In recent years, more science classrooms include inquiry-based approaches to learning in response to advances in education theory and science curriculum reform efforts. Yet, extant research indicates there are hurdles to fully actualizing those benefits: learners' regulation of cognitive, social, and motivational processes can be challenging. To…

Peer ideas can be valuable contributions to scientific inquiry. Divergent peer ideas can enrich students' thinking and encourage curiosity. Meanwhile, similar peer ideas can promote convergent thinking that can reinforce understanding. However, students need guidance in critically evaluating peer ideas in relation to their own, and in recognizing…

Promotion of students' scientific literacy has long been and continues to be a central goal for reform efforts in science education. Although there is a great number of research conducted to evaluate student's scientific literacy, less is known about how we can improve students' scientific literacy through variety of scientific practices. In this…

Inquiry includes a broad spectrum of approaches, depending on students' responsibility over the process and the extent of the teacher's guidance. While numerous studies have examined students' achievements and engagement across different types of inquiry-based environments, analyses of teachers' guidance during the process are lacking. Therefore,…

Enhancing students' conceptual understanding and improving their inquiry skills and motivation for learning science are the goals of science instruction in learning environments. The current study investigated how different inquiry-based learning environments (regular classroom and computer-based environments) affect middle school students'…

A common approach for introducing students to a new science concept is to present them with multiple cases of the phenomenon and ask them to explore. The expectation is that students will naturally take advantage of the multiple cases to support their learning and seek an underlying principle for the phenomenon. However, the success of such tasks…