The present qualitative study used socio-cultural theory (Wertsch, 1998), pedagogical content knowledge (Shulman, 1987), and reflective practice (Schon, 1983) to examine how social studies teachers define and develop inquiry questions. Existing literature reflects a long tradition of equating inquiry with high quality social studies instruction…

What is the nature of art/science collaborations in museums? How do art objects and activities contribute to the successes of science centers? Based on the premise that art exhibitions and art-based activities engage museum visitors in different ways than do strictly factual, information-based displays, I address these questions in a case study…

In this study, 11 doctoral students and I as the course instructor employed a narrative framework to uncover our perceived truths about our experiences as we interacted, studied, pondered, and journeyed through a qualitative research methods course. Data were my chronologically ordered notes documenting my thinking and perceptions about my…

Science inquiry challenges students to synthesize various ideas about complex phenomena into coherent explanations. It also challenges teachers, who must guide their diverse students' developing understanding during student-paced investigations. We describe the Idea Manager, a suite of web-based, curriculum-integrated tools that (a) guides…

Research suggests that engaging with student voice is desirable, worthwhile, and effective. This article explores these claims by describing how two secondary school teachers engage with students? voices as they inquire into their teaching practice. In doing so, it supports a conversation about the practicalities of engaging with student voice…

This article reports an empirical study that investigated the effects of embedding teacher inquiry as an everyday practice within one primary school. After describing how the school implemented and sustained inquiry as part of teachers' everyday work, the article outlines the impact undertaking such projects had on the teachers at this school.…

"We can think of morale as an organizational mood," the authors write, "and we can view a school with low morale as a school that's in a bad mood." School leaders can improve mood and raise morale by implementing three strategies that promote the kind of good mood that fosters student learning and success. School leaners…

This article focuses on the use of Photographic Participatory Inquiry (PPI) in researching the teaching and learning of photography in the e-learning environment. It is an arts-informed method drawing on digital tools to capture collective information as digital artefacts, which can then be accessed and harnessed to build critical and reflective…

Research suggests that inquiry-based strategies are the most effective modes of delivery in working with the gifted students. The characteristics of the gifted reveal a strong basis for understanding the power of question-asking as a part of differentiating curriculum. This article describes three different models of questioning--Guilford, Bloom,…

How can school education best bring about moral improvement? Socrates believed that the unexamined life was not worth living and that the philosophical examination of life required a collaborative inquiry. Today, our society relegates responsibility for values to the personal sphere rather than the social one. I will argue that, overall, we need…

Within the design studio, and across multiple field sites, the authors compare involvement of research tools and materials during collaborative processes of designing. Their aim is to trace temporal dimensions (shifts/ movements) of where and when learning takes place along different sites of practice. They do so by combining participant…

Reflection can form the basis for powerful dialogue between the arts and literacy as we seek interpretive and expressive fluency across modes. Through deep, cumulative reflection we make aspects of our world and experiences more perceivable, and open them up for artistic expression and aesthetic inquiry. Such reflections are also the catalysts for…

Traditional physics labs at the high school level are often closed-ended. The outcomes are known in advance and students replicate procedures recommended by the teacher. Over the years, I have come to appreciate the great opportunities created by allowing students investigative freedom in physics laboratories. I have realized that a laboratory…

In this introduction we reflect on two key questions that initiated this special issue on qualitative inquiry: What can qualitative researchers do to regain their post-paradigm-wars cache? How do we avoid distracting "science wars" in the future? We suggest that the strong tendency to narrow the research methods accepted as…

The purpose of this study was to investigate undergraduate students' conceptions of inquiry. Data were obtained from 212 undergraduates using an open ended questionnaire which required them to define inquiry and explain its importance. Analysis of the participants' definitions using open coding and constant comparison yielded 13 categories of…