Professional development school (PDS) contexts are increasingly being viewed as powerful sites for the preparation of future teachers in the USA. One of their documented strengths is in the fostering of preservice teachers' inquiry within collaborative frameworks that result from the partnerships between university teacher education programmes and…

A laboratory practical examination was used to compare the investigative skills developed in two different types of general-chemistry laboratory courses. Science and engineering majors (SEM) in the control group used a traditional verification approach (SEM-Ctrl), whereas those in the treatment group learned from an innovative, inquiry-based…

It is well-documented that most students do not have adequate proficiencies in inquiry and metacognition, particularly at deeper levels of comprehension that require explanatory reasoning. The proficiencies are not routinely provided by teachers and normal tutors so it is worthwhile to turn to computer-based learning environments. This article…

More units of study are being offered flexibly, using distance education and online facilities, as a consequence of recent educational developments in higher education, with learner expectations of being able to study when they like and where they like, as well as increasing class enrolments and more students studying remotely or part-time.…

Science education reforms consistently maintain the goal that students develop an understanding of the nature of science, including both the nature of scientific knowledge and methods for making it. This paper articulates a framework for scaffolding epistemic aspects of inquiry that can help students understand inquiry processes in relation to the…

In this article, the role of young children's emotional practices in science learning is described and analyzed. From the standpoint of performativity theory and social-constructionist theory of emotion, it is argued that emotion is performative and the expression of emotion in the classroom has its basis in social relationships. Arising from…

In this article, the author shares a very successful 50-minute inquiry-based physics lesson that uses only small metal cans, a bit of string, and the inquiring minds of middle schoolers. The topic of the lesson is wave motion and energy transfer. The intent of this article is to show that tests of student-generated hypotheses can be simple, quick,…

In this article, the author talks about an inquiry-based activity involving yeast, wherein students learned about cell size. The activity allows students to employ math connections and to learn experimental techniques while practicing microscope skills. The activity can be adapted for students at all levels of biology. The author presents details…

It is important for educators to address the diverse learning styles that exist within the students found in their courses and to try new ideas. Different people have different ways of telling other people what they know. The authors of this article contend that it is vital to incorporate lesson plans/activities that address students who have…

This paper represents a conversation between a high school science teacher and a university researcher as they found common ground in the theory and experiences of designing powerful learning experiences. The teacher describes an instructional unit in which students designed a complex, interactive display showing what life may have been like…

Inquiry learning requires the ability to understand that theory and evidence have to be distinguished and co-ordinated. Moreover, learners have to be able to control two or more independent variables when formulating hypotheses, designing experiments and interpreting outcomes. Can sixth-grade (9-10 years) children be trained to acquire these…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to empirically explore the behavioural patterns involved in entrepreneurial learning through a conceptualization of entrepreneurial learning as a "competency". Design/methodology/approach: Semi-structured interviews to 12 entrepreneurs were conducted with a focus on the critical incidents in which…

The purpose of this study is to investigate how sixth graders develop inquiry skills to construct explanations in an inquiry-based learning environment. We designed a series of inquiry-based learning activities and identified four inquiry skills that are relevant to students' construction of explanation. These skills include skills to identify…

Research on epistemological beliefs has clearly increased in the last decade. Even though the construct is clearer and relevant data are being collected, there are important theoretical and methodological issues that need further clarification. One of them is the debate about the domain generality-specificity of epistemological beliefs. I argue…

The environmental and interdisciplinary nature of environmental education presents extraordinary challenges to individuals' abilities as a field to clearly conceptualize, theorize and communicate findings about what they have learned about practice, research and theory in environmental learning (Disinger, 2001). Unfortunately, these factors also…