This paper considers an approach to studying issues in technology and science, which integrates design and inquiry activities towards creating and exploring technological models of scientific phenomena. We implemented this approach in a context where the learner inquires into a biological phenomenon and develops its representation in the form of a…

This design experiment aimed to answer the question of how to mediate the practices of authentic science inquiries in primary education. An instructional approach based on activity theory was designed and carried out with multi-age students in a small village school. An open-ended learning task was offered to the older students. Their task was to…

Robertson discusses the "perceived dichotomy" that permeates science teaching: teachers can either stress inquiry learning with lots of hands-on experiences or stress content knowledge and swap hands-on inquiry for direct instruction. Although a curriculum of unstructured hands-on science activities leads to shallow content knowledge, it is…

One dilemma science teachers face every day is balancing the content demands of state and federal testing requirements while providing opportunities for inquiry. Using the 5E learning cycle is a realistic, constructivist way to address this dilemma. The 5E learning cycle leads students through a sequence of learning in which they become engaged in…

One dilemma science teachers face every day is balancing the content demands of state and federal testing requirements while providing opportunities for inquiry. Using the 5E learning cycle is a realistic, constructivist way to address this dilemma. The 5E learning cycle leads students through a sequence of learning in which they become engaged in…

Describes an inquiry investigation to enable students to understand water cohesion, surface tension, and heating curves for water. The investigation includes several activities organized in a three-phase learning cycle: (1) exploration; (2) concept invention; and (3) concept application. (DDR)

Describes a year-long process of inquiry and scientific learning with a class of fourth-grade students. Describes how the students observed, questioned, and wondered their way to new understandings of the life of birds and the nature of inquiry learning. (SR)

Reviews the research regarding the use of laboratories in the teaching of science. Discusses the traditional process skills and adaptations of the learning cycle. Describes the four distinct characteristics of a Guided Inquiry Laboratory. Thirty-seven references are listed. (CW)

Reports a study analyzing the inquiry level of science activities within junior high science textbooks and their accompanying supplemental activity guides. (PR)

Describes an open-ended, inquiry-based chemistry lab in which students design and construct snow globes. Encourages the development of problem solving skills. (DDR)

Reports on a study that explored the types of questions that students ask for open-ended science investigations. Discusses how teachers can help students identify problems and pose questions that are feasible for investigation. (Contains 55 references.) (DDR)

Describes a scientific investigation of sexual dimorphism with regard to chela size in crayfish in which students utilize the skills, tools, and techniques associated with the formulation and testing of scientific hypotheses. Indicates that students find the investigation effective in aiding their understanding of fundamental aspects of scientific…

A team of teachers, scientists, and high school students at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston has developed activities to teach concepts in learning through an inquiry-based laboratory method. The Learning Education and Research Network (LEARN) activities were field tested at the Society for Neuroscience Conference, in the…

Developing a constructivist view of scientific inquiry and knowledge is considered to be important to the training of future scientists, as well as to the understanding of scientific information by all citizens. The research reported targets the junior high school grades. Curricular materials that introduce seventh graders to the constructivist…

Discusses how laboratory activities can match science teaching goals. Analysis of two commonly used laboratory investigations in high school physics and biology are presented using a list of 24 skills and behaviors which are related to the processes of scientific inquiry and problem solving. (HM)