Although Ohm's law contains various possibilities in teaching and learning scientific inquiry, it is rare for students to experience an authentic inquiry. Thus, we designed an open-ended in-depth inquiry about Ohm's law and made students conduct it. To do this, we developed a laboratory activity for students following a standard method of Ohm's…

This study systematically analysed, evaluated and synthesised published studies on 21stcentury skills and science achievement among secondary school students. By scouring 17 well-known online journal databases, 684 related studies were found. After the three-stage screening process, only 17 research papers were included in the study, which were…

Doing science involves the development and evaluation of models. These models are not objective truths but can be understood as explanations, which scientists use to explore and reason about an aspect of the world. Learning science involves students expressing and engaging with models in the classroom. However, this learning should not be seen as…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible associations between preservice science teachers' understanding of nature of science and their learner characteristics; understanding of nature of scientific inquiry, science teaching self-efficacy beliefs, metacognitive awareness level, and faith/worldview schemas. The sample of the…

Science teaching and learning require knowledge about how learning takes place (cognition) and how learners interact with their surroundings (affective and sociocultural factors). The study reported on focussed on learning for understanding of Newton's second law of motion from a cognitive perspective that takes social factors into account. A…

Inquiry-based learning is widely considered for science education in this era. This study aims to explore inquiry-based learning in teacher preparation program and the findings will help us to understanding what inquiry-based classroom is and how inquiry-based learning are. Data were collected by qualitative methods; classroom observation,…

How can a teacher simultaneously teach science concepts through inquiry while helping students learn about the nature of science? After pondering this question in their own teaching, the authors developed a 5E learning cycle lesson (Bybee et al. 2006) that concurrently embeds opportunities for fourth-grade students to (a) learn a science concept,…

Learning progressions (LPs)--descriptive continuums of how students develop and demonstrate more sophisticated understanding over time--have become an increasingly important tool in today's science classrooms. Here the author discusses some of the research behind learning progressions and presents The Science Inquiry Profile for PreK-4. This is a…

This paper summarizes the findings from a K-6 professional development program that emphasized scientific inquiry and nature of science within the theme of scientific modeling. During the 2-week summer workshop and follow up school year workshops, the instruction modeled a 5-E learning cycle approach. Pre and posttesting measured teachers' views…

Scientific inquiry reflects how scientists come to understand the natural world, and it is at the heart of how students learn. From a very early age, children interact with their environment, ask questions, and seek ways to answer those questions. Understanding science content is significantly enhanced when ideas are anchored to inquiry…

This position statement begins with an outline of the meanings for terms that are central to the session topic at which this paper was presented: inquiry, inquiry learning, scientific inquiry, and scientific method. The central issues of inquiry's place in science education and as a more general educational approach are then discussed. Finally,…

It has long been a goal of science education in the United States that students leave school with a robust understanding of the nature of science. Decades of research show that this does not happen. Inquiry-based instruction is advocated as a means for developing such understanding, although there is scant direct evidence that it does. There is a…

Presents an action-research study of student scientific literacy that is analyzed by two metaphors of learning: students working in science as if they follow recipes, and students working in science as if they devise recipes. Considers the usefulness of the metaphors as a framework to provide common ground for otherwise divergent views on…

Reports on the methods and outcomes of a teacher development project that exposed teachers to inquiry as it is practiced in the discipline of ecology. Explores factors that are potentially effective on teachers' professional development experiences in ecological inquiry. Examines the variations of teachers, starting points, grade levels, and…

Teaching strategies are becoming increasingly oriented toward guiding students' knowledge construction through cooperative learning. Enhancing students' cognitive development is a priority; students must "learn how to think." Inquiry instruction provides students with tools to make decisions based upon available evidence and an opportunity to…