This study examined whether online tool support for regulation promotes student learning during collaborative inquiry in a computer simulation-based learning environment. Sixty-one students worked in small groups to conduct a scientific inquiry with fluid dynamics. Groups in the experimental condition received a support tool with regulatory…

Students investigate energy conversions by collaborating to develop a free standing track of plastic tubing through which a ball bearing moves at the fastest possible speed. Friendly competition leads to discussion of what worked and did not work and to the identification and investigation of underlying principles. (Contains 4 charts.)

The purpose of this study was to reconstruct writers' reasoning process as reflected in their written texts. The codes resulting from the text analysis were related to cognitive operations, ranging from simple to more sophisticated ones. The sequence of the cognitive operations as the text unfolded represents the writer's cognitive pathway at the…

Teaching science by means of inquiry-based projects has the potential to transform the science lab into a place of debate and discovery, but teachers run the risk of either leaving students to work too independently or forcing them to be too dependent on our guidance. To counter these challenges, the author implemented changes in the way topics…

Compares the nature of student thinking in confirmation and open-inquiry laboratory activities. Reports that student thinking processes exhibited in confirmation laboratories emphasized procedures and techniques--making sense of and doing the laboratory, whereas student thinking in open-inquiry laboratories emphasized data analysis--making sense…

A new learning unit in chemistry, "Case-based Computerized Laboratories" (CCL) and Computerized Molecular Modeling" (CMM) was developed at the Technion. The CCL and CMM curriculum integrates computerized desktop experiments and molecular modeling with an emphasis on scientific inquiry and case studies. Our research aimed at…

Investigations with Wisconsin Fast Plants can make the subject matter come alive...or dead, depending on the experimental treatment. This became apparent when a university-based teacher educator and a fifth-grade teacher collaborated on a professional development experience aimed at increasing understanding of how science inquiry could be used…

The topic of inquiry is explored in an online freshman level introductory biology course for non-majors. The research took place in a distance learning program at a small community college in the Southeast. Students in the course were required to complete an extended guided inquiry in their homes and to communicate about their work by way of the…

In this extended earth science activity, students create a hands-on model of a volcano to achieve an understanding of volcanic structure, lava flows, formation of lava layers, and the scientific work of archaeologists and geoscientists. During this simulation activity, students have opportunities to learn science as inquiry and the nature of…

"Mineral Detectives!" is one of eighteen lessons in the "Private Whys?" integrated science unit, which uses a guided inquiry investigation to teach students in grades three through five about the role of minerals in our lives. The University of North Texas developed "Private Whys?" with funding from the Copper…

The community can be a powerful context and mini-laboratory for cultivating students' common understandings of science and mathematics. On the island of Panay in the Philippines, the community was the starting place for a group of fifth- and sixth-grade students to explore simple machines in their daily lives. What students learned in the process…

Despite the growing popularity of robotics competitions such as FIRST LEGO League, robotics activities are typically not found in regular K-12 classrooms. We speculate that, among other reasons, limited adoption is due to the lack of empirical evidence demonstrating the effect of robotics activities on curricular goals. This paper presents a mixed…

A multidiscovery, open-ended, sciencing experience appears to have implemented nearly the full spectrum of cognitive, affective, and psychomotor objective domains.'' (Author/DF)

To teach students to think like scientists, the authors modified their laboratory course to include regular opportunities for student practice of inquiry and the scientific process. Their techniques are simple; they can be implemented without rewriting lab manuals, require little additional grading beyond typical lab reports, and are applicable…

Inquiry-based learning is more work than passive learning, and there is a body of students who prefer to take the easier route. But there is also a body of students who wish to explore science. Two descriptive evolutionary experiments conducted by university freshman/sophomore biology majors, enrolled in General Zoology are described.