Quality Work in Biology

My definition of quality work owes a great deal to Philip Schelchty and David Perkins. Quality work engages kids, gets them to persist through difficulties, gives them a certain sense of satisfaction on completion that makes selling future work possible, and results in knowledge that is robust, active, and nuanced. I think that teaching is about developing that kind of work, and that such an effort is best undertaken by small groups of teachers with time and a structure for the development effort.

But, what might such work look like? Well, that could vary with the teacher, but one thing I think might work farily often is prediction. Ask students to predict what is going to happen, based on analysis. That's far harder than "having an opinion". And, predictions can be challenged and debated with less rancor than opinions (can you say politics?). This article on life extension (thanks, Instapundit) is an example of just this kind of quality work from an experienced scientist. I suspect that any student who could adequately explain the chart would have engaged in quality work -- and probably "know" way more biology than most students who get B's in most high school biology classes. And, if that student could critique the work or offer alternative scenarios, we're talking an "A" for sure!

Update: Glenn Reynolds hits this subject again in his Tech Central Station column.

Update2: Literature, even!