SECTION 127.758. Scientific Research and Design (One Credit), Adopted 2015

(a) General requirements. This course is recommended for students in Grades 11 and 12. Prerequisite: Biology, Chemistry, Integrated Physics and Chemistry (IPC), or Physics. Students must meet the 40% laboratory and fieldwork requirement. This course satisfies a high school science graduation requirement. Students shall be awarded one credit for successful completion of this course. Students may take this course with different course content for a maximum of three credits.

(b) Introduction.

(1) Career and technical education instruction provides content aligned with challenging academic standards and relevant technical knowledge and skills for students to further their education and succeed in current or emerging professions.

(2) The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Career Cluster focuses on planning, managing, and providing scientific research and professional and technical services, including laboratory and testing services, and research and development services.

(3) Scientific Research and Design is a broad-based course designed to allow districts and schools considerable flexibility to develop local curriculum to supplement any program of study or coherent sequence. The course has the components of any rigorous scientific or engineering program of study from the problem identification, investigation design, data collection, data analysis, formulation, and presentation of the conclusions. All of these components are integrated with the career and technical education emphasis of helping students gain entry-level employment in high-skill, high-wage jobs and/or continue their education.

(4) Science, as defined by the National Academy of Sciences, is the "use of evidence to construct testable explanations and predictions of natural phenomena, as well as the knowledge generated through this process." This vast body of changing and increasing knowledge is described by physical, mathematical, and conceptual models. Students should know that some questions are outside the realm of science because they deal with phenomena that are not scientifically testable.

(5) Scientific inquiry is the planned and deliberate investigation of the natural world. Scientific methods of investigation are experimental, descriptive, or comparative. The method chosen should be appropriate to the question being asked.

(6) Scientific decision making is a way of answering questions about the natural world. Students should be able to distinguish between scientific decision-making methods (scientific methods) and ethical and social decisions that involve science (the application of scientific information).

(7) A system is a collection of cycles, structures, and processes that interact. All systems have basic properties that can be described in space, time, energy, and matter. Change and constancy occur in systems as patterns and can be observed, measured, and modeled. These patterns help to make predictions that can be scientifically tested. Students should analyze a system in terms of its components and how these components relate to each other, to the whole, and to the external environment.

(8) Students are encouraged to participate in extended learning experiences such as career and technical student organizations and other leadership or extracurricular organizations.

(9) Statements that contain the word "including" reference content that must be mastered, while those containing the phrase "such as" are intended as possible illustrative examples.

(c) Knowledge and skills.

(1) The student demonstrates professional standards/employability skills as required by business and industry. The student is expected to:

(A) demonstrate knowledge of how to dress appropriately, speak politely, and conduct oneself in a manner appropriate for the profession;

(B) show the ability to cooperate, contribute, and collaborate as a member of a group in an effort to achieve a positive collective outcome;

(C) present written and oral communication in a clear, concise, and effective manner;

(D) demonstrate time-management skills in prioritizing tasks, following schedules, and performing goal-relevant activities in a way that produces efficient results; and

(E) demonstrate punctuality, dependability, reliability, and responsibility in performing assigned tasks as directed.

(2) The student, for at least 40% of instructional time, conducts laboratory and field investigations using safe, environmentally appropriate, and ethical practices. The student is expected to:

(A) demonstrate safe practices during laboratory and field investigations; and

(B) demonstrate an understanding of the use and conservation of resources and the proper disposal or recycling of materials.

(3) The student uses scientific methods and equipment during laboratory and field investigations. The student is expected to:

(A) know the definition of science and understand that it has limitations, as specified in subsection (b)(4) of this section;

(B) know that scientific hypotheses are tentative and testable statements that must be capable of being supported or not supported by observational evidence. Hypotheses of durable explanatory power which have been tested over a wide variety of conditions are incorporated into theories;

(C) know that scientific theories are based on natural and physical phenomena and are capable of being tested by multiple independent researchers. Unlike hypotheses, scientific theories are well-established and highly reliable explanations, but may be subject to change as new areas of science and new technologies are developed;

(D) distinguish between scientific hypotheses and scientific theories;

(E) plan and implement descriptive, comparative, and experimental investigative procedures, including making observations, asking well-defined questions, formulating testable hypotheses, identifying variables, selecting appropriate equipment and technology, and evaluating numerical answers for reasonableness;

(F) collect and organize qualitative and quantitative data and make measurements with accuracy and precision using tools such as calculators, spreadsheet software, data-collecting probes, computers, standard laboratory glassware, microscopes, various prepared slides, stereoscopes, metric rulers, electronic balances, gel electrophoresis apparatuses, micropipettors, hand lenses, Celsius thermometers, hot plates, lab notebooks or journals, timing devices, cameras, and meter sticks;

(G) analyze, evaluate, make inferences, and predict trends from data;

(H) identify and quantify causes and effects of uncertainties in measured data;

(I) organize and evaluate data and make inferences from data, including the use of tables, charts, and graphs; and

(J) communicate valid conclusions supported by the data through methods such as lab reports, labeled drawings, graphic organizers, journals, summaries, oral reports, and technology-based reports.

(4) The student uses critical thinking, scientific reasoning, and problem solving to make informed decisions within and outside the classroom. The student is expected to:

(A) in all fields of science, analyze, evaluate, and critique scientific explanations by using empirical evidence, logical reasoning, and experimental and observational testing, including examining all sides of scientific evidence of those scientific explanations, so as to encourage critical thinking;

(B) communicate and apply scientific information extracted from various sources such as current events, news reports, published journal articles, and marketing materials;

(C) draw inferences based on data related to promotional materials for products and services;

(D) explain the impacts of the scientific contributions of a variety of historical and contemporary scientists on scientific thought and society;

(E) evaluate models according to their limitations in representing biological objects or events;

(F) research and describe the connections between science and future careers; and

(G) express and interpret relationships symbolically to make predictions and solve problems mathematically, including problems requiring proportional reasoning and graphical vector addition.

(5) The student formulates hypotheses to guide experimentation and data collection. The student is expected to:

(A) perform background research with respect to an investigative problem; and

(B) examine hypotheses generated to guide a research process by evaluating the merits and feasibility of the hypotheses.

(6) The student analyzes published research. The student is expected to:

(A) identify the scientific methodology used by a researcher;

(B) examine a prescribed research design and identify dependent and independent variables;

(C) evaluate a prescribed research design to determine the purpose for each of the procedures performed; and

(D) compare the relationship of the hypothesis to the conclusion.

(7) The student develops and implements investigative designs. The student is expected to:

(A) interact and collaborate with scientific researchers or other members of the scientific community to complete a research project;

(B) identify and manipulate relevant variables within research situations;

(C) use a control in an experimental process; and

(D) design procedures to test hypotheses.

(8) The student collects, organizes, and evaluates qualitative and quantitative data obtained through experimentation. The student is expected to:

(A) differentiate between qualitative and quantitative data;

(B) record observations as they occur within an investigation;

(C) acquire, manipulate, and analyze data using appropriate equipment and technology, following the rules of significant digits;

(D) identify sources of random error and systematic error and differentiate between both types of error;

(E) report error of a set of measured data in various formats, including standard deviation and percent error;

(F) construct data tables to organize information collected in an experiment; and

(G) evaluate data using statistical methods to recognize patterns, trends, and proportional relationships.

(9) The student knows how to synthesize valid conclusions from qualitative and quantitative data. The student is expected to:

(A) synthesize and justify conclusions supported by research data;

(B) consider and communicate alternative explanations for observations and results; and

(C) identify limitations within the research process and provide recommendations for additional research.

(10) The student communicates conclusions clearly and concisely to an audience of professionals. The student is expected to:

(A) construct charts, tables, and graphs using technology in order to facilitate data analysis and to communicate experimental results clearly and effectively, including oral presentation of original findings of a research project, to an audience of peers and professionals; and

(B) suggest alternative explanations from observations or trends evident within the data or from prompts provided by a review panel.

Source Note: The provisions of this §127.758 adopted to be effective April 7, 2022, 47 TexReg 1677