When I first saw the new criteria for internal assessment I thought that that was the end of design labs however, on further consideration design labs are pretty good preparation for the investigation. What I mean by design lab is to give the students a physical system and ask them to come up with a research question related to it. The investigation could start in exactly this way but students don't have to follow the teachers prompt. Anyway, today I did the first design lab with my first year students. I don't intend to do very many, maybe just this one and one other. The theme of todays lab was the bow and arrow. I did the same one with my second years students just the other day so it was interesting to compare the difference between an assessed design lab and one that isn't assessed. The big difference was that I could go round and discuss possible theoretical models and way to process data. I don't do this in assessed practicals since the students are supposed to work it out for themselves. I think that be free to discuss the theory makes for a much better learning experience. Hooray for the new IA. I may not be so keen when I'm marking all those investigations.