Confronting scientific misconceptions by fostering a classroom of scientists in the introductory biology lab

A fundamental component of science curricula is the understanding of scientific inquiry. Although recent trends favor using student inquiry to learn concepts through hands-on activities, it is often unclear to students where the line is drawn between the content and the process of science. This activity explicitly introduces students to the processes of science and allows the classroom to become a scientific community where independent studies are performed, shared, and revised. We designed this activity to be relatively independent of the chosen content, allowing instructors to utilize the presented framework for classes of various disciplines and education levels.