CASE STUDY- Supporting Scientific Collaboration in Middle School with Venom CoLab

Using Venom CoLab to Kickstart Scientific Collaboration.  

Participating in science is collaborative work. But how can K-12 science teachers support authentic scientific inquiry in the classroom? Developing a pharmaceutical drug from venomous organisms, for example, takes a whole team. A zoologist might identify a promising organism; a biochemist and molecular biologist would then analyze the venom, and a pharmacologist would advise on how it can help treat human illnesses. Success in this kind of research depends on each scientist contributing their unique skills and expertise, and communicating their findings with each other. In this case study, we take a look at how one middle school teacher chose to integrate Venom CoLab into her class as a way to kickstart collaboration as a core practice in her classroom. 

Image showing advanced organizer for Venom CoLab.

Challenges Facing K-12 Science Teachers

Middle school teachers like JoAnn, a 7th-grade science teacher, face persistent challenges in facilitating collaborative, inquiry-based lessons in the classroom. When student groups engage in traditional science labs, for example, it can be challenging to support an equal distribution of effort and engagement. For JoAnn, an important goal in her class is to help her students understand collaboration as work that involves two or more people contributing unique knowledge and expertise to accomplish a shared goal: 

"The main thing that I want them to learn is that each student in the group has a different job, and they're responsible for reporting what they learned to the group. So it's more realistic, it's more what you would actually do if you were in a work environment. So they can actually start that collaboration with others." - JoAnn, 7th-grade science teacher

JoAnn, an early adopter of Venom CoLab, chose to supplement her 7th-grade earth sciences curriculum with Venom CoLab again this year. She found that the week before Winter Break was a perfect opportunity to mix things up and introduce the collaborative, inquiry-based activity:

"I think the interest level in doing something so different really helped them stay focused on what they were working on. Because Killer Snails is such a different program than what they're used to, you know, this really made it feel special." - JoAnn, 7th-grade science teacher

In a recent interview, she also shared one of her top strategies to reinforce student collaboration throughout the five-day Venom CoLab project.   

Reimagining the Educator Dashboard as a Leader Board

The educator dashboard shows students’ progress through different activities. Teachers often use this tool to keep pace in the class and check in on students or groups who might be stuck on an activity. However, JoAnn also found that her students benefited from being able to monitor their group’s progress. In Venom CoLab, teams have to complete individual or joint activities and engage in collaborative lab meetings. Before the lab meetings can start, all team members need to be ready. 

By projecting the educator dashboard on her screen for the whole class, JoAnn found that students could keep track of the activities their group needed to complete and use this tool to check in with members that might be stuck and need help. Student groups also used this tool to ask for help from other groups who had completed an activity they were stuck on. 

JoAnn found a way to repurpose the educator dashboard to not only support her practice but help her students engage in self-regulation.

What Students Learned 

According to JoAnn, student engagement was very high. Students were also asked to rank how engaging they found Venom CoLab on a scale of 1 to 7 and to explain their ranking. On average, students ranked Venom CoLab between 5-6, often reflecting on how much they enjoyed the social engagement it scaffolded. Others reflected on how they enjoyed the topic and thinking like a scientist: 

"I really enjoyed the Venom CoLab because it made science feel more like solving a mystery. I liked working with real data and getting to think like a scientist. It was cool learning about different animals and how venom works in real life." - Student 

When students were asked to reflect on what they learned from Venom CoLab, themes emerged around understanding the nature of science. Students reflected on science as a collaborative process of inquiry:  

"I learned that science is all about asking questions, using evidence, and working together to solve problems. In Venom CoLab, I learned how scientists study venom by using data, comparing results, and looking for patterns." - Student 

They reflected on learning more about different types of scientific roles and the importance of collaboration in science: 

•  I learned about the different types of roles my team and I had.
• I learned that the people in teams in science have very important roles 
• team work is important for scientists.

Finally, students were asked to rank how well Venom CoLab supported specific collaborative practices:  

• Understanding their role on the team,
• Building a shared understanding of tasks, 
• Working together to solve problems, 
• Communicating clearly, 
• Making decisions based on data. 

Students ranked Venom CoLab between 5 and 6 on each practice and several students shared reflections such as they “learn[ed] a lot in groups and our team worked really well.” 

Measuring Impact in the Classroom 

JoAnn chose to supplement her regular curriculum with Venom CoLab to offer her students an engaging activity before the break that helped them build an understanding of collaboration. By assigning student groups, she also wanted her students to create positive experiences working with new people. Building on her students’ success collaborating with each other through Venom CoLab, JoAnn shared that she plans to keep the student groups together for future labs!