Post-secondary science laboratories are places of inquiry and critical thinking, where the educational experience is built on and through engagement with content, applications of learning objectives, and peers. Pre-service science teacher education should include opportunities to work collaboratively, achieve personal and professional learning objectives, and develop presence in the classroom. This chapter describes the authors’ journey through the theoretical and practical constructs of teaching hands-on courses – in particular, a pre-service science teacher education course that was laboratory based – framed through experiential learning as viewed through a community of inquiry lens. Reinforced by a Practical Inquiry Model to construct meaning, the Community of Inquiry framework is a way to frame how Social, Cognitive, and Teaching Presence can combine to support the student experience, so hands-on science learning does not happen in a vacuum.