Scientific inquiry skills are crucial for scientific literacy and cognitive development in the 21st century. Prior research has identified key inquiry skills-- data analytics (DA), control of variables (COV), and scientific reasoning (SR)--but has not validated these skills through comprehensive assessments. The aim of this study was to validate…

Inquiry-based course experiences provide a scalable and equitable way to engage students in research. In this study, we describe how we introduced inquiry-based experiences to ten lower-division and upper-division courses across the biology curriculum at a regionally comprehensive public university serving the diverse population in a major…

In this article, the author describes her research looking at girls and problem-solving, with the intention to answer the question: What impact does implementing a skills framework encompassing collaboration have on the proficiency of scientific enquiry skills for year 5 girls?

Science teachers face an incredible challenging task of combining research on how students learn best, the three-dimensions of the Science Education Frameworks that in themselves are complicated to understand, and instructional sequences that lead to deeper learning. "Activating Students' Ideas: Linking Formative Assessment Probes to…

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 study investigates the ability of future primary school teachers to design experiments when confronted with everyday life problems, particularly those involving complex phenomena or counterintuitive outcomes. Data were collected using a content analysis approach from the written assignments submitted during a Science Education university…

Science education researchers and curriculum documents have advocated scientific inquiry for more than six decades; however, inconsistent findings concerning its effects on students' learning outcomes have been revealed in recent analyses of large-scale international assessment data (e.g., the Programme for International Student Assessment…

Acknowledgement of the limited learning outcomes in our first-year physics lab course, strikingly similar to the observed and reported issues in literature, incited renewal of the course with a focus on developing students' ability to engage in experimental physics research. The "procedural and conceptual knowledge (PACKS)…

Many teachers have a level of discomfort with planning inquiry-based science lessons for students with complex needs. Science instruction typically includes teaching discrete skills with a focus on vocabulary acquisition (Knight et al., 2020). Because science is universal and thus important for all learners, many states have adopted the Next…

The integration of guided inquiry, outdoor learning, and diverse school environments is essential for enhancing students' Science Process Skills (SPS), particularly in biodiversity topics. This study aims to improve students' SPS through the implementation of Environment-Based Guided Inquiry in Outdoor Learning on biodiversity. The research was…

Students often learn about measurement uncertainty as an isolated topic, with a focus on generalizable strategies to manage uncertainty in scientific investigation. In this study, we report and analyze a case of emergent learning about measurement and uncertainty, in which students in a Chinese elementary school science class explored and…

The objectives of this research are: (1) to develop a flipped classroom learning plan using inquiry-based learning on the topic of substance separation for Grade 8 students, to achieve effectiveness according to the 75/75 criteria; (2) to compare science process skills and learning achievement before and after implementing the developed learning…

Preparing the new generation to be data-literate citizens is a pressing challenge, and some explorations have been made to cultivate K-12 students' data science skills and attitudes. However, there is a lack of instructional models to guide the design of data science programs in K-12 due to its complex and interdisciplinary nature as well as the…

This study investigated the effect of the science process skills-integrated inquiry-based approach (SPSIIBA) on grade 9 students' academic achievement in cell biology and their perception of SPSIIBA. The study used a mixed-method research approach with a quasi-experimental design. A total of 78 secondary school students participated in the study.…

The advancement of technology has led to a growing interest in assessing scientific inquiry within digital platforms. This shift towards dynamic and interactive inquiry assessments enables researchers to investigate not only the accuracy of student responses ("product data") but also their steps and actions leading to those responses…