Understanding how blogs can support collaborative learning is a vital concern for researchers and teachers. This article explores how blogs may be used to support secondary education students' collaborative interaction and how such an interaction process can promote the creation of a Community of Inquiry to enhance critical thinking and…

In the 1960s, the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) developed a programming language called LOGO. Underpinning this invention was a profound new philosophy of how learners learn. This paper reviews research in the area and asks how one notion in particular, that of a microworld, may be used by secondary school educators to build powerful…

Project-based science (PBS) provides opportunities for students to engage in sustained inquiry in meaningful contexts. Science teachers want their students to attain scientific literacy for applications beyond the classroom. Unfortunately, many students view school, and especially school science, as disconnected from their lives and interests. PBS…

As secondary students' interest in science is decreasing, schools are faced with the challenging task of providing adequate instruction to engage students--and more particularly the disadvantaged students--to learn science and improve their science inquiry skills. In this respect, the integration of Web-based collaborative inquiry can be seen as a…

What teaching practices foster inquiry and promote students to learn challenging subject matter in urban schools? Inquiry-based instruction and successful inquiry learning and teaching in project-based science (PBS) were described in previous studies (Brown & Campione, [1990]; Crawford, [1999]; Krajcik, Blumenfeld, Marx, Bass, & Fredricks,…

While teaching science in an alternative arts high school, the author continuously addresses the challenge of welcoming creative, right-brained students into the world of systematic inquiry. Busily mixing paint colors, choreographing futuristic dances, performing comedic theater, and practicing the banjo, the students rarely initiate authentic…

The Integrated Occupation Science 26 Program is an optional program designed to allow students in Alberta, Canada to meet the credit requirements of the Certificate of Achievement and facilitate transfer to the General High School Diploma Program. This Teacher Resource Manual is provided to assist classroom teachers to implement the Science 26…

Describes the development, evaluation, and use of Laboratory Explorations in Biology" as an integral part of the Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory (McREL) Inquiry Role Approach". Student and teacher reactions are described, and an example of student evaluation of peers' achievement is given. (AL)

The author sees the physical sciences as processes of inquiry and proceeds to analyze and criticize CHEM Study, CBA, and PSSC physics in terms of their views of inquiry and of the sciences. A discussion of some desirable features for a high school program in physical science is included. Bibliography. (LC)

This article defines inquiry, analyzes the results of the implementation of inquiry-based science curricula in the 1960s, and supports the continued emphasis on inquiry-oriented teaching in the back-to-basic curriculum reform presently being advocated. (CS)

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is an information-gathering project that surveys the educational attainments of 9-year-olds, 13-year-olds, 17-year-olds, and adults (ages 26-35) in various learning areas. All areas are assessed by a group of educators who design objectives for each area and create measurement tools…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) materials and the inquiry teaching method on student achievement and retention in biology. Teachers were selected who used BSCS materials with inquiry methods, BSCS materials with traditional methods, traditional materials with inquiry methods,…

Reported is a study using tasks described by Piaget and Inhelder to evaluate changes in reasoning ability. The tasks were to evaluate the development of interpropositional logic, i.e., formal operations. The tasks used were validated using a formal operational population. They were administered at the beginning and end of the school year to…

Describes changes and effects of the Israeli paper-and-pencil matriculation examination in biology since first analysis in 1972. The examination has been significant for implementing an inquiry-oriented high school biology program based on the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study. Implications for upgrading science education are discussed.…

This study was concerned with junior high school students' understanding of the scientific enterprise, the methods and aims of science, and of scientists. A comparison was made between the use of the Earth Science Curriculum Project (ESCP) and the traditional general science course approach. The ESCP sample was taught by teachers trained in the…