The laboratory plays a crucial role in science education. However, teacher education for pre-service teachers' design performance in the laboratory is still challenging. This study paved the way for redesigning traditional laboratory teaching into a student-centered approach: inquiry-based design thinking (IBDT). To investigate the impact of the…

A two to three period analytical chemistry experiment has been developed which allows second year students to explore chemical color tests used to detect adulterated pharmaceuticals. Students prepare several paper analytical devices (PADs) to generate positive and negative controls antibiotics, along with cutting agents such as starch and chalk.…

One of the goals of secondary science education is to help students develop skills related to scientific inquiry. However, the results of previous studies have shown that students have difficulties in identifying problems, formulating hypotheses, drawing conclusions, and designing experiments. The main objective of this contribution is to indicate…

There have been growing calls for inquiry, a practice-oriented way of engaging students in authentic scientific work, yet research has shown some challenges that might impede inquiry practices in educational settings. In this study, we proposed an approach that blends educational gaming with physical experiments. We developed an educational game,…

Developing students' critical thinking skills is often seen as an important educational goal for inquiry assignments. In this study, we investigated to what extent pre-laboratory activities of a chemical inquiry assignment influence students' independent critical thinking. We compared two forms of pre-laboratory activities that are frequently used…

Many research results show that students often highlight "mixed-type" reasoning when tackling problematic situations and problems. This reasoning is based on the simultaneous use of common-sense and mere descriptions of facts, perceived as sufficient to build an "explanation" of observed or proposed situations and problems.…

The results of an earlier four-year longitudinal research study on the development of experimental design skills led to the conclusion that 12-13 year old students probably need more help to design experiments than had been offered to them in that project. This paper reports the findings of the first year of a further four-year empirical research…

Undergraduate biology education has changed over the past decade, incorporating an iterative and evidence-based approach. Many educational assessments have confirmed the effectiveness of integrating authentic research and open-ended inquiry into introductory biology courses, demonstrating a significant positive impact on students' learning and…

Virtual labs provide space for students to iteratively test, observe, and revise their understanding so as to improve their scientific literacy. However, one of the challenges that students face is that they need to think and act like scientists so as to be sensitively alert to methodological flaws and various sources of error. This study thus…

This high school-level, place-based, inquiry-driven laboratory module familiarises students with techniques used to analyse animal behaviour while facilitating the development of the observational skills highlighted by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Throughout the module, students observe, quantify, and discuss local invertebrate…

In this study, a new model termed as "Flexible Inquiry Based Science Teaching", which is developed using the framework of the inquiry approach is proposed. Science teachers (n=2) who participated in the study were instructed on the inquiry approach and their in-class activity applications were examined. The "electricity module"…

High school students need more comprehensive scientific inquiry learning instruction through research ethics education. Yet, this topic is often overlooked in the science curriculum. To collect basic data to guide research ethics education for high school students, this study documents the kinds of research misconduct students commit, the contexts…

This article introduces a science game which can be used for innovative teaching and as an assessment tool. The Shadow Races Game is designed for first and second grade students to learn the phenomenon of shadow through inquiry-based activities and questions that require the children to apply inferences from those activities. In this amusing board…

A quasi-experimental control group pre- and post-test study was used to determine the effect of a Multi-Step Inquiry (MSI) approach on pre-service elementary school teacher's conceptual understanding. The MSI study involved the development of a conceptual workbook, and a Physical Science Concept Inventory. The conceptual workbook has activities…

This study aims to examine the influence of inquiry-based instruction on eighth-grade male and female students' motivation and engagement in science learning in two public junior high schools in central Taiwan. Mixed-methods methodology was adopted with 60 students (32 males and 28 females) in the experimental group and 56 students (28 males and…