Inquiry-based instruction has played an important role in science education, and been recognized as a critical approach to improve students' scientific learning effectiveness. However, current research revealed that it is a challenge for teacher education programs to improve pre-service science teachers' inquiry-based instructional activity design…

This study aimed to establish a fully 3D modeled immersive virtual reality (IVR) system for primary school students learning about plants and evaluate teachers' perceptions of the usage of the system and pupils' flow experiences and learning attitudes. There were 5 teachers with expertise in science and IVR experience who were first interviewed to…

Research on the use of digital games suggests they can enhance students' learning; however, teachers often play an important role in mediating gameplay and a game's educational goals. The purpose of the study was to investigate implementation approaches of nine biology teachers using an immersive digital game in their science classes, focusing on…

The goal of the current study was to investigate the effects of an immersive virtual reality (IVR) science simulation on learning in a higher educational setting, and to assess whether using self-explanation has benefits for knowledge gain. A sample of 79 undergraduate biology students (40 females, 37 males, 2 non-binary) learned about…

Gender and prior knowledge may affect students' performance and motivation when simulations and games are used for learning. Accommodations should be made for students of different genders and with different levels of prior knowledge. A simulation digital game about the food chain concept geared for elementary school students was developed for…

Immersive Virtual Reality (VR) simulations are argued to support students' learning of complex scientific phenomena via the use of realistic graphics and interactions that students can hardly experience in everyday life. However, the integration of immersive VR simulations in science classrooms introduces new challenges, whilst there is a lack of…

Effective energy education depends on continuing research designed to identify instructional strategies that will proof effective in particular learning contexts. The aim of this study was to help Taiwanese students learn about energy-saving related concepts through idea-centered, collaborative knowledge-building activities carried out in an…

The present study investigates how the different modes of game-design triggers learning outcomes, focusing on peer learning and intergroup competition. A problem-solving science game was developed to help secondary students to learn about the motion of objects. Participants (N = 110) from an urban middle school were randomly assigned to four…

This study investigated the effects of metaconceptually-enhanced, simulation-based inquiry learning on eighth grade students' conceptual change in science and their development of science epistemic beliefs. Two experimental groups studied the topics of motion and force using the same computer simulations but with different simulation guides: one…

Summary writing is an important skill that students use throughout their academic careers, writing supports reading and vocabulary skills as well as the acquisition of content knowledge. This exploratory and development-oriented investigation appraises the recently released online writing system, "Graphical Interface of Knowledge…

This study explores the diffusion of Web 2.0 technologies among science educators and the ways that these technologies are used to build teacher professional communities of practice (CoP) in life sciences and physical sciences. We used surveys and web analytics collected over a 21-month period to examine factors that motivate teachers to…

The purpose of this pilot study with a within-subject design was to gain a deeper understanding about the promise and restrictions of a virtual tutoring system designed to teach science to first grade students in Finland. Participants were 61 students who received six tutoring science sessions of approximately 20 min each. Sessions consisted of a…

This article reports results from a scale-up study of the impact of a software tool designed to support teachers in the digital learning era. This tool, the Curriculum Customization Service (CCS), enables teachers to access open educational resources from multiple providers, customize them for classroom instruction, and share them with other…

Although educational computer games have been recognized as being a promising approach, previous studies have indicated that, without supportive models, students might only show temporary interest during the game-based learning process, and their learning performance is often not as good as expected. Therefore, in this paper, a two-tier test…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the type of exploratory strategy and level of prior knowledge on middle school students' performance and motivation in learning chemical formulas via a 3D role-playing game (RPG). Two types of exploratory strategies-RPG exploratory with worked-example and RPG exploratory without…