While opportunities for spontaneous, undesigned, serendipitous science engagement (SSE) are abundant and evidence regarding its affordances is accumulating, little is known about its nature. In this paper, I present a model defining and identifying SSE, which consists of a personal and a contextual continuum. To explore the nature of family SSE, I…

The process of collaborative inquiry learning requires maintaining a mutual understanding of the task, along with reaching consensus on strategies, plans and domain knowledge. In this study, we explore how different supportive measures affect students' consensus-building process, based on a re-analysis of data from four studies. We distinguish…

The Calculator Controlled Robots activities are designed to engage students in hands-on inquiry-based missions. These activities address National science and technology standards, as well as specifically focusing on mathematics content and process standards. There are ten missions and three exploration extensions that provide activities for up to…

Dynamic inquiry learning emphasizes aspects of change, intellectual flexibility, and critical thinking. Dynamic inquiry learning is characterized by the following criteria: learning as a process, changes during the inquiry, procedural understanding, and affective points of view. This study compared the influence of open versus guided inquiry…

Describes three major difficulties plaguing most discovery-learning teaching systems and presents a theoretical operational approach for offsetting these difficulties. (SL)

Modern science programs introduce more than scientific knowledge. They also encourage active student participation in the processes of scientific investigations. However 11 to 13 year olds generally lack the motivation to initiate such investigations. This is partly due to a logical conflict between learning and discovering. What is learned is…

Many new directions for science teaching were developed during the post-Sputnik era. Hands-on science teaching remains a popular direction, yet may be seen as something complex or mysterious by those not familiar with some of the jargon which usually accompanies any discussion of science teaching. This paper responds to several questions teachers…

Describes a unit on magnetism that utilizes hands-on activities in which students make hypotheses for discrepant behavior, discover whether a magnet attracts one object through another, measure the strength of magnets, explore levitating paper clips, and play a game dependent on magnetic attraction. (MDH)

Describes a self-managed learning approach designed to help engineering students take charge of their own learning. Discusses marker events, exploratory learning versus linear instruction, knowledge through self-discovery, information retrieval, production through writing and speaking, and promoting a mature response. (TW)

Reports on a study to determine the interaction effects of selected personality characteristics, science achievement, and two classroom climates, one which encouraged discovery learning and one that did not. Demonstrated that student achievement is influenced by dynamic interactions within classrooms. (TW)

Provides a rationale for a learning environment in science classrooms that integrates science, mathematics, and technology while solving authentic problems. Describes activities that can be used in such an environment and presents data regarding students' attitudes toward the described activities. (MDH)