Inquiry Activities Research Articles

Conceptions of Science Gifted Students in the Electric Circuit Inquiry Activity Using PhET Simulation

Conceptions of Science Gifted Students in the Electric Circuit Inquiry Activity Using PhET Simulation

STREM PBL with E-Authentic Assessment: Its Impact to Students’ Scientific Creativity on Static Fluid

This study aims to explore the scientific creativity of high school students on the static fluid in STREM PBL with an e-authentic assessment. This study used a mixed method with an embedded experimental design. This study involved 30 11th-grade senior high school students in Sidoarjo, Indonesia. Data collection techniques were carried out through pretest-posttest, interview, and observation. Pretest and posttest instruments consist of three scientific creativity essay questions with a reliability of 0.610. The results of the Wilcoxon test of p = .000, with the posttest being higher than the pretest, indicate a significant difference between students’ scientific creativity before and after learning. The effect size value of 0.87 indicates that STREM PBL with an e-authentic assessment moderately affects students’ scientific creativity. All indicators of scientific creativity have increased. The order of increasing the average scientific creativity score for each indicator is fluency (high) elaboration (moderate) originality (moderate) flexibility (moderate). Meanwhile, the order of the average level of scientific creativity at the posttest is fluency (very creative) elaboration (quite creative) = flexibility (quite creative) originality (less creative). Students’ scientific creativity increases because this learning makes students solve problems, carry out projects (design and create a product), carry out inquiry activities (experiment and investigation), collaborate with groups, and evaluate projects through self and peer assessment. Learning activities that can increase the level of fluency indicators are mentioning as many ideas as possible for experimental designs and product designs. Learning activities that can increase the level of flexibility indicators are integrating religion content into STEM (it is also better if integrating art content) and providing several problems and products from various fields. Learning activities that increase originality indicators give each individual or group a different project topic. Learning activities that can increase elaboration indicators are strengthening mastery of concepts and evaluating the work of oneself and others through self-assessment and peer assessment.

The Comparison of Hungarian and Indonesian Curriculum: A Case Study of ISCED 2 Mathematics and Sciences Curriculum

In the twenty-first century, there has been significant and rapid advancement in mathematics and science education. Comparing the educational systems of different countries according to international standards can provide valuable insights for improving educational quality. This study aims to investigate and compare the science and mathematics education systems of two countries, Indonesia and Hungary, specifically at the ISCED 2 level. The Indonesian curriculum used in this study is the most recent version of Curriculum 2013, updated in 2016, while the Hungarian curriculum used is the National Core Curriculum 2020 (NCC). This research is categorized as library research and applies the qualitative descriptive-analytical method. We searched several legal documents of curriculums from both countries in libraries, legal websites, formal institutions, and the archives of the ministries of education. After finding the relevant documents, the authors from each country translated, analyzed, and reviewed them thoroughly. According to the findings, several differences between the two educational systems might generate drawbacks. In Hungary, both science and mathematics curricula are empirical-based and involve activities, whereas in Indonesia, they start from new activities and are content-based. There are also several disjoint topics in mathematics between both countries, such as absolute value and quadratic equations. In Indonesia, science education is focused on biology topics as the main proportion of knowledge and is theoretical-oriented, while in Hungary, it is more varied in topics and is realistic and empirical-oriented. The Hungarian science curriculum is also emphasized on inquiry and experimental activities. To further investigate and compare the education systems, more studies are needed at every level of education.

Translanguaging in scientific practices: a study of high school teachers in English Medium Instruction inquiry-based science classrooms

ABSTRACT English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) is being used to teach academic subjects in international programmes in China to meet the growing number of Chinese students’ need to study abroad. Through the lens of inquiry-based science teaching, this study examined how the four EMI science teachers of an international programme at a private high school employed translanguaging in scientific practices such as identifying variables and formulating hypotheses. Based on the data collected from a case study, the analyses demonstrate how these science teachers used multilingual and multimodal resources to facilitate students’ engagement in scientific inquiry activities and to promote the construction of scientific knowledge. A total of seven types of translanguaging practices were identified, including opening the inquiry, negotiating directions, teacher encouragement, managing discipline, fun learning environment, definitions, and explanations. The findings imply that pedagogical translanguaging can create a space for the construction of scientific knowledge, as well as a space for the implementation of scientific practices in an inquiry-based EMI classroom environment.

The impact of an online inquiry-based learning environment addressing misconceptions on students' performance

This study sought to develop and evaluate an online module based on inquiry learning with digital laboratories, which was intended to address students’ misconceptions in a science domain. In a quasi-experimental design, 171 first-year students in a higher education introductory physics course on circular motion were as their existing groups assigned to an experimental (n = 100) or a control (n = 71) condition. The experimental condition was developed by arranging online inquiry activities that would encourage students to probe five identified misconceptions. The control condition required students to engage in online inquiry following the traditional syllabus outline. Students in both conditions used the same type of digital laboratory setup. The participants learned about the topic of circular motion and their knowledge was assessed. Results of the knowledge test revealed that the experimental condition geared towards addressing students’ misconceptions facilitated conceptual change more than the control condition.

I Know That’s a Grasshopper, but I Don’t Know Why

Undergraduate biology teachers usually emphasize taxonomic keys as tools for students to explore organismal diversity and biological roles, largely ignoring the epistemologically challenging process of creating the keys. Students are often frustrated by the challenging language and apparent randomness of traits selected for taxonomic keys, which in turn leads to decreased interest in and motivation for taxonomy. Here, we offer an Argument-Driven Inquiry activity designed to engage students in both the scientific practices and processes required to generate taxonomic keys. Students make observations of organisms in both field and lab settings, generate taxonomic keys, and engage in scientific argumentation with their classmates to evaluate the accuracy and usefulness of their keys. Through this activity, teachers can help students recognize the useful yet imperfect nature of taxonomic keys and the subjective nature of choosing the traits used to construct them. We believe that by lifting the veil of certainty that often shrouds taxonomic keys, students become more open to the productive struggle inherent to taxonomy and the scientific process.

Analyzing the Characteristics of Japanese Super Science High School (SSH) using Semantic Network Analysis

일본의 슈퍼 사이언스 하이스쿨(SSH)은 2002년부터 실시한 ‘과학기술･이과 좋아지기 계획(科学技術･理科大好きプラン)’하에 만들어진 것으로, 지정된 학교별로 과학 중점의 독자적인 커리큘럼을 구성해 운영하고 있다. 한국에서는 우수 과학기술 인재양성을 목표로 이를 벤치마킹한 과학중점학교(SCS)가 2009년부터 현재까지 운영되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 145개 SSH 지정교의 2021년도 ‘연구개발 실시보고서’에 등장한 단어들의 언어 네트워크 분석을 통해 SSH의 특징을 확인하였다. 분석 결과, ‘외부 기관과의 협업’, ‘글로벌 활동과 발표 능력 강조’, ‘수업의 내실화’, ‘탐구 역량의 강화’ 등이 주요 성과로 나타났다. 해당 성과들은 중간평가의 평가항목으로 제시된 내용과 대부분 일치했으며, 이는 평가항목이 SSH 운영의 가이드라인으로 작용했음을 보여준다. 연구개발의 과제에 대한 언어 네트워크에서는 ‘탐구의 평가’가 강조되고 있음을 확인할 수 있었는데, 탐구 활동의 평가 방법 개선이 향후 SSH의 핵심 과제임을 보여준다. 연구를 통해 분석된 SSH의 성과와 과제는 운영 주체의 변화와 함께 새로운 출발점에 서게 된 SCS에도 시사점을 준다. ‘학교 평가 방식 개선’과 ‘탐구 활동 평가 방법 개발’은 SCS에서도 중점적으로 논의되어야 할 사항이며, 이는 SCS와 함께 발전해야 할 한국의 과학교육에도 함의를 갖는다.‘Science and Technology Improvement Plans’ in Japan have been implemented since 2002. As one of its outcomes, Super Science High Schools (SSH) were introduced to organize and operate their own science-focused curriculum. In Korea, Science Core Schools (SCS), which benchmarked SSH, have been in operation since 2009 to foster students with scientific and technological talents. In this study, the characteristics of SSH have been analyzed using Semantic Network Analysis of the words in 2021 ‘R&D Implementation Reports’ of 145 SSHs. The results of the analysis show that the major achievements of SSH were ‘cooperation with external institutions’, ‘emphasis on global activities and presentation ability’, ‘internalization of classes’ and ‘strengthening exploration capabilities’. These achievements were mostly consistent with what was presented in the evaluation criteria of the midterm evaluation. This suggests that the evaluation criteria served as the guideline to operate SSH. In the Semantic Network Analysis of ‘Tasks for R&D’, it was found that ‘evaluation of inquiry’ was emphasized. This implies that improving the evaluation methods of inquiry activity is a key task for future SSH. The achievements and challenges of SSH analyzed through this study have implications for SCS as well. ‘Improvement of school evaluation tools’ and ‘development of inquiry activity evaluation methods’ are the matters to be considered seriously in the SCS as well. As Korean science education pays attention to SCS, this study has implications for both SCS and Korean science education.

Inquiry activities are not for everyone: teachers’ beliefs and professional development

This study investigates teachers’ beliefs about the inquiry-based learning approach in mathematics. In particular, as the first research problem, it addresses teachers’ beliefs about the appropriateness of inquiry activities for all students, after three years of attendance in a professional development programme, focused on inquiry. As a second research problem, it studies the evolution of teachers’ beliefs and practices, during their fourth year of attendance of the programme. The results show that, at the beginning of the fourth year, the teachers, despite thinking that inquiry activities in mathematics have several valuable aspects, held the belief that they are not appropriate for all the students, but only for the high-achieving ones. The two case studies, analysed to address the second problem, refer to two teachers with different outcomes of their developmental paths. During the fourth year, in which the teachers have been invited to experiment with inquiry activities in their whole classes, one of them accepted the challenge and, as a consequence, had the opportunity to change both her practices and her beliefs. The second teacher, instead, continued to propose inquiry activities only to her high-achieving students and, consequently, showed no signs of change, either in her practices, nor in her beliefs.

Conceptualising inquiry outcomes: a taxonomy to characterise the work of teacher inquirers

ABSTRACT In this study of 211 teacher work samples derived from a professional development programme, teachers’ conceptualisations of student inquiry were revealed by examining the nature of perceived outcomes and the role of critical thinking that animated teachers’ student inquiries collected over nine years. Using a schema adapted from the literature, this paper presents a taxonomy of inquiry outcomes as engagement, as a means to develop content and skills, and as an end in itself. Results show that teachers utilised inquiry predominantly as a means to support student learning of content knowledge and skills. Descriptions of exemplar projects and three representative case study portraits reveal both how teachers perceived inquiry outcomes and the nature of student thinking. Researchers concluded that inquiry outcomes are a result of teachers’ choices, particularly in relation to assessment practices. Moreover, inquiry-as-ends more consistently leveraged support for critical thinking than other outcomes. Professional development should attend to teachers’ articulation of their purposes for inquiry to better enable teachers to develop inquiry activities that promote students’ critical thinking.

The Functions of the Prosecutor in the Criminal Process in the Context of the Constitutional Principle of Separation of Powers

Based on a comprehensive analysis of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the current criminal procedure legislation of the Russian Federation, the Federal Law “On the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation” and the theoretical developments of specialists in the field of constitutional law, criminal procedure and prosecutorial supervision, and also taking into account the amendments to Article 129 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, it can be argued that the institution of the prosecutor's participation in the criminal process has reached a new level of legal significance. The Author made an attempt to reveal the content and features of the human rights activities of the prosecutor in the criminal process from the point of view of the concept of separation of powers, to determine the place and role of the prosecutor in the system of relations between the bodies engaged in criminal procedure. According to the Author, the content of the powers of the prosecutor in the criminal process is a clear example of the reflection of the principle of subsidiarity of the branches of power. Implementing criminal prosecution in the criminal process, the prosecutor simultaneously performs a human rights function, since the legislator gives him the authority to identify and respond to violations of human and civil rights and freedoms while supervising the implementation of laws by the bodies of preliminary investigation, inquiry and operational-search activities at the pretrial stages, as well as when participating in court when considering criminal cases. The prosecutor, having the status of an independent body that is not part of the triune system of state power, acts as a guarantor of the implementation of the principle of proportional activity of all branches of state power. Thus, we can say that the implementation of the human rights activities of the prosecutor when considering criminal cases by the courts is a priority. The methodological basis of the study was made up of general scientific and particular scientific methods: analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization, correlation, expert assessments.

Could competence-based chemistry teaching in secondary school harm students’ performance in upper traditional exams?

In this research, we have explored the possible differences in students’ performance in grade nine chemistry exams that could have been influenced by a different instructional approach in grade eight. We compared two groups of students: one group had received a transmissive propaedeutic approach in grade eight (especially related to the memorising the Periodic Table and mastering the rules of chemical nomenclature), and another group had received competence-based instruction in grade eight (more emphasis on modelling and inquiry activities). Both groups were homogeneously mixed at the end of grade eight, and they both received a transmissive approach in grade nine. Data were gathered through four exams over grade nine in both groups, and final course grades were also retrieved and compared. We found significant differences in assessment scores between both groups at the beginning of grade nine, but those differences were not found in subsequent assessments and in students’ final grades. Therefore, our results would suggest a scarce effect of the instruction of formal and propaedeutic content in grade eight, as all students could reach the same level regardless of the instruction received in the previous year.

How augmented reality influences student learning and inquiry styles: A study of 1-1 physics remote AR tutoring

While augmented reality (AR) technology is being considered by educators for its potential to help students visualize abstract concepts, currently there are barriers from the high cost of developing complex AR applications. In this study we investigate how the complexity of AR content impacts student learning in remote 1-1 tutoring scenarios, where an instructor uses an AR headset while teaching physics concepts to a remote student. This approach brings the benefits of augmented reality into the already-existing educational practices of 1-1 remote instruction, without requiring AR devices for every student. We present a system for AR-based physics instruction and perform a between-subjects study, measuring how student learning and inquiry behaviors differ between two experimental conditions that vary in the complexity of AR content. Through quantitative and qualitative analysis, our results show that students who are tutored with more complex AR content learn better and show a wider variety of inquiry styles. Furthermore, AR visual representations appear to stimulate students to think about a wide range of scientific ideas, to make deeper connections between scientific concepts, and encourage students to have a more active learning style with increased transitions between inquiry activities. We discuss possible reasons and wider implications for these findings.

Investigation and Discussion of Experiential Learning Models Based on Middle School Geography Subjects

Adapting to the requirements of the new curriculum reform of secondary school geography, the experiential learning mode can change the traditional secondary school geography learning mode of the students, so that the students really become the main body of the classroom and take the initiative to learn, so that they can get intuitive and real feelings in learning and develop their geography core literacy in this way, this paper tries to understand the actual situation of the application of experiential learning concepts in secondary schools by the field survey and on this basis, we carry out a corresponding Discussion Interviews with five geography teachers and questionnaires from 206 students in two secondary schools in Hunan A and B show that: most students have a good relationship with their geography teachers; most students like the subject of geography; more than half of the students think that the difficulty of geography is average, but 35.3% of the students think that it is challenging to learn geography; the students' ability to learn independently is weak, and only 17.4% of the students often do pre-study before class; and the students' ability to learn by themselves is weak, and only 17.4% of the students often do pre-study before class. Students are less capable of independent learning, with only 17.4% of them regularly doing pre-study before class; the majority of teachers still adopt the traditional teaching mode, which is mainly based on lecturing; nearly half of the students think that the best way to learn is to acquire knowledge through practical activities, and very few students have participated in classroom inquiry activities. Therefore, setting clear goals for teaching activities is an essential guarantee that experiential learning will not become a mere formality; in experiential activities, guiding students in a timely and effective manner will significantly improve the efficiency of experiential learning activities, and avoiding a single evaluation of the feedback of teaching activities. Diversified evaluations can only highlight the effect of experiential learning.

Appropriateness of Inquiry Activities Presented in Life Science I of the 2015 Revised Science Curriculum

Appropriateness of Inquiry Activities Presented in Life Science I of the 2015 Revised Science Curriculum

A Case Study on Emergent Leadership and Leadership Movement Patterns in Small Group Scientific Inquiry Activities in High School Science Club

A Case Study on Emergent Leadership and Leadership Movement Patterns in Small Group Scientific Inquiry Activities in High School Science Club

MSME Empowerment Assistance Program in Marikangen Village, Plumbon District, Cirebon Regency through Business Coaching and Appreciative Inquiry Activities

The MSME sector is a community-based business unit that is vulnerable to intense business and marketing competition. So, all efforts or investments to help MSMEs to improve their business capabilities are something worth fighting for. This community service process is carried out using an action research approach, with business coaching and appreciative inquiry techniques. Business coaching efforts are aimed at building business actors' awareness of the business they are doing, knowing more about their potential customers, and identifying key activities and partners, while appreciative inquiry is carried out to build discussions where participants can listen to each other's inspiration and experience building the best business from fellow business actors. . As a result, the participants know more about their business and are more enthusiastic about building networks among themselves.

One-Week Inquiry about Gravity Force with a Student Who is Blind

This study was conducted with a student who is visually impaired and questioned the force of gravity. The different stages encountered in the process were specified as steps in the study and it was shared what kind of inquiry form was needed at each step. There are different activities such as waiting for a week and thought experiment in the inquiry activity. The basis of the activity is that three balls of different mass left on a sponge leave different traces on the sponge.

CONNECTION OF TERMS BETWEEN INQUIRY ACTIVITIES AND THE MAIN TEXT IN THE LIFE SCIENCE UNIT OF LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS IN THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Teachers are highly reliant on textbooks for teaching. In the Republic of Korea, science textbooks help students to understand scientific terms through inquiry activities. However, there is a lack of analysis on whether the inquiry activities suggested in these textbooks appropriately cover the terms included in the main text. Therefore, this study assesses the life science units included in widely used lower secondary school science textbooks in the Republic of Korea by analysing the connection between the terms presented in the inquiry activities and the main text using the NetMiner 4.0 programme. The results reveal that the life science units included in the lower secondary school science textbooks are well structured for learning life science terms through the inquiry activities, as the terms presented in the inquiry activities and the main text are well connected. However, the number of terms included in each unit greatly differs and needs to be supplemented with the optimization of the number of terms per unit. The results provide basic data for the future development of lower secondary school science textbooks. Future research should analyse how the terms used in inquiry activities and the main text are connected in real science classes. Keywords: biological terms, connection network, terms connection, inquiry activity, main text

ICT 환경에서 수학 교사의 수업 조직과 권위 분배에 대한 연구

Extant literature on mathematics instruction in the ICT environment has reported its potential and the role of teachers. However, there is a paucity of literature regarding how teachers specifically organize the use of ICT instruments in instruction and distribute authority with and for students during mathematical discussion. This study analyzes the instructional organization and practices in Korea that promote students’ inquiry-based learning in an ICT environment by using the framework of instrumental orchestration. This framework considers how teachers utilize various artefacts and adjust teaching to promote students’ learning. In addition, the study examines how teachers distribute authority in the classroom to promote students’ inquiry activities. The study reports different types of instrumental orchestration and compares the distribution of authority in four teachers’ classes. The study also discusses implications for inquiry-based learning in ICT environments.

한국, 중국, 일본의 초중등학교 비교과 교육과정 비교

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to draw implications for Korea's curriculum revision direction by comparing the characteristics and trends of the non-subject curriculum areas in Korea, China, and Japan. Methods: To this end, the name, goal, time allocation, sub-areas, document system and contents of these areas were reviewed and compared in the national elementary and secondary school curriculum revised in 2015, 2017, and 2018 respectively, in Korea, China and Japan. Results: As a non-subject curriculum, Korea has Creative Experiential Activities, China has Comprehensive Practical Activities, and Japan has the Period for Integrated Studies, Special Activities, Moral activities and Foreign language activities. Goals of non-subject curriculum in Korea are, group activities, a sense of community and creative life attitudes, in China it is, value recognition, responsibility, problem solving, and creativity realization, and in Japan, it is morals, foreign language subject goals, and integrated cross-sectional inquiry. In sub-domains, Korea has autonomous activities, club activities, volunteer activities, and career activities. China has inquiry activities, social service activities, design and production activities, and career and other activities. In Japan, moral activities, foreign language activities, class activity, student council activity, club activity, and school event are included. Conclusion: As a result of the comparison of the three countries, a transformation into a generative curriculum rather than non subjecrt or extra-curricular activities, it is suggested and it is necessary to prepare for the possibility of expanding the non-subject curriculum as a preparation for the future society.