The aim of this study is to investigate the impacts of the use of computer-aided argument maps as a tool to promote prospective teachers' critical thinking skills and dispositions. In this regard, qualitative research method was used in the study. The data of the research were collected through semi-structured interviews. Study group consists of…

Curiosity is a basic important aspect encourages students in finding various information which, in turn, aid them to encompass the concept learnt. This descriptive research aimed at elaborating the curiosity profile of junior high school students in science learning, particularly in excretion system topic who were taught using the authentic…

The best science teaching can be identified as that which sets out to support pupils' natural curiosity by equipping them with the investigative skills to make sense of the world around them. This requires a change in the way teachers think and also requires visionary leadership, agency, reflection, and enactment by participating teachers. This…

This study focuses on structured and guided inquiry instruction regarding question asking behaviors and curiosity of elementary students in Turkey. 177 sixth graders in 8 science courses were randomly assigned to treatment groups. Analysis of the data revealed that students in the guided inquiry groups asked higher-cognitive level questions and…

Inquiry engagement is a newly defined construct that represents the participation in carrying out practices of science and engineering to achieve learning outcomes and is influenced by learners' personalities and teachers' roles. Expectancy value theory posits that attainment values are important components of task values that, in turn, directly…

State and national standards have shifted what science learning should be from "plug and chug" formulas, to deep understanding of natural phenomena, competence developing ideas through the inquiry process, and even communicating scientific ideas among their communities (NRC 2007). By inquiring into his own teaching endeavors, the author continues…

The purpose of this study is to determine the strategies used by pre-school teachers in order to raise curiosity in children. Based on this aim, sample is composed of 52 pre-school teachers working in kindergartens affiliated to Ministry of National Education. Study data were collected via qualitative research methods. Research data were gathered…

The main goal for the current study was to investigate whether individual differences in domain-general thinking dispositions might affect learning from multiple-document inquiry tasks in science. Middle school students were given a set of documents and were tasked with understanding how and why recent patterns in global temperature might be…

Asking questions is an activity central to inquiry learning. This research examined documents created during an open inquiry learning process of the Biomind programme for Israeli high school students. In addition, to understand how students express and develop curiosity in learning, we observed students during a molecular biology lesson, a subject…

For the thirty-sixth year, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the annual AECT Convention in Anaheim, California. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two…