Some Iowa elementary and middle school students are learning science in a whole new way.

Instead of memorizing the periodical table or conducting traditional lab experiments, these students are doing what real scientists do. They are arguing for their ideas by posing questions, gathering data, and making claims based on evidence.

The Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) approach, which was co-developed in 1998 by Brian Hand, a science education professor at the University of Iowa’s College of Education, offers educators a new way to teach that transforms the science classroom and changes the way students think.

What’s critical to the SWH approach is the importance of language—both written and oral—through all the negotiation opportunities that are created for students.

Consequently, SWH creates a classroom where ideas are debated and everybody has a chance for success because the emphasis is on understanding and practicing science, not memorizing scientific facts.

SWH has been used in more than 700 classrooms across the state, in Washington and across the globe in Korea, Turkey, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, and Australia, benefiting more than 20,000 students since 2004.