some aspects of the experimental design. It may be possible
simply to pose a problem, ask "How are you going to be able to
measure X or find a value for Y?" and leave the learners to
design their own experiments. It may be that you have to provide
most of the experimental design, but can leave some details
unresolved, to be discussed and agreed before work begins. It
may be that for practical reasons you have to have prepared
equipment and facilities in advance and there is little scope for
variation. Nevertheless there is still scope for students to
speculate about possible experimental designs beforehand so
that the actual experimental design is seen as one of a range of
possibilities instead of simply taken for granted as the design. As
outlined in Section 2, scientific method is fundamentally the same
as the experiential learning cycle, and learners should not miss
out stages merely for the sake of convenience or saving time.
4.1.4 Observation checklists
Much experience is gained through seeing how others do things,
or what goes on in situations. However, if you are new to a
situation, you may not know what to look for and it can be very
easy to lose attention and to notice very little. This problem can
be eased with the use of a simple observation checklist which lists
things to look out for and perhaps asks for the recording of
events and how often they happened.
Ready-made observation checklists of some sophistication are
available for example for observing school teachers in action.
Simple checklists can be devised by the learners themselves. For
example, prior to a small group of trainee nurses seeing a Staff
Nurse administering medication on a ward, there could be a short
discussion of what to look out for, and a brief checklist drawn up.
After the round, this could be used to structure a short discussion
which encourages reflection on what had been seen, and what
significance these observations had.
The example of an observation sheet below is for use in
observing and giving feedback on group leaders or committee
chairpersons. The sheet identifies categories of leadership