary.

I provide ongoing verbal feedback throughout the process and often ask students to note key takeaways in writing. Regular check-ins keep students accountable and show them your genuine interest in their progress.

Encourage Students’ Independence

I’ve learned that being overly prescriptive or directive with guidance can undermine students’ confidence, whereby they can start to lose assurance in their own suggestions and begin to think they aren’t capable of designing and carrying out the investigation independently.

When mapping out the project, I build in space for students to test their own ideas and develop at their own pace, even if those ideas might not work particularly well. This helps them develop resilience, problem-solving skills, and ownership of their investigation. The length of time put aside for this varies depending on the needs of the students and the complexity of the project, but I usually allow a buffer time of around 20 percent.

Throughout the process, I aim to provide continual feedback, usually in a verbal form, but I often ask students to write things down that they think will be helpful. I also find that these regular check-ins are a great opportunity for me to show interest in the students’ work and help to keep them accountable for their time frame. I also think it is very impactful to intentionally build self-reflection and peer discussion into the process. This might look like setting aside five minutes each lesson to discuss two questions (“Are there any variables that you were not able to sufficiently control? What effect might that have had on your data?”).

When things don’t go as expected, I celebrate this. In order to learn from mistakes, we have to admit that we make them. When trying to build a culture of error acceptance, I use celebratory language—for example, “I’m really glad this happened, because next time you do this, you’ll know exactly how to approach your data collection.” This helps students see value in the learning process rather than just the final result.

Student Accountability and Capability is Key

I always make sure that the project culminates in something—a science fair, a poster, or a written report. Knowing that their work is going to be viewed and discussed, and that other people are interested in what they have been doing, is a great way to keep students accountable and focused on a final deadline.

Ultimately, the goal is the process rather than the product. I want students to see themselves as capable and confident scientists, able to ask interesting questions and seek out evidence-based answers.