This work reports the development and application of an analytical tool for the analysis of the formation of the scientific mind of students who took part in inquiry activities, based on the philosophy of Gaston Bachelard, in a Chemistry Club. For the construction of the analytical instrument, an extracurricular course was offered to first-year…

This study aims to examine the impacts of the inquiry learning strategies employed in a "Plastic Education Project" on primary students' knowledge, beliefs and intended behaviour in Hong Kong. Student questionnaires and a test on plastic types were adopted for data collection. Results reveal that the inquiry learning strategies…

Creating inquiry activities is inherently difficult. Asking meaningful questions requires both background knowledge on the part of the students and complexity on the part of the phenomena. Yet numerous strategies can help teachers conduct inquiry activities. In this article, the authors share a taxonomy of teaching strategies used to create…

This study describes an analytic procedure to examine inquiry processes in science teaching and learning. This procedure was applied to the study of a seismology unit in a ninth-grade earth science classroom. An emergent coding scheme was developed that provided a description of the different activities, science content, and type of scientific…

Elementary teachers often struggle with how to design and implement inquiry instruction with their students. For many, just understanding what inquiry is can be difficult--let alone designing activities that support high levels of inquiry. In this article, the authors present a continuum by which to evaluate an activity's level of inquiry. Then,…

A multidimensional organization of hands-on science is described. Inquiry, structure, and experimental dimensions are used to define and classify hands-on lab activities. The outcomes from the three different types of hands-on activities are discussed. (23 references) (KR)

This book focuses on the promotion and development of science learning from the Foundation Stage to Key Stage 2. The four authors have extensive experience in initial teacher education and in primary schooling and this is evident in the emphasis on practical examples and evidence-based guidance. They offer examples and case studies designed to…

An approach is suggested for teaching science history through inquiry training. A series of investigations are given for illustrating to students the manner in which organisms are grouped taxonomically. (SA)

Presents three inquiry-based lessons to develop the science process skills of observation, identification, and classification. Activities use whelk eggs and snail shells as the focus of the students' inquiries. Provides a list of 19 facts about whelks and snails. (MDH)

This book is designed to help students understand the nature of scientific inquiry by involving them in doing science rather than merely reading about it. The content of the text emphasizes science process skills, mathematical skills, and the use of theories and models that are fundamental for learning the various science disciplines. The…

Ten activities that feature a hands-on, student inquiry-based investigatory approach to rocks and minerals are presented. "Guided discovery" and/or inquiry instructional strategies are emphasized. They focus on a student-centered active classroom. Each activity includes the heading, science content, the scientific process skills, objective or…

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…