This article introduces a flexible and easy-to-implement open-ended scientific inquiry activity called the Paper Towels Challenge. After experimentally determining which of three unbranded paper towels is the most absorbent, students discuss their results and methods. The teacher facilitates the discussion of epistemological issues. This activity…

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 investigated the science competencies that scientists and students perceived as important and their science-related experiences and analyzed them comprehensively using activity system framework in order to explore which competencies need to be emphasized more and what experiences and environments should be provided in school science…

Several reforms in national and international curricula have been implemented to introduce inquiry-based activities to promote different science process skills. Science skills require high cognitive effort for students and, thus, they need supports to develop them in an inquiry process. Among these supports, video-worked examples demonstrate how…

Written as a letter to Galileo, an education graduate student narrates from course experiences that deepened her understandings of Galileo and natural and intellectual properties underlying his works. Having taken the Galileo-themed course with Elizabeth Cavicchi at MIT's Edgerton Center in three prior terms, on taking it a fourth time, this…

Model-based inquiry (MBI) is an instructional framework designed around the construction, revision, and testing of models by students to make sense of and explain a phenomenon (Windschitl et al. 2008). Focusing on explaining natural phenomena provides a specific context for students to learn and apply scientific understandings to and can help…

Interactive digital technologies are playing an increasingly important part in education for enhancing collaborative learning processes and improving engagement. Social annotation (SA) tools and collaborative platforms are an innovative way to involve students to give and take feedback, annotate, and brainstorm on complex topics in science,…

Background: STEM education and research are increasingly emphasized by governments worldwide to foster national development and productivity, economic competitiveness and societal wellbeing. There is no exception in Hong Kong, with its desire to promote STEM education and to strengthen Innovation and Technology development in the future. Purpose:…

In this study, we aimed to characterize students' inquiry skill profiles and investigate whether students' gender, major, school location and type, and household registration are related to their inquiry skill profiles. By providing an animation-based activity, we engaged students in a scientific inquiry on the atmospheric chemistry of climate…

Ecosystems, interacting systems of biotic and abiotic factors, are a fascinating topic in life science. The "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead States 2013) recognize "Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics" (HS-LS2) as one of four overarching ideas in life science that students should understand. Student…

Wave optics is a mandatory part of Croatian secondary school physics curriculum for students in the final year of secondary school (age 18-19). Many physics education research studies have shown that it is a difficult physics topic for both university and secondary school students. An inquiry-based teaching sequence on wave optics, designed for…

Most studies on inquiry have focused on student outcomes, teachers' conceptions of inquiry, implementation of inquiry in science classrooms, and inquiry coverage in science textbooks. Little is known about the nature of inquiry representation in science practitioner journals that serve as sources of inquiry science activities for many science…

Acid-base titration laboratories are perennially offered to general chemistry students in preparation for summative assessments of their hands-on and quantitative skills in the field. Here, we present a guided inquiry-based activity focused on total titratable acidity (TTA) as alternative to standard "cookbook" titration laboratory work.…

This study explores emergent reflective structuration as a new form of shared regulation. The purpose is to support students in taking on high-level epistemic agency as they co-configure dynamic inquiry pathways that unfold over long periods of time. With the teacher's support, students not only regulate their inquiry and collaboration following…

This study investigated grade 4 learners' understandings about the Nature of Scientific Inquiry (NOSI) in primary schools within the South African context. A qualitative methodology was employed using a framework of five knowledge aspects about the NOSI in assessing learners' understandings about the ways scientists investigate the natural world.…