Background: In recent years, science curricula (chemistry, physics, biology, earth science, life science, etc.) in many countries have been prepared and applied according to the inquiry-based learning approach. Although the acquisition and application of the inquiry skills are one of the important objectives of the science curriculum, the inquiry…

Understanding students' capacity to direct their learning in school and beyond has been a sustained area of interest for practising science teachers, policy-makers, and educational researchers. This paper presents results from a longitudinal quasi-experimental study carried out to examine changes in students' self-reported levels of…

This study investigates how elite Turkish high school physics students claim to approach learning physics when they are simultaneously (i) engaged in a curriculum that led to significant gains in their epistemological sophistication and (ii) subject to a high-stakes college entrance exam. Students reported taking surface (rote) approaches to…

Citizens need the capability to conduct their own inquiry projects so that they can make sense of claims about new energy policies, health remedies, or financial opportunities. To develop the lifelong capability to grapple with these dilemmas, we report on ways to design precollege units that engage students in realistic, personally relevant…

This study investigated the effects of students' prior science knowledge and online learning approaches (social and individual) on their learning with regard to three topics: science concepts, inquiry, and argumentation. Two science teachers and 118 students from 4 eighth-grade science classes were invited to participate in this research. Students…

"Evaluative constructivism" is used to describe how students derived learning intentions and made choices about what they would do during a unit of work in a final-year high school biology class, as they conducted an inquiry into the social and ethical issues associated with cancer. The context of the study, theoretical background and…

An assessment-oriented design-based research model was applied to existing inquiry-oriented multimedia programs in astronomy, biology, and ecology. Building on emerging situative theories of assessment, the model extends prevailing views of formative assessment "for" learning by embedding "discursive" formative assessment more directly into the…

The focus of this paper is on selected recent South African research studies that have explored efforts to promote the discussion, writing, and arguing aspects of scientific literacy in primary and middle schools, particularly amongst second-language learners. These studies reveal improvements in the participants' abilities to both use the…

The 10th International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM 2017) is held under the auspices of the International Educational Data Mining Society at the Optics Velley Kingdom Plaza Hotel, Wuhan, Hubei Province, in China. This years conference features two invited talks by: Dr. Jie Tang, Associate Professor with the Department of Computer…

The Directed Inquiry Approach to Learning Science Process Skills and Scientific Problem Solving [DIAL(SPS)2] is described. Concept mapping, advance organizers, Vee diagrams, the theme approach, and focusing are used to help students develop science process skills. (KR)

The characteristics and major events of early American science are discussed in this paper. The philosophical influences and scientific practices of prominent scientists in early American time periods are examined and referenced in terms of their orientation to inquiry-oriented methods. Specific descriptions of the scientific accomplishments of…

In this project, a resynthesis of the research dealing with student performance in new science curricula was conducted using refined statistical procedures. Results generally supported earlier meta-analysis studies. (CW)

Developing a constructivist view of scientific inquiry and knowledge is considered to be important to the training of future scientists, as well as to the understanding of scientific information by all citizens. The research reported targets the junior high school grades. Curricular materials that introduce seventh graders to the constructivist…

Investigates the effect of a directed-inquiry approach to learning science process skills and scientific problem solving in the high school biology laboratory. Reports no main effect of the approach but an interaction effect of the approach and cognitive development. (Author/YP)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a laboratory-centered inquiry program on laboratory skills, science process skills, and knowledge/understanding. The inquiry approach used in the Foundational Approaches in Science Teaching (FAST) program and a traditional science textbook approach were compared in terms of the three…