Describes by vignette and analysis four primary instructional tasks necessary to develop inquiry skills in children. Such tasks are shown to be fundamental to the inviting classroom and to experimental science. Claims that inviting inquiry requires a tolerance of error, supportive environments that nurture intellects, and participation that…

Presents an inquiry activity in which students design a solar cooking apparatus. Students are also asked to write a paragraph that explains the ways in which science knowledge helped them in the design of their cooker. Includes a grading rubric. (SOE)

Compares outcomes of open-inquiry and expository versions of a chemistry laboratory experiment at the university level. Investigates whether the two versions would result in different outcomes depending upon students' attitudes towards learning. Indicates that the open-inquiry version shows the most positive outcomes, and students with low…

Describes using performance tasks as an assessment method to evaluate student achievement. Explains how to build a task-specific rubric and provides a list of do's and don'ts for teachers. (YDS)

Describes a collaborative professional development program, Inquiry-Based Field Studies Involving Teacher-Scientist Collaboration, that uses scientist-teacher teams to improve teachers' understanding of scientific inquiry. Reports that the project allowed teachers to develop a deeper understanding on the nature of science. (Author/YDS)

Focuses on the instructional development of a professor of environmental engineering in collaboration with science education and higher education faculty members. Discusses the results of professional development in the areas of questioning strategies, thinking time for students, facilitating students' participation, and implementing…

Presents an inquiry-based science activity on pulse rate. Includes observations; developing a research question; constructing the hypothesis; designing the study; collecting, summarizing, and analyzing data; and interpretation stages in the activity. Presents information on how to use standards and benchmarks in this activity. (YDS)

Identifies literature that has the potential to introduce students to the meaning of science, inquiry, and scientists. Discusses the importance of using multiple texts to teach science, reading strategies to introduce the concept of inquiry, literature to extend student understanding of the role of inquiry in science, and the use of this cluster…

Proposes a microbial mystery activity to test students' knowledge of human anatomy and their ability to identify microbes. Provides an opportunity for students to develop logical deductive reasoning. Includes national science education standards related to this activity, activity sheets with whole procedures, and Internet resources. (KHR)

Introduces a Web-based, inquiry-oriented science activity on hurricanes in which students explore the website, conduct focused investigations, and report their findings. Presents simulations and scientific data available on the Web as instructional resources. (YDS)

Explains how digital technology can be used as a tool for teaching students the skills of observation, questioning, information gathering, classifying, predicting, and hypothesis testing. (Author/SOE)

The dispositionist bias manifests itself when behavior is overattributed to dispositions, and when contextual factors are underused when predicting behavior. Psychological processes underlying the former bias have been most thoroughly examined. Three studies support the hypothesis that trait implications of past behavior function as heuristics…

Presents two studies that explore the connection between students' language use and how they participate in small-group science activities. Describes the range of language used by groups of students while working with materials in several elementary science classrooms. Examines how students use language in small groups to discuss, clarify, and…

Examines how curriculum theorizing can be inspirational principally through discussion of a book entitled "Understanding Curriculum" (W. Pinar, W. Reynolds, P. Slattery, and P. Taubman). Concludes that, in addition to written texts, the lived experience of all who teach and learn must be "read" and thoughtfully included. (SM)

Analyzes four teacher educator communities in different contexts and entry points across the career lifespan, making the case that the education of teacher educators is substantially enriched when inquiry is a stance on the overall enterprise of teaching, schooling, and teacher education. The four illustrations are: unlearning racism, reinventing…