Using scaffolding and guided inquiry to improve learning in a postgraduate forensic science laboratory class

This essay explores the development of laboratory-class teaching methods in postgraduate education for forensic science. The analysis combines a critical review of teaching theory and research of the student learning experience. The conclusions point towards the appropriateness of inquiry-based methods but emphasise the need for deliberate scaffolding and attention to the issues of context and dialogic process if student learning is to be linked to expert practice and subsequent employment in this field.