This study investigated the effects of Discovery Learning Scientific Community Laboratories (DL-SCL) and traditional non-DLSCL laboratories on students' conceptual understanding in a Physics-1 lab. At many universities, physics programs use a traditional lab style, despite research on the benefits for reform-oriented physics labs. This DL-SCL…

Science laboratories provided the ideal venue for promoting rigorous content-based courses and for encouraging the collaborative nature of scientific methodology. The descriptive comparative research study measured the psychosocial and physical aspects of the laboratory learning environment using the Science Laboratory Environment Inventory…

This study investigated the effects of two instructional approaches -- Discovery Learning Scientific Community Laboratories (DL-SCL; Treatment) and non-DLSCL laboratories (Control) -- on students' conceptual understanding, epistemological views, and academic achievement in a Physics-1 lab. Conceptual understanding was measured pre/post using the…

Studies comparing virtual and physical manipulative environments (VME and PME) in inquiry-based science learning have mostly focused on students' learning outcomes but not on the actual processes they engage in during the learning activities. In this paper, we examined experimentation strategies in an inquiry activity and their relation to…

Demonstrates that students who are taught physics concepts through active inquiry learn more readily than students taught the same concepts through vicarious inquiry method. Urges the active involvement of students in laboratory work. (LS)