Using autonomy to drive the development of students into budding scientists.

How do we motivate students to become independent scientists? Self-determination theory (SDT) posits an individual is maximally motivated when three basic psychological needs are met: competence, relatedness, and autonomy. Instructional laboratories intrinsically focus on competence and relatedness, as students complete experiments (competence) typically in groups (relatedness). Addressing autonomy in laboratories, however, is more challenging. Contemporary instructional labs aim to engage students in authentic scientific inquiry, with students demonstrating independence. Independence, however, is not equivalent to autonomy, which includes student choice. Here, we describe the conversion of a traditional analytical chemistry laboratory into a guided-inquiry bioanalytical chemistry laboratory, using SDT as a theoretical framework. Throughout the laboratory, students move progressively through less structured experiments and conclude with a campus-wide presentation on a project that they themselves have autonomously completed - from inception to design to implementation and analysis. A mixed-methods analysis shows autonomy and relatedness as recurring themes in the ways students experience the lab. This project, then, provides a less resource-intensive laboratory experience that helps transition students from participants in prescriptive laboratory coursework to fledgling inquisitive scientists.