Comparative Perspectives On Inquiry Based Science Education

The core practice of professional scientists is inquiry, often referred to as research. If educators are to prepare students for a role in the professional scientific and technological community, exposing them to inquiry-based learning is essential. Despite this, inquiry-based teaching and learning (IBTL) remains relatively rare, possibly due to barriers that teachers face in deploying it or to a lack of belief in the teaching community that inquiry-based learning is effective. Comparative Perspectives on Inquiry-Based Science Education examines stories and experiences from members of an international science education project that delivered learning resources based around guided inquiry for students to a wide range of schools in 12 different countries in order to identify key themes that can provide useful insights for student learning, teacher support, and policy formulation at the continental level. The book provides case studies across these 12 different settings that enable readers to compare and contrast both practice and policy issues with their own contexts while accessing a cutting-edge model of professional development. It is designed for educators, instructional designers, administrators, principals, researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and students seeking current and relevant research on international education and education strategies for science courses.

Humans, especially children, are naturally curious. Yet, people often balk at the thought of learning scienceâ€"the "eyes glazed over" syndrome. Teachers may find teaching science a major challenge in an era when science ranges from the hardly imaginable quark to the distant, blazing quasar. Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards is the book that educators have been waiting forâ€"a practical guide to teaching inquiry and teaching through inquiry, as recommended by the National Science Education Standards. This will be an important resource for educators who must help school boards, parents, and teachers understand "why we can't teach the way we used to." "Inquiry" refers to the diverse ways in which scientists study the natural world and in which students grasp science knowledge and the methods by which that knowledge is produced. This book explains and illustrates how inquiry helps students learn science content, master how to do science, and understand the nature of science. This book explores the dimensions of teaching and learning science as inquiry for K-12 students across a range of science topics. Detailed examples help clarify when teachers should use the inquiry-based approach and how much structure, guidance, and coaching they should provide. The book dispels myths that may have discouraged educators from the inquiry-based approach and illuminates the subtle interplay between concepts, processes, and science as it is experienced in the classroom. Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards shows how to bring the standards to life, with features such as classroom vignettes exploring different kinds of inquiries for elementary, middle, and high school and Frequently Asked Questions for teachers, responding to common concerns such as obtaining teaching supplies. Turning to assessment, the committee discusses why assessment is important, looks at existing schemes and formats, and addresses how to involve students in assessing their own learning achievements. In addition, this book discusses administrative assistance, communication with parents, appropriate teacher evaluation, and other avenues to promoting and supporting this new teaching paradigm.

This book synthesizes current literature and research on scientific inquiry and the nature of science in K-12 instruction. Its presentation of the distinctions and overlaps of inquiry and nature of science as instructional outcomes are unique in contemporary literature. Researchers and teachers will find the text interesting as it carefully explores the subtleties and challenges of designing curriculum and instruction for integrating inquiry and nature of science.

This research-based book dissects and explores the meaning and nature of Inquiry in teaching and learning in schools, challenging existing concepts and practices. In particular, it explores and contests prevailing attitudes about the practice of inquiry-based learning across the Science, Geography and History disciplines, as well as focusing on the importance of the role of teacher in what is frequently criticised as being a student-controlled activity. Three frameworks, which are argued to be necessarily intertwined for discipline-specific literacy, guide this inquiry work: the classroom goals; the instructional approach; and the degree of teacher direction. The foundation of the analysis is the notion of educational inquiry as it is structured in the Australian Curriculum, along with the locating of the study in international trends in inquiry learning over time. It will be of great interest to researchers, higher degree students and practicing professionals working in Education and Sociology.

Chinese universities are striving to integrate new educational elements such as student-centered learning, group learning, active learning, and learning by doing into current traditional curriculum systems for creativity development among young generations. However, the concept of creativity by its very nature is a complex term of many perspectives. It is necessary to clarify what creativity is, how creativity can be fostered in learning environments, and what universities should do in order to foster creative young talents. Introducing Problem-Based Learning (PBL) for Creativity and Innovation in Chinese Universities: Emerging Research and Opportunities is a critical scholarly resource that provides a multidimensional understanding on both challenges and opportunities of fostering creativity and PBL in Chinese universities and particularly discusses this implementation in a Chinese cultural context. Though related to a Chinese cultural context, the book can inspire other universities in other cultures, particularly in Asian areas, to learn why PBL is a potential strategy for creativity development and to rethink how to facilitate the innovation capability of universities in the future. Featuring a wide range of topics such as course design, educational technology, and curriculum development, this book is ideal for education professionals, academicians, teaching professors, researchers, administrators, and students.

Here's a time-saving way to learn what research tells you about teaching elementary science and applying the findings both inside and outside your classroom. It's a collection of 27 "Perspectives" columns from Science and Children, NSTA's award-winning elementary-level journal. The book is organised in six science-specific sections, including general teaching goals, strategies to facilitate learning, student thinking and misconceptions, and your own professional development. The columns are written to make it easy to grasp the material and then use what research tells you about issues of specific interest to K-6 science instruction. Each column starts with a classroom vignette highlighting a particular challenge--from using analogies to blending science and reading instruction to effective ways to ask questions; provides a synthesis of key research findings, organised as a series of questions; and concludes with specific advice you can use right away. This useful compendium is ideal for K-6 teachers as well as science supervisors and preservice elementary science methods professors who want more students to benefit from what research tells us.

Online and virtual learning has developed into an essential aspect of learning technologies. A transdisciplinary perspective is needed to evaluate the interplay between social awareness and online virtual environments. Recent Advances in Applying Identity and Society Awareness to Virtual Learning is a critical academic publication that provides a robust examination of the social aspects of virtual learning by providing groundbreaking research on the use of 3D design thinking and cognitive apprenticeship in virtual learning spaces for team science, transdisciplinarity, idea incubation, and curation. It also identifies new patterns, methods, and practices for virtual learning using enhanced educational technology that leverages artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT) to integrate 3D immersive environments, augmented reality, games, simulations, and wearable technology, while also evaluating the impact of culture, community, and society on lifelong learning and self-determinism to address critical problems in education, such as STEM. Focusing on a broad range of topics including learning spaces, cloud computing, and organizational strategy, this publication is ideal for professionals, researchers, educators, and administrators.

Faculty development is currently practiced in a variety of approaches by individuals, committees, and centers of excellence. More research is needed to draw better benefit from these approaches in the impending digital world by taking advantage of digitally enabled teaching and learning. The Handbook of Research on Faculty Development for Digital Teaching and Learning offers holistic and multidisciplinary approaches to enhancing faculty effectiveness in teaching, boosting motivation, extending knowledge, expanding teaching behaviors, and disseminating skills in digital higher education settings. Featuring a broad range of topics such as faculty learning communities (FLCs), virtual learning environments, and professional development, this book is ideal for educators, educational technologists, curriculum developers, higher education staff, school administrators, principals, academicians, practitioners, and graduate students.