Fostering Self-regulated Science Inquiry in Physical Sciences

Abstract

Science education in the twenty-first century must not only teach students what science is, but also how to understand and engage in scientific reasoning and argumentation. In this chapter, we review two inquiry lessons in the physical sciences, one based in chemistry and the other based in physics. These lessons demonstrate how to engage students in active, collaborative learning, which is likely to lead to deep conceptual understanding. Such lessons require students to engage in self-regulated science inquiry. They also serve as mediums for teachers to teach, support, and model self-regulated learning. These lessons illustrate empirically-supported tenets of self-regulated learning including planning, monitoring, and controlling what happens before, during, and after learning; providing just-in-time teacher support and modeling; and structuring lessons to promote positive reflection, self-efficacy, and growth mindsets. Further, the lessons in this chapter illustrate how to move students from co-regulation to socially shared regulation of learning, which in turn provides students with the tools they need to engage in scientific argumentation, inquiry, and discourse.