Investigative Science Learning Environment Research Articles

Comparing Simulations to Improve Physics Students’ Education

Deepening the authentic inquiry process framework, we analysed and compared some simulations used in physics teaching/learning activities and covering different topics in secondary schools’ curricula. The analysis focused on cognitive processes activated by exploring the simulation and using the proposed material for teachers/learners. While evaluating the inquiry tasks in the simulations analysed, we recognised some features that could become a starting point for identifying simulation patterns targeting learning outcomes and scientific abilities. But more interestingly, we tried to focus on which could improve physics students’ education in an epistemologically authentic inquiry process. With the performed analysis and the collected data, we chose some simulations that better fulfilled the inquiry goal. Then, we tried to develop teaching/learning materials based on the ISLE (Investigative Science Learning Environment) approach. We adopted this framework because it is an example of epistemologically authentic inquiry. Lastly, we shared the results of our analysis and the developed materials with a community of in-service physics teachers to collect their feedback and reflections on this use of simulations.

Improving scientific abilities through lab report revision in a high school investigative science learning environment classroom

Improving scientific abilities through lab report revision in a high school investigative science learning environment classroom

Implementation of an investigative science learning environment based laboratory course taught by novice instructors

Implementation of an investigative science learning environment based laboratory course taught by novice instructors

When learning physics mirrors doing physics

The Investigative Science Learning Environment approach replaces traditional teaching with active-learning methods that emulate scientific processes.

Development of hypothetico-deductive skills in an ISLE-based lab taught by novice instructors

The Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) approach to learning and teaching holds as one of its core tenets that students should learn physics by engaging in the same processes through which physicists develop new knowledge. One key skill necessary for this is hypothetico-deductive reasoning. In this study, we explored how the experience and familiarity of a lab instructor with the ISLE approach impacted students’ development of key scientific abilities related to making and testing hypotheses.

Refrigerator Magnet Investigation

Refrigerator magnets belong to a group of simple devices that we use all the time but rarely question how they work. While refrigerator magnets have received considerable attention in physics education literature, the focus of these papers was mainly on the explanations of their structure or demonstrations of the structure of the magnetic layer. The goal of the present paper is to describe a set of activities that can be performed with general physics students to help them understand how refrigerator magnets are constructed and to simultaneously engage them in such science practices as creating and evaluating models, developing predictions based on hypotheses, performing experiments to evaluate the proposed hypothesis, and switching between different representations. This sequence of activities follows the logical progression of the Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) approach. We piloted all materials with high school physics students, undergraduate physics majors, and graduate level physics education students, and revised based on student feedback. All courses where we implemented the activities were ISLE-based courses; therefore, the students were accustomed to working in groups devising explanations, devising experiments to test them, and sharing their ideas with the rest of the class. All activities that we propose require only the equipment that students commonly have at home (the most sophisticated is a smartphone with a magnetic field sensor). Therefore, the activities can also be used while teaching online. These activities took between 45 and 90 min for the students to complete. The students found them valuable and interesting.

Development of Internet of Things Based Learning Media Through STEM Investigative Science Learning Environment Approach to Improve Student Learning Outcomes

This study aims to design and implement IoT-based media using the STEM-based ISLE model to improve student learning outcomes. This type of research uses Research and Development with the Dick & Carrey development model. The products produced are teaching aids based on the Internet of Things (IoT), student worksheet, and lesson plan. The IoT-based teaching aids were developed using Long Range Area (LoRa) SX1276, Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+, Arduino Uno, and DHT11 sensors, the data is displayed on the ThingSpeak web which has been integrated with the TTN (The Things Network) web for analysis by students. The results of the validation of teaching aids by media experts showed an average value of 4.20, material experts got an average value of 4.16, and observer teachers 4.83 which showed that the teaching aids were feasible to be applied. Validation was also carried out on student worksheets and lesson plans, the average value of student worksheets validation by media experts showed a value of 4.75, while by material experts 3.99 and by teacher observers 5, therefore student worksheets were feasible to be applied in the learning process, as well as with lesson plans with a validation value of 4.33. The results of the pre and post-test student learning outcomes showed an increase in the completeness of 70%. These results indicate that IoT-based media and products developed are feasible to be applied and can improve student learning outcomes in the learning process.

Comparing students’ flow states during apparatus-based versus video-based lab activities

This paper presents a study comparing physics students experimenting with physical apparatus (the apparatus group) versus students conducting the same experiments using videos of those experiments in place of the physical apparatus (the video group). In our study, we compare the results of an attitudinal survey designed to examine students’ mental states and sense of engagement with the material. In terms of the eight-channel flow model, we found that students who conduct design labs structured according to the Investigative Science Learning Environment mostly found themselves located in the productive learning zones of arousal, flow and control. We also found a small but consistent difference between the apparatus and video groups: in the video group there were slightly more students who were in the less productive zones of worry and anxiety, reflective of feelings of low skillfulness combined with a sense that the task was very challenging. We discuss the implications of these findings for the design of scaffolded inquiry tasks such as ISLE design labs in new virtual environments. We suggest that such activities, performed in virtual learning environments, may require different levels and types of scaffolding compared with the same activities performed in the in-person classroom with physical apparatus.

Study of ISLE-BASED STEM Approaches and Models in Its Use for Teacher Professionalism Development in Geometric Optical Case Studies

21st century learning emphasizes that information and knowledge are obtained together with good communication and cooperation among fellow students in building their knowledge. One of the appropriate learning models and approaches to be applied in accordance with 21st century learning is the Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) combined with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). This study uses the Research and development (R & D) method with the ADDIE (Analysis-Design-Develop-Implement-Evaluate) model. The product developed in this study is ISLE-based STEM learning media in the form of Student Worksheets on Geometry Optics material and the relationship between ISLE-based STEM learning and Teacher Professionalism Development is reviewed

Interpreting the investigative science learning environment (ISLE) for its implementation in Indonesian STEM education

This paper reports a qualitative inquiry to investigate the application of the Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) approach as a framework for teaching and learning physics. The aims of this study are to investigate how ISLE processes are applied, what the perspectives of instructors and students on the ISLE approach are, how the ISLE approach could be possibly applied in the physics courses and other STEM courses in Indonesia. Participants in this inquiry consist of the inventor of ISLE, three ISLE instructors, and students in an ISLE lab session. We used qualitative case study method and narrative data analysis in the process of evaluating data from observations, interviews, and ISLE-based learning materials and publications. It was found that the ISLE approach was applied smoothly in the class and lab sessions. The ISLE instructors are those who believe in the philosophical and epistemological reasoning behind the framework and the importance to nurture students’ scientific abilities. Some students liked the ISLE approach, some didn’t. Those who liked ISLE found that they enjoyed the process of thinking and discussing in learning. It is very likely to apply the ISLE approach in Indonesia for physics courses, but it will be challenging for other subjects.

The Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) approach to learning physics

In a plenary talk “Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE): helping students learn physics by practicing it and be empowered in the process” at the SEA-STEM 2020 conference I (Eugenia Etkina) described the ISLE approach to learning and teaching physics, shared examples of activities and presented evidence of student learning. In this paper I, with my collaborators David T. Brookes and Gorazd Planinsic will briefly summarize my presentation and provide a list of resources for those who wish to learn more about the ISLE approach and to implement it in their physics courses.

Preface

Preface

Social positioning in small group interactions in an investigative science learning environment physics class

The most effective student groups have more equal conversations, are better able to sustain their attention during periods of frustration, and sit closer to one another.

Surprising electroscope experiments help students think like physicists

In this paper, we present activities that help students deepen their understanding of basic electrostatics using an electroscope in combination with the photoelectric effect. The students investigate the behaviour of an isolated electroscope when the metal housing of the electroscope is charged. The activities follow the framework of the Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) approach to learning and teaching. ISLE helps students learn fundamental physics concepts by engaging them in processes that mirror those used by physicists when they develop new knowledge and use it for practical applications.

Teaching physics concepts without much mathematics: ensuring physics is available to students of all backgrounds

ABSTRACT Recently, the University of Waikato introduced a first-year physics course requiring no specific physics or mathematics background, to support degrees in other subjects and allowing maximum diversity in student intake. This course uses the Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) approach in which students develop their own experiments to tackle scientific questions. ISLE has proved successful with mathematically able classes; we have adapted it for a less capable cohort in a regional New Zealand context. We have assessed our approach for 2018 using: pre- and post-course concept tests; performance in exams; a student focus group; analysis of laboratory notebooks and marksheets; interviews with teaching staff; and student comments from the university’s course evaluations. Concept tests showed a mean normalised gain of 0.61. Students did well in the exam. Many students were initially unfamiliar with practical scientific investigation and record keeping but laboratory notebooks showed desired learning outcomes were achieved by the end. Students and staff engaged well with this course. Students’ final grades were not significantly different between genders and between under-represented minority and non-minority students. We cannot yet say whether this approach provides a sufficient platform for progress in engineering but students have learned fundamental practical physical concepts.

The mysteries of conductive thread: physics and engineering combined

In this paper we present activities that can help students deepen their understanding of DC circuits and develop practical competences. The students investigate electric properties of commercially available conductive thread and solve a practical design task using the thread. The activities follow the framework of investigative science learning environment (ISLE)—an approach to learning and teaching that helps students learn fundamental physics concepts by engaging them in processes that mirror those used by physicists when they develop new knowledge and use it for practical applications. In this paper this framework is extended to engineering.

Utilising Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) based STEM module for enhancing students’ understanding of Physics concepts

The Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) is an approach that encourages students to be active, creative and innovative in learning Science including Physics. The ISLE based STEM method helps students in solving real-life problems and involving collaborative group activities. Many students assume that learning Physics is difficult but with the ISLE-based STEM approach, the students will learn Physics theories and concepts with ease and fun. This is in line with the Indonesian government program to enhance the students’ literacy and capacity in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) among high schools and undergraduate students in Indonesia, This study has utilised the ISLE based STEM module and approach for teaching Physics concepts to the high school students at four selected senior high schools in Banda Aceh, the capital city of Aceh province, Indonesia. The results of the study were encouraging and it would leverage and enrich the current state of knowledge related to the learning Physics and Science concepts.

Light Emitting Diode (LED) as an essential prop component for STEM education in the 21st century: A focus for secondary school level

Indonesian secondary science curriculum is often late to keep up with the rapid development of technology. For instance, the widely-used LED (Light Emitting Diode) technology is not familiar as props in secondary science instructions in Indonesia. This study aims to: (1) provide professional development for teachers in developing experiments using LEDs for learning physics concepts, and (2) increase teachers’ beliefs on their knowledge on using LEDs for physics experiments. The professional development only used a single group pre- and post-test research design in the form of a two-day workshop attended by 20 science teachers from secondary level schools in the city of Banda Aceh. The workshop used Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE)-STEM approach, an inquiry-based physics learning that incorporate STEM education approach in active learning and collaboration. The workshop used LEDs as experimental props. From the qualitative analysis of the pre- and postquestionnaires’ responses, we found that there are positive improvements on participants’ understanding of ISLE-based STEM approach and of the use of LEDs as props. From the questionnaire administered after the workshop, we found that most of the teachers were excited about the training using LED as props and 89.4% of them feel that their knowledge increased.

Developing worksheets through ISLE-based STEM approach and implementing them on senior high school students

The Indonesian 2013 curriculum demands that a learning process emphasize three domains, namely attitude, knowledge, and skills. One learning environment that supports the curriculum is the Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE), which is based on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The ISLE-based STEM approach is a learning approach that encourages students to be active, creative and innovative in conducting observations and experiments on a project. The ISLE-based STEM method can help students solve actual scientific problems through collaborative group activities. The development of worksheets lays an important role in ISLE-based STEM approach. The purpose of this study was to develop worksheets of the ISLE-based STEM by gathering feedback and learning outcomes from grade 10 high-school students in Banda Aceh. This research employed the ADDIE (Analysis-Design-Develop-Implement-Evaluate) development model. The result of the analysis of worksheet validation by experts reached 3.91, indicating a valid criterion for a worksheet to be used in a learning process. The percentage of students’ responses to learning was 85%, indicating positive students’ responses to learning using worksheets developed, while the test of learning outcomes after the implementation of ISLE-based STEM approach reached 86%. These results indicate that ISLE-based STEM worksheets can be used for grade 10 high-school students.

Analyzing patterns in experts' approaches to solving experimental problems

We report detailed observations of three pairs of expert scientists and a pair of advanced undergraduate students solving an experimental optics problem. Using a new method (“transition graphs”) of visualizing sequences of logical steps, we were able to compare the groups and identify patterns that could not be found using previously existing methods. While the problem solving of undergraduates significantly differed from that of experts at the beginning of the process, it gradually became more similar to the expert problem solving. We mapped problem solving steps and their sequence to the elements of an approach to teaching and learning physics called Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE), and we speculate that the ISLE educational framework closely represents the actual work of physicists.