Impact of a senior research thesis on students' perceptions of scientific inquiry in distinct student populations.

In this research it is aimed to examine the effects of STEM-based activities on pre-service primary school teachers’ scientific inquiry skills, conducted in a science education course of third year undergraduate students. A mixed research method, combining pretest posttest single group design and semi-structured interviews guided the study. Participants of the study consist of 47 pre-service primary school teachers in a state university. The activities implemented with third grade pre-service primary school teachers for ten weeks/thirty course hours. “Views About Scientific Inquiry” scale which was developed and translated into Turkish was used as data collection tool. Based on the eight aspects of science standards, a STEM activity plan was created for each of these dimensions in terms of science, mathematics, engineering and technology achievements. Test as pre and post-test are analyzed statically and for the normally distributed data of VASI, the dependent samples t-test was applied. The dependent sample t-test was used to determine whether there was a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores after the scientific method-based STEM applications. Semi-structured interviews were performed to support quantitative data and analyzed descriptively. Results of the study showed that at the beginning of the research, the scientific inquiry skills and views of the pre-service primary teachers were inadequate. Additionally, there is a significant difference on scientific inquiry skills and views of the study group, participating in the STEM-based science activities, after STEM applications and activities within the course. It can be concluded that STEM based activities enhance scientific inquiry understandings and skills of pre-service primary school teachers.

Background It is critical to analyse and evaluate elementary school students’ scientific inquiry skills to promote inquiry-based teaching and learning and to develop students’ scientific inquiry skills. Compared with the analysis of students’ scientific inquiry skills based on paper and pen tests and classroom teaching videos, the direct analysis of primary school students’ video works on the scientific inquiry can more intuitively and comprehensively reflect students’ actual scientific inquiry ability. Purpose This study aims to analyse scientific inquiry abilities of students in Chinese elementary school through video works and to reflect students’ scientific inquiry abilities authentically and comprehensively by using performance assessment. Sample 32 high-integrity physics videos on material science topics were further evaluated for analysis. Design and Methods The study proposed the analytical framework of students’ scientific inquiry skills combined with the existing research, and the content analysis of the participating videos was carried out accordingly, which realized the performance assessment of students’ scientific inquiry skills. Results Only 40.59%entries had completed elements of scientific inquiry. The scores for hypothesis making and reflection evaluation were 1.37 and 1.71, which were relatively complex and showed that students’ performance was weak. The highest scores for the ability to inquire and the view of scientific inquiry were gotten by the students in grade 4 and no outstanding performance was shown by the students in grade 6 . Conclusion First, the lowest level of scientific inquiry was found in making hypotheses and reflective evaluation performance. Second, students’ scientific inquiry skills did’t show a dominant correlation with grade, and students’ inquiry skills don’t necessarily increase naturally with increased knowledge and skills. In addition, the degree of openness to inquiry did not fully characterize students’ inquiry skills. Finally, students with a more systematic view of scientific inquiry had relatively higher inquiry skills.

The study aimed to determine the comparative effectiveness of context-based and traditional teaching approaches in enhancing student achievement in genetics, problem-solving, science inquiry and decision-making skills, and attitude towards the study of life sciences. A mixed method but essentially quantitative research approach involving a quasi-experimental, non-equivalent pre-test post-test control group design was used for the investigation. A total of 190 students from six grade 11 intact science classes, and their six teachers drawn from the six high schools in Tshwane South educational district in Gauteng, South Africa comprised the study sample. The participating teachers taught a genetics course made up of several themes to students in the control and experimental groups over a 7-week period. Five instruments were used to assess student performance in genetics content knowledge, science inquiry skills, problem-solving and decision-making abilities and attitude towards life sciences. Qualitative data derived from teachers' and students' interview protocols were used to supplement the quantitative data. The results suggest that context-based teaching was significantly better than traditional teaching approaches in enhancing student performance, apart from specific science inquiry skills. Performance differences were strongly associated with the type of contexts used in designing the genetics learning materials, and the context-based teaching model used for implementing the materials.

This correlational study investigated the direct and indirect effects of instructional factors and motivational and cognitive components of self-regulated learning on scientific inquiry performance in a sample of scientifically gifted middle school students. A total of 166 students were selected from nine gifted classes in the public school system with after-school enrichment programs in Korea. Students responded to self-report measures of mastery-oriented learning goals, self-efficacy, self-regulatory strategy use, and inquiry activities in science class. Performance data were obtained from work on a scientific inquiry task. Results of a path analysis revealed that students' self-efficacy and perceived degree of inquiry activities in science class were the only factors directly influencing their scientific inquiry skills. Whereas open inquiry learning that allows for choices and decisions in students' inquiry procedure directly influenced use of self-regulatory strategies, the extent of inquiry activities directly influenced self-efficacy. Self-regulatory strategy use was not a significant predictor for scientific inquiry skills. Based on the results, implications for future science gifted education are discussed. Putting the Research to Use: This study, by incorporating instructional factors in the framework of self-regulated learning of gifted students, extended the previous research that had examined the relationships among the components of self-regulated learning in relation to achievement. Also, it explored such relationships in a much less studied area, science, and extended the scope of science achievement by including scientific inquiry skills as a criterion of academic performance. In general, it reveals that inquiry learning increases gifted students' scientific inquiry skills while open inquiry does not contribute much to this process and that the only learner characteristic influencing scientific inquiry skills is self-efficacy. For educators working with scientifically gifted students, this study urges them to plan open inquiry learning more systematically and make it accessible to students, by providing assistance and guidance with the inquiry process at the outset of learning and increasingly incorporating the open nature of inquiry. Motivational beliefs of gifted students in their abilities also need to be encouraged and fostered in the classroom.

Investigation of scientists’ actual processes of conducting research can provide us with more realistic aspects of scientific inquiry. This study was performed to identify three aspects of scientists’ actual research: their motivations for scientific inquiry, the scientific inquiry skills they used, and the main types of results obtained from their research. To do this, we interviewed six prominent physicists about why and how they researched and what they obtained from their research results. We also analyzed their published papers. In the previous part of this study, types and features of the physicists’ research motivations were identified (Park and Jang, Journal of the Korean Physical Society, 47(3), 401–408, 2005). In this article, as the second part of the study, it was found: (1) Various inquiry skills including theoretical as well as experimental research skills and the social skills of scientific inquiry were used in physicists’ research. (2) New inventions, articulation of, and falsification of the previous findings were regarded as important research results. (3) Physicists’ research processes were often non-linear and cyclical. For each of these findings, implications for teaching scientific inquiry in schools were developed. Finally, we proposed a model of scientific inquiry process consisting of research motives, scientific inquiry skills, and results of inquiry.

The purpose of this research was to analyze the effects of the science education program based on pedagogical content knowledge of kindergarten teachers on scientific knowledges, scientific inquiry skills, and scientific inquiry attitudes of young children in Korea. Research aimed to analyze the effect of science education program based on PCK of kindergarten teachers on young children’ them. Research used a quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group design. The participants enrolled in this study were 36 five-year-old from S kindergarten in Busan City, in Korea. The data was analyzed with the analysis of covariance test using the SPSS 18.0 software. The results of the research are as fallows; the participating in this science education program based on PCK of kindergarten teachers showed significantly higher scores in scientific knowledges, scientific inquiry skills and scientific inquiry attitudes than those who participated in science activities from Nu-Ri curriculum in Korea. In conclusion, it was confirmed that this science education program for young children based on PCK of kindergarten teachers improves young children's scientific knowledges, scientific inquiry skills, and scientific inquiry attitudes.

This study focused on fostering students' scientific inquiry skills through Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) in K-12 classrooms through a science research course complemented with Knowledge Forum (a CSCL tool). The subjects were 71 secondary one (7th grade) students in a Singapore school. The Test for Integrated Process Skills II (TIPS II) developed by Burns et al. (1985) was administered before and after the treatment so as to compare the students' scientific inquiry skills. Qualitative analysis of the students' discourse was used to derive possible reasons and processes leading to the observed outcomes. The results showed that the treatment enhanced the students' scientific inquiry skills, especially in the area of identifying variables and stating hypothesis. Possible contributing factors to the results include provision of scaffolding and students' characteristics such as direct engagement with scientific problems and recognition of self as epistemic agent.

ABSTRACTIn most primary science classes, students are taught science inquiry skills by way of learning by doing. Research shows that explicit instruction may be more effective. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of explicit instruction on the acquisition of inquiry skills. Participants included 705 Dutch fifth and sixth graders. Students in an explicit instruction condition received an eight-week intervention of explicit instruction on inquiry skills. In the lessons of the implicit condition, all aspects of explicit instruction were absent. Students in the baseline condition followed their regular science curriculum. In a quasi-experimental pre-test–post-test design, two paper-and-pencil tests and three performance assessments were used to examine the acquisition and transfer of inquiry skills. Additionally, questionnaires were used to measure metacognitive skills. The results of a multilevel analysis controlling for pre-tests, general cognitive ability, age, gender and grade level indicated that explicit instruction facilitates the acquisition of science inquiry skills. Specifically on the performance assessment with an unfamiliar topic, students in the explicit condition outperformed students of both the implicit and baseline condition. Therefore, this study provides a strong argument for including an explicit teaching method for developing inquiry skills in primary science education.

To learn about nature and phenomena, science inquiry skills require a mix of science content knowledge, science process skills, creativity, and critical thinking. Acquiring these skills is typically a goal in fundamental science education because they are required for conducting scientific research. The principal objective of this study was to look for ways in which the use of an experiential learning model combined with peer education can improve students’ science inquiry skills. This intervention study involved 30 eighth grade students in a public Junior High School in Surabaya city. The instruments used were science inquiry skills test and student response questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using normalized change (<c>), scatterplot visualization, and percentage of response questionnaire. All the instruments used in this study had high internal consistency, as indicated by the Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega values that were above the threshold of 0.70. This study revealed that the student who have low pretest score, could reach 4c region, this illustrates that the experiential learning model integrated with peer instruction intervention can and has the potential to have a positive impact on students’ science inquiry skills. It can also show that the experiential learning model integrated with peer instruction can provide student learning satisfaction, so that it can have a positive impact on science inquiry skills.

본 연구의 목적은 7학년 "해수의 성분과 운동" 단원에서 MBL 실험 수업이 학생들의 과학탐구능력과 그래프 작성 및 해석능력에 미치는 효과를 알아본 연구로 그 결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 6차시에 걸쳐 MBL 수업을 실시하고 사후 t-검정을 통해 학생들의 과학탐구능력에 미치는 영향에 대해 분석하였다. 그 결과 실험집단과 통제집단 간 과학탐구 능력 결과에서 유의미한 차이가 나타나 MBL 수업이 학생들의 과학탐구능력 향상에 더 효과적임을 알 수 있었다. 둘째, 사후 t-검정을 통해 학생들의 그래프 작성 및 해석능력에 미치는 영향에 대해 분석하였다. 그 결과 실험집단과 통제집단 간에 그래프 작성능력에서는 유의미한 차이를 보이지 않았으나, 그래프 해석능력에서는 두 집단 간 유의미한 차이를 나타내고 있어 MBL을 활용한 수업이 학생들의 그래프 해석능력의 향상에 더 효과적임을 알 수 있었다. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of MBL experiment instruction on the 7th graders' scientific inquiry skills and graph construction and interpretation ability in the unit "Elements and movement of sea water". Results are as follows: First, this study analyzed the influence on students' scientific inquiry skill after having six MBL instructional classes. The result showed a significant difference in the scientific inquiry skills between the experimental group and the control group, which implies that the instruction using MBL was an effective way to improve students' scientific inquiry skills. Second, this study also analyzed the influence on students' abilities to construct and interpret graphs. The result did not show any significant differences between the experimental group and the control group in the ability to construct graphs. But it showed significant differences in the ability to interpretgraphs, which means that instruction using MBL was an effective way to improve students' ability to interpret graphs.

Parental involvement generally occurs in elementary school and begins to diminish in middle school. Enlisting parental involvement in high school science is particularly challenging given parents tend to lack their own competencies in terms of scientific knowledge while simultaneously beginning to afford students increased independence. Research was conducted for employing active, meaningful constructivist-grounded parental involvement in high school science. Students participated in constructivist science learning activities with parents that utilized a facet of involvement strategies and socially supportive practices. Parents actively participated and communicated with students during science investigations via collaborative inquiry-based activities, self-assessments, and dialogue journaling. Parents and students participated in interviews, surveys, and questionnaires, as well as maintained dialogue journals for identifying themes. Triangulation of data identified the most effective strategies for involving parents in science learning and the impact of involvement on the development of student scientific inquiry and scientific literacy skills. Data indicated an increase in the development of scientific inquiry and scientific literacy skills in both parents and students, as well as student social, emotional achievement.

We present a method for assessing science inquiry performance, specifically for the inquiry skill of designing and conducting experiments, using educational data mining on students' log data from online microworlds in the Inq-ITS system (Inquiry Intelligent Tutoring System; www.inq-its.org). In our approach, we use a 2-step process: First we use text replay tagging, a type of rapid protocol analysis in which categories are developed and, in turn, used to hand-score students' log data. In the second step, educational data mining is conducted using a combination of the text replay data and machine-distilled features of student interactions in order to produce an automated means of assessing the inquiry skill in question; this is referred to as a detector. Once this detector is appropriately validated, it can be applied to students' log files for auto-assessment and, in the future, to drive scaffolding in real time. Furthermore, we present evidence that this detector developed in 1 scientific domain, phase change, can be used—with no modification or retraining—to effectively detect science inquiry skill in another scientific domain, density.

A study on the effects of model-based inquiry pedagogy on students’ inquiry skills in a virtual physics lab

Assessing scientific inquiry skills in INQPRO, a scientific inquiry learning environment developed in this research work, presents two major challenges: (i) identifying a set of important features from a series of student interactions for assessment of scientific inquiry skills is difficult. Such difficulty stemmed not only because there exists ways a student interacts with the scientific inquiry learning environment, but more challengingly defining the causal dependencies between the extracted features is not a trivial task; (ii) constructing a classification model from large number of features and can handle uncertainty in assessing scientific inquiry skills is not a trivial task. To overcome these challenges, feature selection approach was firstly employed, using the preprocessed dataset from interaction logs of 130 students. A Bayesian Network was subsequently constructed to handle the uncertainty inherent in assessing scientific inquiry skills. Both quantitative and qualitative portions of the Bayesian Network were elicited from a domain expert. Empirical study concluded that (i) expert elicited features outperformed features selected by feature selection algorithms; (ii) Machine-learned Bayesian Network can better encode knowledge about patterns of scientific inquiry skills acquisition as compared to Nai¿ve Bayesian Network.

Intelligent personal assistants (IPAs) carry massive potential in enhancing students’ performance through individualized dynamic scaffolding strategy. Despite IPAs being increasingly recognized among educationists, little is known about their application in the development of students’ scientific inquiry skills, particularly in physics. This study integrated the use of Apple's Siri in physics learning and examined the impact on secondary school student's scientific inquiry skills, and how these interactions affect their learning experiences. This mixed-method study conducted two field quasi-experiments (School A: science boarding school; School B: vocational boarding school) and post-experimental focus group discussions. Each school had two classes that were randomly assigned as experimental and control groups. The quantitative data showed that the experimental groups developed significantly higher scientific inquiry skills in comparison to the control groups (School A: <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">p</i> = 0.050; School B: <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">p</i> < 0.001) with moderate ( <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">d</i> = 0.62) to large effect size ( <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">d</i> = 1.82). The qualitative data further revealed the perceived ability of the IPA to support students’ individualized learning by providing timely scaffolding. This study offers substantial empirical data to support the effectiveness of the IPA in increasing secondary school students’ achievement in physics and scientific inquiry skills.