In response to national and state trends promoting inquiry-based social studies over the last decade, social studies teacher educators at the University of Kentucky revamped their pre-service program to create alignment around the key inquiry concepts of questions, tasks, and sources. Part of the program revision involved the creation of a new…

The study investigates students' ability to analyze visual literacy and digital literacy through open-ended inquiry activities with astronomical observations and Heaven View application. The investigation consists of assignments for students to carry out six different variations of observational activities. Supervision is given in introductory…

"Learning by doing" involves completing a practice activity through the method of inquiry. This study combined the predict-observe-explain (POE) inquiry method and hands-on doing processes to develop a cycle-mode POED (predict-observe-explain-do) model with an e-learning system to help students complete a practice activity using…

This classroom-based action research study investigated the creative implementation of fluency instruction for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners through the use of a virtual character-playing simulation called Place Out of Time (POOT). The researchers sought to identify what supported and impeded student participation in this game-based…

This study examined how participation in an inquiry-based workshop on assessing course syllabi for equity-mindedness and cultural inclusivity fostered community college math faculty learning about racial/ethnic equity and equity-mindedness. Findings show that the workshop prompted reflection on what equity means and how participants' teaching…

At universities where introductory physics labs are taught by graduate student teaching assistants (TAs), there is a need for specialized professional development for those TAs. This paper presents a specific instantiation of a model for lab TA professional development that uses a combination of cognitive apprenticeship and expectancy-value…

Despite credible research to support a constructivist-based approach in early childhood programs, policymakers continued to push for a more academic-based philosophy in an effort to reach standardized testing goals. Reggio Emilia, a constructivist-based early childhood philosophy that originated in Northern Italy, has been shown to be an excellent…

Using case study method, this study examines the impact of an inquiry-based learning program among a cohort of first-semester undergraduates (n = 104) at a large public university in the southeastern United States who are aspiring to become teachers. The Boyer Commission (1999) asserted that inquiry-based learning should be the foundation of…

Computer programming skills are important to many current careers; teaching robot coding to elementary students can start a positive foundation for technological careers, develop problem-solving skills, and growth mindsets. This study, through a repeated measures design involving students in two classrooms at two widely-separated grade levels…

For many years, changing beliefs has been considered a prerequisite for changing classroom practices. However, professional development research has also shown that the opposite relationship is also true--change in practice can precede change in beliefs. This study investigated the effect of a one-year professional development program on…

The aim of this study was to find out how science teachers who have participated in a one-year school-based collaborative teacher professional development programme, perceive the programme's impact on their professional development. Constant comparative analysis was used on data from three schools to generate the findings in this study. The…

Students who struggle with vocabulary knowledge often see a decline in comprehension of content. Even students who receive strong reading instruction in the early elementary years may still experience the fourth-grade slump (Chall, 1983), which more often affects students from underserved populations. Many of those same students are also affected…

The current study was constructed based on the recommendations of a previous study (McHenry & Borger, 2013). Though inquiry-based teaching has long been touted as an effective pedagogy, its application by middle school science teachers has been problematic. Using tools developed from the previous study in conjunction with professional…

The Scientist in the Classroom Partnership (SCP) is a unique, long-term program that partners STEM fellows with K-12 teachers. The SCP was adapted from the original NSF GK-12 model, with fellows and teachers working in the summer and academic year to build their partnership and design and coteach inquiry-based STEM curricula. The current study is…

This two-year, mixed-methods study explored teacher learning during a year-long professional development programme and during the year following the programme. The study examined patterns of change in primary school teachers' inquiry practices, inquiry beliefs and physical science content knowledge during both years as well as the effects of…